Easter Island was once home to lush palm forests. Over time,
however, the humans who settled there depleted the island’s
resources, leading to wars among clans that doomed the
population. Their legacy, the giant stone sculptures called
moai, have drawn intense interest and fascination ever since
Europeans discovered them in 1722. One theory posits that the
early Polynesians who settled on the island, also known as Rapa
Nui, cut down trees for logs to roll the statues from their
quarries to their overlook positions. Competition among clans
led to ever bigger moai and, ultimately, to the destruction of
the forest. Some researchers doubt that such logging could have
devastated the island, especially if the statues “walked” into
position, as Polynesian mythology holds. Indeed, scientists
published a paper last month showing just how a moai could have
been walked with a series of ropes pulled by dedicated
volunteers. Their demonstration supports other theories for the
disappearance of the Easter Islanders, such as