[ExI] BBC Easter Island documentary

[Alfio Puglisi]

Interesting video. But after watching it, I proceeded to re-read the
chapter about Easter Island on Diamond's "Collapse" book, written in 2005.
It describes everything shown in the video, and many more details, in the
end supporting the traditional view of overpopulation and environmental
collapse. The video goes to great lenghts to refute the accuse of
cannibalism, which is horrorific to us but no big deal for other
populations, and is in the end just a side note on the whole story. The
only thing displayed even more prominently is the narcissism of the
protagonist... he's omnipresent in the shoots.

A few things are in direct conflict - for example, the gentle lowering of
the statues claimed in the video, compared to the intentional breaking of
them by toppling them over stone slabs as claimed in the book, and it
shouldn't be too difficult to decide who is closer to the truth - if only
one had the time, will, and maybe was longing for an exotic vacantion :-)

Alfio


















On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 12:51 AM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:

> I've just watched a 90 mins documentary reviewing the latest data on
> Easter Island.
>
> It claims that the Easter Island population was flourishing when first
> contacted by the Dutch in 1722. But 50 years later, in 1774, Captain
> Cook found some statues toppled and the population dying. Later slave
> traders and smallpox almost completely destroyed the population.
>
> It is a long video, but worth the time spent.
>
> <
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03srmm6/Easter_Island_Mysteries_of_a_Lost_World/
> >
>
>
> BillK
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