Yes, I agree. I believe that work originated here: http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/rethinking-the-fall-of-easter-island/1
"Feature" article, so apparently not paywalled - I'm not a subscriber, but I can see it. Jeff On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 2:27 PM, David L Babcock <[email protected]>wrote: > On 10/9/2012 11:53 AM, Nigel Dyer wrote: > >> I had thought that they destroyed their own environment through >> overharvesting and overhunting, ie the population was to large to live >> sustainably. This is not a particualrly religious reason. I had also >> gathered that the statues etc were an attempt to appease their gods in the >> hope that the gods would get them out of the mess that they had got >> themselves into. No Gods appeared to wave their magic wands. I've had a >> quick look at some of the summaries of "Collapse" and that seems to be what >> J Diamond says as well >> >> Nigel >> >> On 09/10/2012 14:36, Jed Rothwell wrote: >> >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> The Easter Island society ran out of wood and could not fish. The society >>> >>>> died out. >>>> >>> >>> They did not die out. They were still there a century or two later when >>> Europeans showed up. Granted, they were in dire straits. They destroyed >>> their own environment, apparently for religious reasons. See J. Diamond, >>> "Collapse." >>> >>> - Jed >>> >>> >> Just read, in Nat. Geographic, article on Easter Island. The best going > theory now is apparently that the rats that the first settlers brought with > them (as food stock, probably) were wildly successful. (No natural enemies). > > They ate all the tree seeds and the forest died out. > > Has the sound of truth. > > Ol' Bab > >
