[ExI] Genetic Evidence Overrules Ecocide Theory of Easter Island

[Keith Henson]

The problem with "debunking" is that the story just makes sense.  It's
no problem at all to generate a math model that fits the observed
facts, such as the destruction of trees, the known facts like the
abrupt end of making the statues, and the relatively small population
the Europeans encountered.

But what do I know?

Keith

On Wed, Sep 11, 2024 at 10:22 AM Dan TheBookMan via extropy-chat
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
> On Sep 11, 2024, at 8:33 AM, BillK via extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> > Genetic Evidence Overrules Ecocide Theory of Easter Island Once And For All
> > 12 September 2024   By Carly Cassella
> >
> > <https://www.sciencealert.com/genetic-evidence-overrules-ecocide-theory-of-easter-island-once-and-for-all>
> > Quotes:
> > The true story of Rapa Nui (named Easter Island by colonial Europeans)
> > is not one of self-inflicted population collapse, the new findings
> > suggest, but of cultural resilience.
> >
> > Genetic analysis indicates that Rapanui's civilization was actually
> > growing until the 1860s, when Peruvian slave raids and subsequent
> > epidemics brought by European colonial activity decimated the island's
> > population to around 110 individuals.
> >
> > A large body of archaeological and anthropological data has already
> > contradicted the ecocide theory of Rapa Nui. But this new research is
> > the first to undermine the story using ancient genomic data.
> > -----------------
> > The study was published in Nature.
> > <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07881-4>
> > ---------------------
> >
> > They are saying that this proves that the famous story written by
> > Jared Diamond in his best-selling book Collapse (2005) never actually
> > happened.
> > Maybe humans have the sense not to commit national suicide after all.
> >
> > BillK
>
> It seemed to me that almost as soon as Diamond’s book came out, researchers in the field disagreed. Sadly, the book was so popular that debunking its thesis on Rapa Nui will likely have to be done time and again.
>
> Regards,
>
> Dan
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