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top 200 commentsshow 500

[–]SubmergedYak 367 points368 points ago

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HOLY SHIT I had no idea they were that big

[–]apox64928 25 points26 points ago*

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i read somewhere once that not only were some of these things 40 feet tall, they were also single rocks dragged from another location. also, some of the larger (and i believe "more special") statues were carved out of a red stone.

i want to say the book was kon tiki, written by thor heyerdahl to figure out how people ended up on easter island. (he sailed a balsa wood raft from peru in the humboldt current)

EDIT: relevant

EDIT2: mind you, i read this book almost 10 years ago, but it was red stone on top of the statues. i still think the ones w/ red stone were special somehow. not all statues had them.

[–]silence7 12 points13 points ago

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The book you want be reading is Aku Aku by Heyerdahl. Be careful though. The later availability of DNA analysis has pretty conclusively demonstrated that some of his hypotheses about where the population of Easter Island came from are completely wrong.

[–]apox64928 2 points3 points ago

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awesome, thank you. i'll keep that in mind. if you're in to anthropology books, there is a great one that came out a year or two ago throwing years of linguistic philosophy in the face of Noam Chomsky. Particularly concerning recursion in grammer. It's called Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes, by Daniel Everett. Some really great stuff in there about the culture of the piraha (peedahan) as well as some humorous anecdotes about religion.

teaser: "The Pirahas know that you left your family and your own land to come here and live with us. We know that you do this to tell us about Jesus. You want us to live like Americans. But the Pirahas do not want to live like Americans. We like to drink. We like more than one woman. We don't want Jesus. But we like you. You can stay with us. But we don't want to hear any more about Jesus, OK?"

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points ago

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Everyone knows that aliens put those there.

[–]andytuba 182 points183 points ago

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Well, yes, you only saw just the tip.

Alternatively, after a little head for so long, isn't it great to see the rest?

[–]fuzzmancan 65 points66 points ago

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JUST THE TIP!?!?

[–]NeoSniper 45 points46 points ago

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DANGER ZONE!!

[–]CaliCheeseSucks 12 points13 points ago

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Awww. Ugly Duckling...

[–]meistergrado 11 points12 points ago

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bawk bawk

[–]avengepluto 10 points11 points ago

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Pics, please.

[–]andytuba 65 points66 points ago

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[–]itsgametime 20 points21 points ago

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REPOST!!!

[–]avengepluto 10 points11 points ago

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HA!

[–]andytuba 20 points21 points ago

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I see you saw what I said there.

[–]thelazylunatic 34 points35 points ago

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If you think that's good, see what the Egyptians pyramids are all about.

Pyramids

[–]uptwolait 64 points65 points ago

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That's what she sa....

eh, nevermind.

[–]texacer 109 points110 points ago

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- Kurt Cobain    

[–]stillalone 2 points3 points ago

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It's funny because she shot him.

[–]SinsMinster 53 points54 points ago

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Too bad the people of Easter Island destroyed all their natural resources competing with each one another making those stupid statues

[–]marmaladeontoast 36 points37 points ago

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People always ask the wrong questions - Mr Diamond being one. The mystery and intrigue of Rapanui is not in trying to discover what led them to die out, or to know how they transported huge stones without the use of a wheel. Rather, the important question is, why did they continue to make the same statue over and over? Why did their culture not move forward? If you think along these lines you get to understanding how they ended up in a fatal state of resource scarcity. They did not have the wheel, and being in the southern hemisphere meant they had to come up with ways of navigating but they were too isolated to do so safely. Their opportunities for cultural evolution were severely limited. If you're really interested, read Captain Cook's journals. Remarkably readable and engaging - and his commentary while on Easter Island is excellent.

[–]Raging_cycle_path 14 points15 points ago

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Rather, the important question is ... Why did their culture not move forward? ... Their opportunities for cultural evolution were severely limited.

This is exactly the sort of thing Diamond talks about: geographical and other environmental-type factors that helped the Europeans rise while the Incas and Africans et al stagnated.

[–]Morg_n 2 points3 points ago

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Got a link at all?

[–]rydan 6 points7 points ago

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I've heard it was rats.

Citation

[–][deleted] 14 points15 points ago

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Jared Diamond - Collapse

[–]mulligrubs 7 points8 points ago*

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I've just about finished this book. Very interesting. I'm also reading another book called "The Wal-Mart effect" by Charles Fishman. In it he describes how Chile has adopted salmon farming and can offer it at bottom line prices to the US, but as time goes on and volume increases, the "farm land" ie: ocean, is having to deal with tonnes of salmon poo and it's associated contents destroying the natural environment and affecting other wild fisheries. The same short term gains, lack of vision or technology and poor resource management which eventually destroyed the other civilizations in Collapse. I'm not saying the same will happen to Chile but much like in my state where we decided to clear massive amounts of land for grazing or agriculture we now have salinity problems and land is abandoned. I can't get over how Fiji exports it's natural fresh water. An island, surrounded by salty water is exporting its fresh water.

[–]oldmanrain[S] 2 points3 points ago

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This was going to be the alternative title to the post, it really is ridiculous how big they are

[–]smithmenot 9 points10 points ago

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You new Dum-dum. You give me gum-gum.

[–]NoMoleste 97 points98 points ago

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As an archaeologist this gave me a monumental erection.

[–]zmyrick19 48 points49 points ago

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As a monument this erected me archaically.

[–]philosoraptocopter 8 points9 points ago*

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As an erection, this arched me monumentally

[–]Insom 3 points4 points ago

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So use it to give your wife multiple excavations!

[–]Kosmo_Kramer_ 48 points49 points ago

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[–]ThisOpenFist 22 points23 points ago

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This one is the most fascinating to me. Not only does it give you some impression as to what their methods were (they carved statues parallel to the rockface, instead of perpendicular like we're used to seeing), but it raises pretty interesting questions, such as questions as to why this particular statue was never completed.

[–]Overeacting 62 points63 points ago

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When I was in middle school, I had a teacher who once separated us into groups in the lab stations at the back of the class room. She gave a bucket full of popsicle sticks to pairs of groups, so that two groups shared one communal tub. I forget the exact rules, but basically she said the popsicle sticks represented trees and we could harvest so many of them per day. Some of the popsicle sticks had to be used to sustain the population, but then with the left overs you could either build canoes and weapons and stuff to increase your population, therefore increasing the rate at which you can harvest trees, or you could build totems which will bring you luck.

The game soon became a race against the team sharing your bucket of popsicle sticks to claim as many of them as possible so you could have the most luck. And when we ran out of sticks and asked for more, she said there weren't any more. Then our populations all starved and died.

Then she explained to us that this exact scenario is what happened to the people of Easter Island. It was a lesson plan that really stuck with me, and years later I still think of it when the topic of sustainability comes up, and of how easily I failed to see the incredibly obvious fact that there were only a finite number of trees.

[–]onlyrealcuzzo 16 points17 points ago

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Your teacher was a boss.

[–]Pravusmentis 212 points213 points ago

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Doomed themselves with work. They say they used to have canoes and would fish but once they ran out of trees they had to eat the chickens they had on the island. Some statues appear to have been abandoned on the way to their destination.

' I wonder what was going through their head as they cut down the last tree on the island'

[–]TGBM 57 points58 points ago

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They were probably thinking "well, that's the last one here, guess we should head over to help the other group working on the other forest" Then they spent the next several days wandering around and slowly realizing that all the trees were gone.

[–]superfudge 765 points766 points ago

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  • "Don't worry, technology will solve our problems by helping us find a substitute for wood"

  • "This tree is my private property, I can do with it what I please. Big government has no right to tell me what to do with my own tree"

  • "The science of deforestation is still up in the air, we need more research before we transition to a low-wood economy"

  • "Switching to a low-wood economy will cost jobs. Is a few trees worth the cost to our tree-cutting and statue-dragging industries?"

Just a few guesses.

[–]Tonkarz 23 points24 points ago

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More like "The trees are all going to die if this statue doesn't please the gods!"

[–]wascurious 271 points272 points ago

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TIL that Easter Islanders were Republicans.

[–]dnj 177 points178 points ago

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Both parties in your country work on the infinite supply paradigm, not just republicans.

[–]mehum 69 points70 points ago

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Both parties. Both sides of the debate. Both kinds of music.

[–]StuartGibson 96 points97 points ago

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Country and western?

[–]Robstaley 28 points29 points ago

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upvote for bob's country bunker

[–]mrmyxlplyx 6 points7 points ago

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Move 'em out, head 'em up,

Head 'em up, move 'em on.

Move 'em out, head 'em up:

Rawhide.

Cut 'em out, ride 'em in,

Ride 'em in, cut 'em out,

Cut 'em out, ride 'em in:

Rawhide!

[–]sidepart 2 points3 points ago

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We're the Good 'Ole...Blues...Brothers--Boys Band...

[–]wysiwyg23 2 points3 points ago

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That located at 1060 west Addison right?

[–]mrsquirrel 11 points12 points ago

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TIL the Easter Islanders were the first modern day Americans

[–]polyparadigm 4 points5 points ago

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Oh, far from the first.

:/

[–]canofunk 24 points25 points ago

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"Drill, baby, drill!"

[–]wascurious 34 points35 points ago

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"Chop, baby, chop"

[–]vertigo42 30 points31 points ago

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Get it right. They were Democrats and Republicans. Neither of the sides are any better than the other. They both are retarded as fuck.

[–]pitchpipe 24 points25 points ago*

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Meh. We have retards, and we have super-ultra-mega-retards. Guess which is which.

Edit: Clarity

[–]goddamnedusername 5 points6 points ago*

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I think the point stands, even considering what you are hinting at correctly. We have retarded dems/repubs, and we have super-mecha-destructo-fuck dems/repubs. If you think either party is free from violating rights, leveraging capital resources away from those most in need or abusing natural resources then I would say you have your idiological blinders on. Both parties do unfathomably stupid things and fling shit at the other side to assign blame; on occasion, however, both sides have been known to legislate for the good of citizens, but it's nothing to hold one's breath for. Chomsky said something about the only distinguishing factor between the two dominant political functions in America is the rapidity with which they fall to their knees in order to fellate the corporate cock. Just because one party appears to you to have big red noses and oversized shoes while they're at it doesn't excuse the silliness, treachery and frequent social myopia of your own political party and its representatives in government. Just sayin.

Edit: their they're. Sorry punctuation Gods, I realized not what I'd done.

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]Karmaisforsuckers 12 points13 points ago

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God, how can the people who make those arguments not see how fucking idiotic they are.

[–]virgule 7 points8 points ago

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My cynical self believe they know exactly just how stupid these arguments are... and that's precisely why they keep feeding it to the regular people since that's just how much they think of them... and they won't do a damn thing about it (besides maybe circling some square with "so-so-solidarity" signs.. like cute sheeps does.)

[–]Kalium 28 points29 points ago

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It's simple: they don't care. All they see is $$$.

[–]jonthedoors 48 points49 points ago

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The island is a testament to man's excess and exhausting the land of it's resources. I recently watched a documentary telling it's story - of how the island was at war with itself and the islanders got literally obsessed with making and raising bigger and bigger heads than the other clans. I never knew there were so many before watching it. I always thought it was just the row of them you always see on tv, but the things are everywhere

[–]savageboredom 17 points18 points ago

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Wow, that sounds like some kind of Dr. Suess story. Like a combination of the Star-bellied Sneeches and the Lorax.

[–]gmrple 7 points8 points ago

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The Butter Battle Book too? It was my favorite when I was younger.

[–]brickmaj 10 points11 points ago

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What documentary? I gotta know

[–]jonthedoors 24 points25 points ago

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180 South.

It's not primarily about Easter Island, but there is a section on it about a third of the way through - when they stop off there on the trip.

Really. Watch it. You won't regret it.

[–]os851 7 points8 points ago

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added to my netflix instant watch queue.

[–]darien_gap 4 points5 points ago

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Read Jared Diamond's Collapse for a thorough account. Along with similar stories about the Maya, Greenland Vikings, Montana dairy farmers, and possibly us.

[–]jxf 8 points9 points ago

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And at that very moment, we heard a loud whack!
From outside in the fields came a sickening smack
of an axe on a tree. Then we heard the tree fall.
The very last Truffula Tree of them all!

No more trees. No more Thneeds. No more work to be done.
So, in no time, my uncles and aunts, every one,
all waved me good-bye. They jumped into my cars
and drove away under the smoke-smuggered stars.

-- The Lorax, Dr. Seuss

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

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I wonder what was going through their head as they cut down the last tree on the island

"Huh, I guess that damn Lorax was right..."

[–]CamoBee 16 points17 points ago

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Jared Diamond covers this in Collapse, a fascinating read.

[–]maxifer 2 points3 points ago

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Creeping Normalcy

[–]BenHuge 2 points3 points ago

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Have you read Collapse by Jared Diamond? It goes over this exact thought process. Fascinating.

[–]foreverchamone 6 points7 points ago

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crap, 4 wood planks short of a house. guess ill just use cobble stone.

[–]darien_gap 2 points3 points ago

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According to Jared Diamond, the last trees would have been mostly useless shrubs, generations after they had forgotten how to make canoes.

[–]ev149 111 points112 points ago

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So does that mean Squidward has a basement?

[–]watchtan 69 points70 points ago

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nah, it would probably fill with water.

[–]The_Time_Police 17 points18 points ago

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ಠ_ಠ

[–]kovac 26 points27 points ago

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[–]pufan321 7 points8 points ago

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WOT says to stay the fuck away from that thing.

[–]AsAnOccultist 8 points9 points ago

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Wodin's Own Twin? War On Terror? Whiners On Tricycles?

[–]pufan321 2 points3 points ago

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[–][deleted] 18 points19 points ago

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What if it was aliens forcing humans to make them giant pieces to a game board for them?

[–]BrotherSeamus 5 points6 points ago

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Because beings who have mastered interstellar space travel have a lot of trouble carving rocks.

[–]edubation 7 points8 points ago

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We've got to get this obesity thing under control.

[–][deleted] 35 points36 points ago

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I heard this was image is fake. Anyone know the truth behind it?

[–]lotsofpie 23 points24 points ago*

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I would like to know this as well. I have never seen images like this before, and considering that at least one head has been moved off island (the one I've seen is in front of the Bishop Museum in Hawaii), I imagine there would be more information/imagery on the topic.

EDIT: Not a very good source, but it seems that this may indeed be real. Going back through the other threads where this image was posted recently, several comments made it out to be Thor Heyerdahl, so I googled "Thor Heyerdahl easter island full body moai" and that is what I got. Seems legit despite my side-eyeing of Heyerdahl.

EDIT 2: A similar image on Britannica's page. Seems legit. Caption reads: "The tallest standing Easter Island stone statue (about 37 feet [12 metres] high) after being excavated by Thor Heyerdahl (top right, leaning against statue); it was subsequently partially buried again."

[–]jedimommy 4 points5 points ago

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Read Kon Tiki and Aku Aku, thank me later.

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points ago

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I've got a book that contains a fairly detailed hypothesis as to how the Easter Islanders sunk the statues. It involved a pit and a ramp and a lot of log rollers, and at the end of the process about 1/3rd of the statue wound up underground. I don't think most of them were as 'tall' as this fellow or buried as deep, but it's certainly plausible to me.

[–]banjaloupe 5 points6 points ago

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I could've sworn it was a fake as well, but can't find anything mentioning or debunking it. Snopes had nothing when I searched "easter island" and "statue"...

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points ago

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I did the same exact search on snopes. I am almost 100% certain the last time this was posted on reddit someone linked to an article debunking this image.

[–]Ihasn 20 points21 points ago

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Stargate had it right from the beginning.

[–]CaughtTheBall 19 points20 points ago

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Wait until they find out what's sticking out of the ground is actually a penis. The real statue's much bigger.

[–][deleted] 3 points4 points ago

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The ultimate glory hole...

[–][deleted] 67 points68 points ago

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This was posted literally 3 days ago...

http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/hmo9k/big_head/

[–]SirRosie 10 points11 points ago

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Not only that, but the upper comments are quite similar. The fuck.

[–]travysh 33 points34 points ago

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literally!

[–][deleted] 25 points26 points ago

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This is LITRALLY the best comment I have ever read.

[–]JDiddy 24 points25 points ago

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ANN PERKINS!

[–]Starl1te 1 point2 points ago

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yes. right here in r/pics. and it got 600 upvotes and 150 comments

so the real question is:

Did you honestly think reddit could make it through 3 days without that thing getting reposted with a changed title?

[–]whynotindeed 95 points96 points ago

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Hey Dum Dum, you give me gum gum.

[–]AFilthyJew 14 points15 points ago*

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If they were niggers, this would never have been made.

[–]borez 530 points531 points ago*

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They wiped themselves out by cutting down every last tree on this island to transport those things and then resorted to cannibalism because they ruined their own ecosystem.

They don't deserve respect, historically they deserve a fucking all-time human stupidity award.

Edit: Basically they cut down all of the trees to move these statues, used up all the wood which, in-turn, made all of the animals leave ( or die ) which in turn killed their ecosystem and then they found that they couldn't build boats to get off the island... so they resorted to eating each other for food. Not a good look.

Tragic but true.

[–]theyenyen 460 points461 points ago

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Actually, a majority of the deforestation of Rapa Nui can be contributed to the introduction of the Polynesian rat - which reproduced rapidly and swiftly consumed all of the Jubaea palm seeds. No more seeds, unsustainable ecosystem. The people of Rapa Nui were not as mindless as you are presenting.

As a student of archeology in the Pacific Islands, I dislike this one sided view. one source If you'd like more, I can find some of my textbooks.

[–]belfegore 90 points91 points ago

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Thank you for pointing this out. Terry Hunt, an archaeologist who specialises in South Pacific studies, came to very different conclusions about the collapse of civilisation of the Rapa Nui. Basically it was rats and genocide. There are links to his papers on the subject in the link I provided. Interesting reading. He has a book coming out about his research later this year.

[–]SEpdx 33 points34 points ago

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Thank you for posting this, I came to post nearly the same thing. People tend to get caught up in the pop-science instead of looking at the newest evidence available. Sorry to Diamond, but he seems to be wrong about Easter Island.

[–]Saucykisa 6 points7 points ago

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I knew this would be here somewhere. thank you for keeping me from looking it up.

[–]avsa 11 points12 points ago

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Also, some sourced believe they were wiped out by diseases contracted on their first contact with europeans. When they first met Rapa Nui had thousands of citizens – fast forward and the second european ship to arrive many years later found the island almost deserted..

[–]867-5308 2 points3 points ago

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Very interesting. I read Jared Diamond's "Collapse" and he presented it as man-induced deforestation IIRC. Nice to hear a competing theory.

[–]wolfwolfwolfwolf 67 points68 points ago

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Introduced rats actually played a significant role in the destruction of Easter Island.

"At 75 rats per acre, the rat population of Easter Island could have exceeded 3.1 million," says the report. The Hawaiian research demonstrates that rats were capable, on their own, of deforesting large lowland coastal areas in about 200 years or less. "In the absence of effective predators, rats alone could eventually result in deforestation."

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/rats-not-men-to-blame-for-death-of-easter-island-431105.html

[–]rossisgone 367 points368 points ago

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You kidding? They wanted to be remembered. They won.

[–]borez 329 points330 points ago*

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Complete annihilation through art.

/I guess it's a memorable effort.

[–]Zilvreen 495 points496 points ago

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Sort of like a college art major.

[–][deleted] 95 points96 points ago

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Bam.

[–]callumm 41 points42 points ago

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Slam.

[–]SirBee 72 points73 points ago

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Thank you ma'am.

[–]ladykba 37 points38 points ago

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should have been a wham in there somewhere.

[–][deleted] 68 points69 points ago

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Wham.

[–]y2kbug 58 points59 points ago

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Wake me up before you gogo!

[–]HotRodLincoln 33 points34 points ago

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It's very Ozymandias.

[–]chocolatesocks 4 points5 points ago

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Wow. This is the most amazing thing I've ever read. Dude.

[–]double1 15 points16 points ago

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Funnybot destroys all humans...Akward!

[–]Scuderia 15 points16 points ago

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Hmm ... it's a good start. Uh, yeah, it's definitely big alright. I just wonder if it's too big, y'know? I mean, are people gonna be remembering me or the statue?

[–]wizzyfuct 26 points27 points ago

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Heroes get remembered, but legends never die.

[–]howlingman 47 points48 points ago

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RIP Macho Man

[–]deathmouse 5 points6 points ago

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Follow your heart, kid, and you'll never go wrong.

[–]ivquatch 5 points6 points ago

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Winners go home and fuck the prom queen.

[–]Torquemada1970 4 points5 points ago

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Winnersh

[–]mts261 5 points6 points ago

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Those who want to be remembered waste a lot of time just measuring whose is bigger.

[–]rossisgone 6 points7 points ago

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What else is there? Happiness? A fading dream!

[–]ro2538man 41 points42 points ago

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Wikipedia doesn't have much information about that - seems to attribute it more to outsiders gaining control. Where'd you read all that? I'd be interested in learning more.

[–]goletasb 10 points11 points ago

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I'm pretty sure the book "Collapse" goes through it in great detail.

[–]drainmyfish 24 points25 points ago

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I first heard of that when I read this book. You should definitely read it if you're interested in the collapse/downfall of societies

[–]dexcel 16 points17 points ago

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Jared Diamond covered Easter Island as well in his book Collapse. Not sure if they were using the same sources but his conclusion was the same. linky

[–][deleted] 10 points11 points ago

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The book also concludes with a rather ominous warning for our own global society, as we seem to be replicating the mistakes of collapsed civilizations, but on a global scale (ie we can't just rebuild somewhere else, as has been historically done).

[–]Malatesta721 5 points6 points ago

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Sure we can. Mars is just a skip away.

[–]MsChanandalerBong 20 points21 points ago

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I think a ruined, polluted Earth would still be more habitable than that shithole.

[–]midri 7 points8 points ago

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Elton John agrees, but Lady Gaga says it's got good schools.

[–]tadowguy 5 points6 points ago

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Read Collapse by Jared Diamond, an excellent read about Easter Island, Greenland, Florida, and a few other places where humans civilization collapsed. Mostly kidding about Florida, okay not really.

[–]borez 12 points13 points ago

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Here's a little more insight into what happened there.

I'd go into this a load more, but it's 3am ( in the UK) and I really need my bed ;)

[–]Thimble 16 points17 points ago

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Without trees, and so without canoes, the islanders were trapped in their remote home, unable to escape the consequences of their self-inflicted, environmental collapse. The social and cultural impact of deforestation was equally important. The inability to erect any more statues must have had a devastating effect on the belief systems and social organisation and called into question the foundations on which that complex society had been built. There were increasing conflicts over diminishing resources resulting in a state of almost permanent warfare. Slavery became common and as the amount of protein available fell the population turned to cannibalism.

Wow, dreary. It's like they experienced the apocalypse.

[–]polyparadigm 4 points5 points ago

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The world as you know it ends as soon as you're forced to learn.

[–]unsignedera 25 points26 points ago

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Website is called eco-action.org and looks like it's from 1993. Maybe you should consider your sources a bit.

[–]LastEmperor 11 points12 points ago

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Here is a better source.

Before humans arrived on the isolated island, which is 64 square miles (166 square kilometers) in area, had some 16 million giant palm trees. Twenty or more other tree and woody shrub species formed a forest on the island, as on other local islands.

Yet when Dutch colonizers arrived on Easter Island in 1722, they found the eerie stone carvings and little else.

The deforestation of Easter Island is believed to have begun around 1300, suggesting that there was a period of several centuries during which the islanders lived in harmony with the environment

[–]KPexEA 5 points6 points ago

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Do they have proof that the trees were actually cut down vs something natural like a tsunami wiping them all out?

[–]illiterati 9 points10 points ago*

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shhh, don't ruin a great eco-tragedy.

another view

[–]Realworld 7 points8 points ago

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Exactly how rats got on to the island is not known, although one theory is that they arrived as stowaways in the first canoes of Polynesian colonists.

A strikingly uninformed opinion.

Prehistoric polynesian colonists deliberately carried rats with them to use as a primary transplanted meat source. They don't acknowledge it much today, but in the past rats were widely considered an essential food-stuff for island colonization.

[–]ratwing 11 points12 points ago

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@ borez. Dear gifted captain of archeological hindsight: how would anyone from that time period know they were going impact that ecosystem in the way that they did?

[–]DrollestMoloch 16 points17 points ago

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This is an excellent point: most people assume that they cut down every single tree. This is absolutely ridiculous, because nobody was going to say: "Hey, there are like no trees left- let's keep chopping them down!"

Accidentally disrupting a fragile, isolated ecosystem is a lot more fair than "they were stupid and needed to move stone heads lulz".

Also as pointed out previously, a rather poignant warning for us.

[–]Amdinga 6 points7 points ago

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There was no Lorax to speak for the trees :(

[–]basilect 2 points3 points ago

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Rats did it- see above comment

[–]Scadilla 6 points7 points ago

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This isn't confirmed. Mooprankster is right. This is just speculation.

[–]truthie 6 points7 points ago

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*Citation needed. *

[–]k3n 11 points12 points ago

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Thanks for the info, I hadn't heard any of this before. However, must you be so harsh?

They don't deserve respect, historically they deserve a fucking all-time human stupidity award.

Thousands of years of hindsight makes their mistakes painfully obvious to us, but just think what they'll say about us in the same span of time? We're human and going to make the same mistakes, just on a grander scale.

[–]mooprankster 28 points29 points ago

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I just want to note that this is pure speculation (even in his link).

There has never been a case of culturally mandated cannibalism. Ever.

[–]ATTENTION_EVERYBODY 5 points6 points ago

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Who says it was mandated? borez just said they resorted to it.

[–]appletart 20 points21 points ago

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A common misconception - the history of Easter island is far more complex.

[–]Rebel_Hive 16 points17 points ago

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pfft elaborate your one liner. I want to learn.

[–]ac3raven 5 points6 points ago

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You're forgetting the part where their civilization split into several tribes and they killed each other over time.

[–]BritishMongrel 6 points7 points ago

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Hey volcano god wants big ass statues of him you build big ass statues of him, volcano gods will cover you in lava and that shit is hot. food is important but not as important as staying un-dissolved in molten rock

(i don't know if they believed in volcano gods but it makes more sense that they built those statues to appease gods than any other reason)

[–]the_misogynist 2 points3 points ago

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But that doesn't explain why they buried the statues in the dirt.

[–]CommandZ 49 points50 points ago

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Some would argue that we are doing the same... Except our false idols are politicians, celebrities and CEOs

[–]52hoova 86 points87 points ago

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And, instead of eating each other and becoming extinct, we are eating food and sustaining a population.

[–]hiphopslapchop 25 points26 points ago

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let's hope that trend continues.

[–]ilostmyoldaccount 3 points4 points ago

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Ironically, the statues were supposed to protect them. In the end, they wiped out the entire island. Isn't that ironic.

[–]0xBeefFace 5 points6 points ago

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Also the pyramids in Egypt are actually just the ears of massive, buried cat head statues.

[–]orikie 2 points3 points ago

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How deeeeep does ittt goooooooOOooOo?

[–]shagginflies 4 points5 points ago

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Looks like they also didn't shave "down there"

[–]bigrockcndymtn 3 points4 points ago

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under that dirt, why, thats the deep web

[–]xebo 2 points3 points ago

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"The trees were cut for...rollers and lever-like devices used to move and erect the moai (these statues). As the deforestation continued the moai building competition turned into an obsession...And still the trees came down. With the loss of the forests, the land began to erode. The small amount of topsoil quickly washed into the sea. The crops began to fail and the clans turned on one another in a battle for the scarce resources."

Source: Easter Island Story

They basically chizzled themselves to death.

[–]i_animadversion 3 points4 points ago

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As the illustrious George Takei once said, "Ohhh, myyy!"

[–]farang 3 points4 points ago

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Disregard ecology. Acquire giant heads.

[–]grosslybear 2 points3 points ago

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Omak?

[–]brash_revolutionary 2 points3 points ago*

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The indigenous people of Easter have been culturally side-lined for far too long. It's time they rise up, demand their due respect for their ability to... create big statues at the cost of their island's ecology, and deliver retribution upon the colonialist swine who oppress them!

[–]daddys_princess 2 points3 points ago

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actually it has decreased my respect, the Easter island communities used most of there resources in competition for there religions (ie those giant heads) that they caused themselves to collapse.

[–]phutch54 2 points3 points ago

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See Rapa Nui. Excellent movie about Easter Island. Fictional, but believable.

[–]gonetosea 2 points3 points ago

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Didn't they all die because they cut down all the trees to move those things....... hmmmmmmmmm........ reminds me of something......... Brazil.

[–]nosexindeath 2 points3 points ago

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you are aware that they squandered the last of their vital resources building these things, aren't you?

[–]E_mE 2 points3 points ago

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Respect for the Monuments, but lack of respect for the fact they cut down every last tree on the island.

[–]TriLogic 2 points3 points ago

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Just wait until they reach the horse...

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points ago

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CTRL+F "iceberg".

Zero results.

Weird.

[–]SSKudu 3 points4 points ago

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Minecraft IRL

[–]bendavis78 3 points4 points ago

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If you listen closely, the statue is saying "DEEEEZ NUUTZ"

[–]blunted 4 points5 points ago

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Read Jared Diamond's Collapse. While impressive it loses some of its sheen when you realise they destroyed the entire islands ecosystem to accomplish it.

[–]Catgurl 18 points19 points ago

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wow you waited one whole day to repost something from the front page- kudos

[–]satori_moment 2 points3 points ago

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This is a reposted repost of a reposted repost.

[–]heyitslep 7 points8 points ago

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And yet you're getting shit on and downvoted. Reddit sometimes makes no sense.

[–]hijklmno 1 point2 points ago

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How is that guy going to get down from there?

[–]ChangingHats 1 point2 points ago

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Degeneration X

[–]payattentiondamnitt 1 point2 points ago

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holy crap its like a whole thing. You learn something new everyday...

[–]maximomore2 1 point2 points ago

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I always had respect for the ancient Easter Island people especially the kid from Easter Island.

[–]9babydill 1 point2 points ago*

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no respect. the natives wiped out the majority of the islands unique eco system with the deforestation that was necessary to transport all this stone to said location. *edit spelling

[–]Verb_Rogue 1 point2 points ago

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The statue looks like it's holding its erect penis.

[–]bg370 1 point2 points ago

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My respect massively decreased when I learned about this stuff. I mean, +1 for technical skill, but -20 for continuing to build statues as they ran out of food, wood & other stuff, and their whole society collapsed around them.

[–]gabebravo 1 point2 points ago

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Anybody this far down the comments has read about the islands inhabitants cutting all the trees down too many times.

[–]_vargas_ 1 point2 points ago

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Relevant: the director of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Waterworld directed this movie about what may have transpired in this society.

[–]dannyylonglegs 1 point2 points ago

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Aliens.

[–]truthie 1 point2 points ago

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Yeah I'm sure they built these so some putz like oldmanrain would respect the more.

[–]o0Ax0o 1 point2 points ago

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whats even more amazing is that they were able to take colour pictures back then

[–]gutterboy 1 point2 points ago*

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Read Jared Diamond's book Collapse for a great account of how the Rapanui doomed themselves through poor eco management and an obsession with these statues. The Ahu, stone platforms that held the Moai (stone heads) were even larger but have all been mostly destroyed. The never ending quest to one-up the other statues seems so petty for such a labor intensive and ultimately devastating practice. I love that they eventually resulted to placing bigger and bigger "hats" on the already finished Moai when they could no longer "afford" to make an entirely new statue.

Edit: Another interesting fact is that these statues all face inward on the island. They are often incorrectly depicted as facing outward toward the sea.

[–]ThePeej 1 point2 points ago

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I love this photo, and I love the idea of the statues being that large. But my photoshop jaded mind requires more than one photo in order to believe this scene is real! Anyone else have another link to this excavation effort? Thanks!

[–]SanDiablo 1 point2 points ago

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Aliens.