Original subtitles

Narrator: THE MYSTERIOUS STONE STATUES OF EASTER ISLAND.

CARVED BY EARLY INHABITANTS

OF ONE OF THE MOST ISOLATED ISLANDS ON EARTH.

Mulrooney: THE FIRST TIME I SAW THE STATUES,

I WAS STRUCK BY HOW BIG THEY ARE.

THEY'RE ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE.

Narrator: WHY DID THE PEOPLE HERE

RAISE THESE SOARING STONE GIANTS...

♪♪

...ONLY TO PULL THEM ALL DOWN?

NOW INVESTIGATORS WANT TO FIND OUT THE TRUTH

ABOUT THIS ISLAND'S PAST

AND WHAT IT TOOK TO SURVIVE HERE.

Narrator: DID SOME TERRIBLE EVENT SUDDENLY CAUSE

THE POPULATION TO PLUMMET?

Narrator: TO UNEARTH THE SECRETS OF EASTER ISLAND,

WE WILL DECONSTRUCT THESE MASSIVE STATUES STONE BY STONE.

WE'LL DIVE DEEP INTO THE GROUND

TO UNCOVER WHAT THEY REALLY LOOKED LIKE,

AND REVEAL THE UNTOLD STORY OF THESE INCREDIBLE MONUMENTS.

--Captions by VITAC-- www.vitac.com

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

♪♪

EASTER ISLAND --

A SOLITARY OUTPOST OF VOLCANIC ROCK

LOST IN THE VAST PACIFIC OCEAN.

♪♪

ACROSS THE ISLAND, STRANGE STATUES TOWER OVER

A BARREN LANDSCAPE THAT WAS ONCE COVERED IN DENSE FOREST.

♪♪

THESE IMPOSING STONE GIANTS ARE THE LASTING LEGACY

OF A CIVILIZATION THAT ARRIVED HERE ALMOST 1,000 YEARS AGO --

THE RAPA NUI.

THE RAPA NUI WERE ONE OF THE MOST ISOLATED COMMUNITIES

IN THE WORLD.

Narrator: FOR CENTURIES,

THE ANCESTORS OF TODAY'S ISLANDERS LIVED HERE,

CUT OFF FROM THE REST OF HUMANKIND.

BUT ON EASTER SUNDAY, 1722,

THE CREW OF A PASSING DUTCH SHIP SPOTTED THE ISLAND.

THEY NAMED IT AFTER THE DAY THEY ARRIVED.

Narrator: THE DUTCH EXPLORERS SPOKE OF A WELCOMING

AND FERTILE LAND COVERED WITH CURIOUS STATUES.

THE ISLANDERS CALLED THEM MOAI.

♪♪

BUT 50 YEARS LATER, WHEN THE EUROPEANS RETURNED,

RAPA NUI SOCIETY WAS IN CHAOS.

ALMOST EVERY MOAI HAD BEEN TOPPLED.

WITHIN THE FIRST 50 YEARS OR SO, FOLLOWING THE EUROPEAN CONTACT,

THE COURSE OF HISTORY CHANGED DRAMATICALLY ON THIS ISLAND.

♪♪

Narrator: NOW EXPERTS HOPE THAT NEW IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATIONS

WILL UNLOCK THE MYSTERY

OF WHY THESE MOAI STATUES WERE CREATED

AND WHY THE RAPA NUI DECIDED TO DESTROY THEM.

♪♪

ALL ALONG THE ISLAND'S COAST,

WEARING SOLEMN EXPRESSIONS

AND TOP KNOTS OF SHAPED RED STONE...

♪♪

...MOAI STATUES STARE INLAND FROM DEEP EYE SOCKETS.

ON THEIR BACKS ARE MYSTERIOUS FADED CARVINGS.

THEY STAND ON A SOLID PLATFORM MADE OF PRECISELY CUT BLOCKS.

BUT UNDER THEM LIE GRISLY SECRETS.

WHAT CLUES CAN THESE MOAI REVEAL

ABOUT THE RISE AND FALL OF THE MOST ISOLATED CULTURE

THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN?

ARCHEOLOGISTS AREN'T CERTAIN

WHY THE RAPA NUI TOPPLED THEIR STATUES.

THERE ARE MANY THEORIES.

THEY RANGE FROM CIVIL WAR TO MAN-MADE CLIMATE CHANGE.

ANTHROPOLOGIST MARA MULROONEY THINKS THAT THE FIRST STEP

TOWARDS SOLVING THIS MYSTERY IS TO FIND OUT

JUST HOW IMPORTANT THESE STATUES WERE TO THE ORIGINAL RAPA NUI.

SHE'S ON HER WAY TO THE REMAINS OF A VILLAGE

IN THE ISLAND'S NORTH WEST.

♪♪

IT'S ALWAYS EXCITING FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO SURVEY

AREAS THAT I HAVEN'T SURVEYED BEFORE.

♪♪

Narrator: THE RAPA NUI LIVED IN VILLAGES NEAR THE COAST.

EACH TRIBE HAD ITS OWN SET OF MAGNIFICENT STATUES,

BUT BY CONTRAST, THEIR HOUSES WERE SIMPLE STRUCTURES.

I DON'T KNOW. WHAT DO YOU THINK?

I MEAN, MAYBE THOSE WERE SORT OF LIKE A FRONT TERRACE

OF REUSED PAENGA STONES.

YEAH, WE GOT SOME PAENGA.

YEAH, YEAH.

THIS ISN'T A FOUNDATION OR A... [ SPEAKS NATIVE LANGUAGE ]

OR A BOAT-SHAPED HOUSE.

WHICH WOULD HAVE HAD A SUPER STRUCTURE

CONSISTING OF TWIGS AND GRASS.

IT WOULD'VE LOOKED VERY MUCH LIKE AN OVERTURNED BOAT.

Narrator: SO WHY DID A PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN MODEST HOUSES

MADE PARTLY OF TWIGS AND GRASS

CARVE SUCH COLOSSAL STONE MONOLITHS?

♪♪

THE MOAI STAND ON HUGE CEREMONIAL PLATFORMS,

CALLED AHU, BUILT FROM PEBBLES AND BASALT SLABS.

BUT BURIED DEEP WITHIN MANY OF THEM,

INVESTIGATORS HAVE UNEARTHED MACABRE CLUES

TO THE MAKERS OF THE MOAI --

MYSTERIOUS CHAMBERS FILLED WITH HUMAN BONES.

AT ONE AHU, ARCHEOLOGISTS UNCOVERED THE REMAINS

OF OVER 100 INDIVIDUALS.

ALMOST EVERY SKELETON HAD A DEFORMED KNEECAP.

THIS SUGGESTS THEY WERE PROBABLY ALL RELATED.

WHY ARE SO MANY MEMBERS OF THE SAME FAMILY

BURIED BELOW THE STATUES

AND CAN THIS REVEAL THE REASON THEY WERE BUILT?

MARA EXAMINES THE HOUSES NEXT TO THIS COLLAPSED PLATFORM.

♪♪

SHE WANTS TO FIND OUT IF THE HOUSES CLOSEST TO THE AHU

ARE DIFFERENT FROM THOSE FURTHER INLAND.

THESE HOUSES ARE ARRANGED SORT OF

IN A SEMICIRCULAR PATTERN

AROUND THE PRINCIPAL CEREMONIAL SITE,

OR THE AHU, WHICH IS LOCATED RIGHT OVER THERE.

IT'S ABOUT 200 METERS AWAY.

Narrator: THIS IS THE LARGEST BOATHOUSE FOUND ANYWHERE

ON EASTER ISLAND.

IT PROBABLY BELONGED TO A CHIEF.

Mulrooney: THIS WAS TRULY SOMETHING SPECIAL.

WHEN THE HIGH CHIEFS, OR THE ARIKI,

WOULD HAVE WOKEN UP AND WALKED OUTSIDE THEIR DOOR,

THEY WOULD HAVE SEEN THE MOAI.

♪♪

Narrator: MARA'S INVESTIGATIONS REVEAL THAT

THE LARGEST HOUSES WERE CLUSTERED AT THE BASE

OF THESE MONUMENTS.

THIS SUGGESTS THAT THE MORE IMPORTANT PEOPLE WERE

IN RAPA NUI SOCIETY, THE CLOSER THEY LIVED TO THESE MONUMENTS.

THESE BOAT-SHAPED HOUSES WERE CONCENTRATED AROUND

THE FOCAL POINT OF THE AHU

AND FURTHER INLAND, WHAT WE SEE ARE SMALLER HOUSES,

HOUSES OF COMMONERS.

Narrator: MARA THINKS THAT EACH STATUE SYMBOLIZED

A LONG DEAD ANCESTOR, SUCH AS A CHIEF.

♪♪

Mulrooney: THE MOAI ARE VERY CLOSELY CONNECTED

WITH THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE

AND THEY'RE SPECIFIC TO THEIR COMMUNITIES.

Narrator: THE MOAI WERE A DIRECT LINK TO THESE ANCESTORS

AND WERE CONSIDERED TO BE

AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE COMMUNITY.

♪♪

THE FIRST PEOPLE WHO ARRIVED ON THE ISLAND

ALMOST 1,000 YEARS AGO SPLIT INTO TRIBES

AND DIVIDED THE LAND UP BETWEEN THEM.

THEY SOON BEGAN CONSTRUCTING MOAI,

WITH EACH CLAN BUILDING STATUES TO HONOR THEIR OWN ANCESTORS.

OVER TIME, THE NUMBER OF STATUES INCREASED,

GROWING WITH THE POPULATION.

♪♪

MOAI BUILDING PROBABLY BECAME A FORM OF COMPETITION,

AS EACH TRIBE TRIED TO OUT DO THE OTHER

WITH BIGGER AND BETTER STATUES.

♪♪

Mulrooney: JUST AS YOU WOULD WANT TO IMPRESS YOUR NEIGHBORS,

SO, TOO, DID THE RAPA NUI,

AND SO THERE WAS A LOT OF FRIENDLY COMPETITION.

THE MONUMENTAL SIZE OF A STRUCTURE

REALLY REFLECTS THE SUCCESS OF ITS COMMUNITY.

♪♪

Narrator: THE MOAI WERE AT THE HEART OF ISLAND LIFE,

A DIRECT LINK TO THE PAST.

♪♪

BUT HERE ON THIS AHU,

THE STATUES ARE LYING ON THEIR FACES.

IT'S ONE OF MANY PLACES WHERE THE RAPA NUI

PULLED DOWN THE MOAI AND ABANDONED THEM.

BUT WHERE DID THIS IDEA OF HUGE MONUMENTS FIRST COME FROM?

AND CAN IT EXPLAIN WHY THEY WERE ABANDONED?

♪♪

[ RUMBLING ]

[ RUMBLING ]

♪♪

Narrator: EASTER ISLAND --

A REMOTE LAND ALMOST THE SIZE

OF WASHINGTON D.C. IN THE VAST PACIFIC OCEAN.

IT'S HOME TO NEARLY 900 MYSTERIOUS STATUES --

THE MOAI.

CARVED FROM SOLID ROCK, EACH ONE BEARS THE FACE

OF A LONG DEAD RAPA NUI CHIEFTAIN.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: IN 1774, ONLY 52 YEARS AFTER THE ISLANDERS

FIRST MADE CONTACT WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD,

EUROPEAN VISITORS DISCOVERED THAT THE RAPA NUI

HAD TORN DOWN MANY OF THEIR STATUES.

♪♪

BUT WHERE DID THIS IDEA OF HUGE STATUES ORIGINALLY COME FROM,

AND WHY DID THEY TAKE THIS FORM?

CLUES ARE BURIED UNDERGROUND.

♪♪

AMONG THE ROCKS BENEATH THE STATUES

LIE SMALL, CAREFULLY CARVED PIECES OF WHITE CORAL

THAT ONCE FIT PERFECTLY INTO THE STATUES EYE SOCKETS.

PIECE OF RED SCORIA, VOLCANIC ROCK,

FORMED THE IRISES.

RAPA NUI LEGEND SAYS THAT THE FINISHED EYES

BROUGHT THE ANCESTOR'S SPIRIT BACK TO LIFE.

IN THEIR DAY, THE MOAI WERE SPECTACULAR,

WITH ELABORATE TOP KNOTS MADE OF RED STONE.

STRIPPING AWAY CENTURIES OF WEATHERING

REVEALS THE STATUES' TRUE COLOR AND VOLCANIC ORIGINS.

BUT WHAT FIRST INSPIRED THE RAPA NUI TO BUILD THEM?

♪♪

ANTHROPOLOGIST FRANCISCO TORRES-HOCHSTETTER

IS DETERMINED TO FIND OUT

WHERE THE IDEA FOR THESE GIANT MOAI FIRST ORIGINATED.

TODAY, HE'S INVESTIGATING THE MOST INTACT ONES

AT ANAKENA BEACH.

HE THINKS THEIR LOCATION MIGHT PROVIDE VITAL CLUES

TO THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE RAPA NUI'S

STATUE BUILDING TRADITION.

Narrator: HIS MAPPING SHOWS THAT MOST STAND BETWEEN

RAPA NUI VILLAGES AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

FRANCISCO THINKS THIS COSTAL POSITION

SERVED TWO PURPOSES.

NOT ONLY DO THE STATUES WATCH OVER THE PEOPLE,

THEY ALSO PROVIDE A LINK TO WHERE

THE RAPA NUI'S ANCESTORS CAME FROM.

THE FIRST ISLANDERS WERE POLYNESIAN ADVENTURERS

WHO WERE EXPLORING THE UNKNOWN REGIONS

OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN IN THE 11th CENTURY.

♪♪

THEY SAILED EAST IN DOUBLE-HULLED CANOES,

NAVIGATING BY THE STARS.

D.N.A. EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT

A SMALL GROUP OF THESE POLYNESIAN EXPLORERS

WERE THE FIRST HUMANS EVER TO SET FOOT ON THE ISLAND.

♪♪

BUT ONCE THEY ARRIVED, THEY WERE CUT OFF

FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD,

AND NO OUTSIDERS WOULD FIND EASTER ISLAND

FOR CENTURIES TO COME.

♪♪

LEGEND SAYS THAT THIS BEACH WAS WHERE THE RAPA NUI

FIRST ARRIVED AND SETTLED

BEFORE THEY SPREAD OUT ACROSS THE ISLAND.

THEIR DESCENDANTS RAISED THE FIRST MOAI

RIGHT NEXT TO THE OCEAN TO HONOR THESE PIONEERS.

FRANCISCO THINKS THAT THE OCEAN PROVIDED

A SPIRITUAL CONNECTION TO THEIR HOMELAND.

♪♪

Narrator: FRANCISCO HAS COME

TO THE ISLAND'S ARCHEOLOGICAL ARCHIVES.

HE EXAMINES THESE SMALLER WOODEN FIGURES.

COULD THEY HELP EXPLAIN THE ORIGINS OF THE MOAI?

Narrator: FRANCISCO THINKS THE RAPA NUI BROUGHT

THIS TRADITION OF WOODEN STATUES WITH THEM,

BUT IN ISOLATION, THE STYLE BECAME UNIQUE.

♪♪

Narrator: UNLIKE ELSEWHERE IN POLYNESIA,

FRANCISCO BELIEVES EASTER ISLAND DID NOT HAVE PALM TREES

SUITABLE FOR CARVING STATUES.

INSTEAD, THE RAPA NUI TURNED TO SOMETHING

THEY HAD PLENTY OF --

SOFT VOLCANIC ROCK CALLED TUFF.

THESE SMALLER STONE STATUES ARE THE MISSING LINK

BETWEEN THE WOODEN FIGURES OF POLYNESIA

AND THE COLOSSAL MOAI.

Narrator: THE RAPA NUI TOOK THE TRADITION

OF POLYNESIAN WOOD CARVING AND SUPER SIZED IT.

OVER TIME, THE STONE MONUMENTS GOT BIGGER AND BIGGER.

THE MOAI WE SEE TODAY ARE THE PINNACLE

OF CENTURIES OF STATUE-BUILDING EVOLUTION.

BUT DESPITE THE HUGE SUPPLIES OF ROCK,

ARCHEOLOGISTS THINK MOAI CONSTRUCTION STOPPED

DECADES BEFORE THE RAPA NUI DESERTED THEM.

WHY WERE THESE STONE GIANTS

AND THE TRADITIONS OF THEIR ANCESTORS ABANDONED?

AND DID AN ECOLOGICAL DISASTER

BRING THIS GREAT SOCIETY TO IT'S KNEES?

♪♪

[ RUMBLING ]

[ RUMBLING ]

Narrator: THE STATUES OF EASTER ISLAND ARE UNIQUE.

OVER SEVEN CENTURIES,

THE ISLAND'S SETTLERS, THE RAPA NUI,

SUPERSIZED AN ANCIENT POLYNESIAN TRADITION.

♪♪

BUT UNSOLVED MYSTERIES REMAIN

AT THE QUARRY, WHERE ARCHEOLOGISTS BELIEVE

MOST OF THE MOAI WERE MADE,

MANY STATUES LIE ABANDONED.

WHY ARE THEY STILL HERE,

AND CAN THEY REVEAL WHY THE RAPA NUI GAVE UP

ON THE STATUES THAT WERE ONCE THEIR LIFE BLOOD?

THESE SCULPTURES IN THE QUARRY AREN'T JUST CARVED HEADS.

THEY'RE FULLY FORMED MOAI.

BURIED UP TO THEIR SHOULDERS,

THEIR BODIES STRETCH NEARLY 15 FEET BELOW THE SURFACE.

ONCE UNEARTHED, THEIR TRUE SIZE IS REVEALED --

COLOSSAL STONE GIANTS AS TALL AS THREE FULLY GROWN MEN,

WEIGHING MORE THAN 80 TONS.

BUT THESE BURIED MOAI SEEM TO BE UNFINISHED.

MANY OF THEIR BASES ARE WIDER AND ROUNDER THAN THOSE

INSTALLED ON THE COASTAL PLATFORMS,

AND THEIR EYE SOCKETS SHALLOWER.

SO DID THE RAPA NUI STOP BUILDING STATUES

LONG BEFORE THEY TOPPLED THEM?

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: ARCHEOLOGIST PATRICIA VARGAS BELIEVES

THAT A SUDDEN CHANGE IN RAPA NUI SOCIETY

FORCED THEM TO ABANDON MOAI CONSTRUCTION.

SHE WORKS WITH HER HUSBAND, CLAUDIO CRISTINO,

TO INVESTIGATE THIS PUZZLING QUARRY.

Narrator: AT THE HEART OF EASTER ISLAND

IS AN EXTINCT VOLCANO.

THE RAPA NUI CARVED ALMOST EVERY STATUE

FROM ITS SOLIDIFIED ASH.

♪♪

PATRICIA EXAMINES TWO UNUSUAL EXAMPLES OF MOAI.

THEY WERE BEING CARVED AT THE SAME TIME,

BUT NEITHER WAS EVER FINISHED.

Narrator: EACH STATUE TOOK UP TO A YEAR TO CARVE,

USING SIMPLE STONE TOOLS TO CHIP AWAY

AT THE SOFTER VOLCANIC ROCK.

Narrator: BUT PATRICIA ALSO BELIEVES THAT THESE STONE TOOLS

POINT TO A SUDDEN END IN THE PRODUCTION OF THE MOAI.

HUGE NUMBERS OF THEM LIE DISCARDED ON THE GROUND.

IT'S AS IF THE STONE CARVERS HAD FINISHED WORKING FOR THE DAY

AND NEVER RETURNED.

WHAT HAPPENED HERE?

♪♪

Narrator: CLUES AS TO WHY

THE RAPA NUI STOPPED MAKING STATUES

LIE DEEPER INSIDE THE QUARRY.

ONCE FREED FROM THE MOTHER ROCK, THE HUGE STATUES NEEDED

TO BE LOWERED GRADUALLY FROM THE FACE OF THE MOUNTAIN.

♪♪

Narrator: THE STATUES WERE THEN MANEUVERED

INTO AN UPRIGHT POSITION AND PLACED IN TRENCHES.

THIS ALLOWED THE ISLANDERS TO COMPLETE THE BACKS

BEFORE TRANSPORTING THEM ACROSS THE ISLAND.

BUT THESE MOAI WERE NEVER MOVED.

OVER THE CENTURIES, THEY HAVE BEEN COVERED BY DEBRIS

THAT HAS BEEN WASHED DOWN FROM THE QUARRY ABOVE.

Narrator: WHY DID THE RAPA NUI ABANDON SO MANY STATUES

THAT WERE NEARLY FINISHED?

COULD THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM HAVE BEEN

AT THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM?

MOVING THESE STATUES WOULD HAVE BEEN A HUGE OPERATION.

IT WOULD HAVE INVOLVED TAKING THEM ACROSS LAND

BELONGING TO OTHER TRIBES.

RAPA NUI LEGEND SAYS THAT THE MOAI

WALKED TO THEIR PLATFORMS.

ONE NEW THEORY SHOWS HOW THIS MIGHT REALLY HAVE HAPPENED,

WITH ROPES PULLING THE STATUES SIDE TO SIDE.

THESE STRUCTURES WERE CARVED TO HAVE A FORWARD LEAN

SO THEY'D SHUFFLE FORWARD WITH EACH SWING.

BUT MANY BELIEVE THAT WALKING IS JUST A LEGEND.

♪♪

MOST ARCHEOLOGISTS AGREE THAT THEY WERE PROBABLY LASHED

TO A WOODEN SLEDGE AND ROLLED ALONG LOG RAILS.

♪♪

WHATEVER THE METHOD, MOVING THE STATUES MEANT TAKING THEM

OVER LAND THAT BELONGED TO OTHER TRIBES.

COULD THIS HAVE BEEN A KEY FACTOR

IN THE DECLINE IN MOAI BUILDING?

CLAUDIO AND PATRICIA FIRST HUNT FOR EVIDENCE

OF A NETWORK OF ROADS

THAT WERE USED TO TRANSPORT THE STATUES.

♪♪

TODAY, THEY ARE SEARCHING FOR A TRACK THAT WOULD HAVE LED

TO THE BIGGEST STATUE PLATFORM ON THE ISLAND, AHU TONGARIKI.

♪♪

THEY THINK IT COULD HELP EXPLAIN

HOW MOAI BUILDING CAME TO AN END.

♪♪

GO RIGHT.

STOP, STOP, RIGHT THERE.

A LITTLE BIT HERE. THERE.

Narrator: CLAUDIO AND PATRICIA THINK THAT IT TOOK

ISLAND-WIDE ORGANIZATION TO HAUL THE GIGANTIC MOAI STATUES HERE.

Narrator: ALONG THE ROUTE OF THIS ROAD,

PATRICIA AND CLAUDIO MAP MORE STATUES

THAT NEVER MADE IT TO THE PLATFORM.

THEY THINK THAT AS THE STATUE BUILDING FRENZY

REACHED ITS PEAK, THERE WAS A DISPUTE IN RAPA NUI SOCIETY,

AND THE TRIBAL COOPERATION REQUIRED TO MOVE THE STATUES

SIMPLY BROKE DOWN.

THE MOAI WERE LEFT WHERE THEY WERE.

Narrator: SOME BELIEVE THAT CIVIL WAR ON EASTER ISLAND

WAS TO BLAME.

♪♪

BUT EXPERTS DON'T AGREE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED HERE.

SOME AREN'T SURE THAT TRIBES TURNED AGAINST EACH OTHER.

IF IT WASN'T WAR,

WHAT WAS THE REAL REASON THE STATUES WERE ABANDONED?

AND WHY DID THE RAPA NUI TOPPLE

ALL OF THEIR SACRED MOAI?

[ RUMBLING ]

[ RUMBLING ]

Narrator: EASTER ISLAND --

HOME TO HUNDREDS OF GIGANTIC STONE STATUES

THAT TOWER OVER A TREELESS ISLAND LANDSCAPE.

BUT WHEN HUMANS FIRST SET FOOT HERE

AROUND 1,000 YEARS AGO,

IT WAS COVERED WITH DENSE FOREST.

COULD THIS CHANGE IN THE ISLAND'S ENVIRONMENT

BE THE CAUSE OF THE STATUE BUILDERS' DOWNFALL?

Mulrooney: WHEN THE RAPA NUI ARRIVED,

THE ISLAND WAS COVERED IN PALM TREES.

THEY TRANSFORMED THIS ISLAND MORE RADICALLY

THAN ANY OTHER POLYNESIAN SOCIETY.

Narrator: SOME ARCHEOLOGISTS THINK THAT

AS RAPA NUI NUMBERS GREW AND THEY BUILT MORE STATUES,

THEY CUT DOWN HUGE NUMBERS OF TREES TO HELP MOVE THEM.

WITH THEIR FRAGILE ECOSYSTEM DESTROYED,

THE RAPA NUI'S FOOD SUPPLIES BEGAN TO DWINDLE

AND THEY WERE PLUNGED INTO VIOLENCE.

BUT OTHERS, LIKE MARA MULROONEY, ARE NOT CONVINCED.

THE TOPPLING OF THE STATUES IS ONE OF THE MOST DEBATED ASPECTS

OF RAPA NUI HISTORY.

Narrator: SO WAS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE MOAI

REALLY THE RESULT OF CIVIL WAR?

♪♪

BENEATH AHU NAU NAU, ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED

SOME UNUSUAL ARTIFACTS...

...OVER 1,000 PIECES OF OBSIDIAN,

MINED ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND

AND BROUGHT TO THE AHU.

AMONG THE FLAKES, SPECIALLY FASHIONED PIECES...

...SHAPED LIKE WEAPONS WITH SHARP CUTTING EDGES.

HUNDREDS OF THESE BLADES HAVE BEEN FOUND

ALL OVER THE ISLAND,

SOME LEFT LYING ON THE SURFACE.

WHY DID THE PEOPLE HERE MAKE SO MANY OF THEM?

WERE THESE WEAPONS OF CIVIL WAR?

♪♪

WHY ARE THESE STONE OBJECTS FOUND IN VAST NUMBERS

FROM AROUND THE TIME THE STATUES WERE TOPPLED?

THESE ARE MATAA.

AND THEY'RE ONE OF THE MOST COMMON ARTIFACTS

THAT WE ENCOUNTER WHILE WE'RE EXCAVATING.

Narrator: SOME ARCHEOLOGISTS

BELIEVE THAT WHEN RAPA NUI SOCIETY COLLAPSED,

THEY STARTED MAKING THE MATAA AS WEAPONS.

BUT RECENT EVIDENCE CHALLENGES THE THEORY.

PREVIOUSLY, THESE WERE INTERPRETED AS SPEAR POINTS.

BUT ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE LOOKED AT THE SHAPE

OF THESE CUTTING EDGES, AND WHAT THE SHAPE ACTUALLY SUGGESTS

IS THAT THESE TOOLS WERE PRIMARILY USED TO CUT WOODY PLANTS.

SO THEY PROBABLY HAD AN AGRICULTURAL FUNCTION.

Narrator: MARA WANTS TO ASCERTAIN IF THESE OBJECTS

REALLY ARE FARMING TOOLS

AND NOT WEAPONS OF A RAPA NUI CIVIL WAR.

THE FIRST STEP IS TO WORK OUT WHERE THE OBJECTS CAME FROM.

SHE USES A SPECIAL INSTRUMENT THAT FIRES

A CONCENTRATED BEAM OF X-RAYS AT THE ROCK SAMPLE

AND INSTANTLY ANALYZES ITS CHEMICAL MAKEUP.

Mulrooney: WITH THIS INSTRUMENT, WE CAN MEASURE THE GEOCHEMISTRY

OF THIS ARTIFACT, AND WE CAN COMPARE IT TO KNOWN QUARRIES.

Narrator: THEY'RE MADE OF OBSIDIAN, A RARE MATERIAL

THAT'S ONLY FOUND IN A FEW PLACES ON THE ISLAND.

MARA COMPARES THE CHEMICAL SIGNATURES OF HER MATAA

TO THOSE OF THE ISLAND'S OBSIDIAN QUARRIES.

SHE PINPOINTS EXACTLY WHERE IT CAME FROM.

WITH THIS SAMPLE, WE HAVE A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF IRON

VERSUS A LOWER CONCENTRATION OF ZIRCONIUM

AND WHAT THAT TELLS US IS THAT THIS MATCHES

THE ORITO OBSIDIAN QUARRY.

Narrator: ALMOST ALL OF THE MATAA

THAT HAVE BEEN TESTED IN THIS WAY COME FROM A SINGLE QUARRY.

IT'S LOCATED IN THE TERRITORY OF A SINGLE TRIBE.

MARA FINDS THESE TOOLS RIGHT ACROSS THE ISLAND,

SO SHE THINKS ALL TRIBES MUST'VE HAD ACCESS TO THE QUARRY.

Mulrooney: PEOPLE WERE SHARING THIS RESOURCE JUST AS THEY WERE

SHARING OTHER RESOURCES ON THE ISLAND,

LIKE THE TUFF FROM WHICH THE MOAI WERE MADE.

Narrator: MARA'S RESULTS SUGGEST

THAT FAR FROM FIGHTING EACH OTHER,

THE RAPA NUI WERE WORKING TOGETHER.

SHE BELIEVES THAT THE RAPA NUI WERE USING THE MATAA

ON NEWLY CLEARED FARMLAND

TO GROW MORE FOOD AS THEIR POPULATION EXPANDED.

♪♪

FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF HUMANS,

EASTER ISLAND WAS COVERED IN A DENSE FOREST OF PALM TREES.

[ BIRDS CALL ]

AS SOON AS THE RAPA NUI ARRIVED, THEY BEGAN CUTTING DOWN TREES

TO CLEAR LAND FOR FARMS, TO BUILD BOATS,

AND TO MOVE STATUES.

THEY ALSO INTRODUCED RATS,

WHICH MULTIPLIED IN THE MILLIONS.

THESE RATS ATE THE PALM SEEDS,

PREVENTING THE TREES FROM REGROWING.

AS THE DEMAND FOR FARMLAND INCREASED,

TREES WERE CUT DOWN FASTER AND FASTER,

AND WITHIN ONLY A FEW CENTURIES,

THE ISLAND WAS ALMOST COMPLETELY DEFORESTED.

ARCHEOLOGISTS ONCE BELIEVED THIS LOSS OF TRESS

WAS A CATASTROPHE THAT PROVOKED CIVIL WAR.

BUT MARA THINKS THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE.

SHE BELIEVES THE RAPA NUI HAD A CLEAR PLAN.

THEY WERE CUTTING DOWN TREES TO BE ABLE TO GROW MORE FOOD.

THEY DEVELOPED A NEW KIND OF AGRICULTURE.

THE FIRST STEP IS USUALLY CLEARING YOUR LAND

OF ANY ROCKS OR ANYTHING ON THE SURFACE.

BUT WHAT THE RAPA NUI REALIZED IS THAT THESE ROCKS

WERE REALLY VALUABLE FOR INCREASING THE PRODUCTIVITY

OF THEIR SOILS.

Narrator: THEY COVERED THEIR FIELDS WITH LARGE AMOUNTS

OF VOLCANIC ROCK SMASHED INTO BASEBALL-SIZED CHUNKS.

THESE ROCKS PROVIDED SHADE, PROTECTION, AND NUTRIENTS

TO THE PLANTS.

AS THE RAIN FALLS, PHOSPHORUS LEECHES OUT OF THE ROCKS.

THAT IS NUTRIENT-RICH ELEMENTS WHICH HEIGHTEN

THE NUTRIENT VALUES OF THE SOILS UNDERNEATH.

IT REALLY IS AN INNOVATIVE PRACTICE

THAT IS SOMEWHAT UNIQUE TO RAPA NUI.

WE DO SEE SOME FORMS OF ROCK GARDENS ELSEWHERE,

ESPECIALLY IN HAWAII,

BUT NOWHERE ELSE DO WE SEE ROCK GARDENS ON THIS LEVEL.

Narrator: MARA THINKS THAT THE DESTRUCTION OF TREES

WAS PART OF THE RAPA NUI'S EFFORTS

TO COPE WITH A GROWING POPULATION.

THEY WERE CONVERTING THEIR ISLAND

TO ALLOW FARMING ON AN INDUSTRIAL SCALE,

AND THEY WERE DOING IT TOGETHER.

SO IF THE RAPA NUI HAD A CLEAR PLAN FOR THEIR ISLAND,

WERE THEY ALSO DEVELOPING OTHER WAYS

TO TRY AND AVERT ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER?

AND IF THERE WAS NO CIVIL WAR,

WHAT REALLY CAUSED THEM TO TOPPLE THE MOAI?

[ RUMBLING ]

[ RUMBLING ]

♪♪

Narrator: AFTER CENTURIES OF LIVING ON EASTER ISLAND,

RAPA NUI SOCIETY WAS AT ITS PEAK.

AS THE POPULATION EXPLODED,

THEY CONVERTED THEIR LAND INTO FARMS,

CUTTING DOWN THEIR FOREST TO GROW MORE FOOD.

Narrator: NOW ARCHEOLOGISTS ARE UNCOVERING

SURPRISING NEW EVIDENCE THAT THE RAPA NUI

WEREN'T BLINDLY DESTROYING THEIR ECOSYSTEM.

THEY WERE ACTUALLY VERY AWARE OF MANAGING THEIR RESOURCES.

THEY HAD THEIR OWN WAY OF DOING THIS,

AND THEIR GIANT MOAI WERE AT THE HEART OF IT.

♪♪

THIS FALLEN MOAI ONCE STOOD UPRIGHT

ON ITS OWN STONE PLATFORM.

BENEATH THE TOPSOIL NEARBY, INSTEAD OF A VILLAGE,

ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED WHAT WAS ONCE

A VAST CEREMONIAL PLAZA.

AT THE TOP SAT AN INTRICATELY CARVED STONE BACK REST...

...SURROUNDED BY CIRCULAR PITS.

DEEPER IN THE GROUND, PRECISION ENGINEERED CHANNELS

CARRIED WATER THROUGHOUT THE PLAZA.

THIS SCALE OF RITUAL CONSTRUCTION

ISN'T SEEN ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE ISLAND.

WHAT IS THIS SITE?

AND WHY DID THE RAPA NUI NEED TO BUILD

SUCH COMPLEX STRUCTURES?

TODAY, A GROUP OF INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATORS

IS CONDUCTING THE LARGEST EXCAVATION

EVER UNDERTAKEN IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC.

ARCHEOLOGIST BURKHARD VOGT HEADS UP THE TEAM.

HE UNCOVERS EVIDENCE THAT THE RAPA NUI

WENT TO EXTRAORDINARY LENGTHS

TO PROTECT THEIR LIMITED NATURAL RESOURCES.

Narrator: EASTER ISLAND HAS VERY LITTLE FRESH WATER,

BUT THIS STREAM BED IS ONE OF THE FEW PLACES

WHERE IT OCCASIONALLY FLOWS.

BURKHARD THINKS THE LIMITED WATER HERE

WAS MADE SACRED IN ORDER TO PRESERVE IT.

Narrator: THIS WATER WAS SO IMPORTANT TO THE RAPA NUI

THAT THEY DEVELOPED A UNIQUE WAY TO PROTECT IT.

THE TEAM UNCOVERS EVIDENCE THAT THE RAPA NUI

REPEATEDLY BURIED AND DUG UP THIS SANCTUARY.

Narrator: THIS WOULD LIMIT ACCESS TO THE STREAM.

Narrator: EXCAVATIONS REVEAL THAT

THIS SYSTEM OF RITUAL WATER MANAGEMENT

WAS PRACTICED ON AND OFF FOR CENTURIES.

BUT WHAT REALLY SURPRISES BURKHARD

IS WHAT HAPPENED JUST BEFORE THIS SITE WAS ABANDONED.

Narrator: BURKHARD THINKS THE RAPA NUI

WERE GROWING PALM TREES IN THIS SANCTUARY

TO PREVENT THEIR EXTINCTION.

THIS WAS A LAST-DITCH EFFORT TO REPLACE THE TREES

CLEARED IN THE CREATION OF THEIR FARMS.

♪♪

Narrator: NEW FINDINGS REVEAL THAT

THE RAPA NUI TRIBES WERE WORKING TOGETHER TO SURVIVE HERE.

BUT THERE IS STILL A MYSTERY.

IF ISLANDERS WERE FLOURISHING, NOT FIGHTING,

WHY DID THEY TOPPLE ALL OF THEIR STATUES?

ARCHEOLOGIST NICOLAS CAUWE TAKES A CLOSER LOOK

AT THE SOLITARY FALLEN MOAI THAT WATCHES OVER THIS SACRED SITE.

THIS COULD BE ONE OF THE LAST STATUES

TO HAVE BEEN MOVED ANYWHERE ON THE ISLAND.

AND LIKE THE OTHERS, IT'S FACEDOWN.

Narrator: NICOLAS THINKS THAT ALL THE MOAI

ON THE ISLAND'S PLATFORMS WERE LOWERED

AT AROUND THE SAME TIME.

Narrator: IF IT WASN'T CIVIL WAR

OR ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER,

WHAT CATASTROPHIC EVENT COULD HAVE CAUSED

THE RAPA NUI TO FINALLY TURN THEIR BACKS

ON THEIR MOST SACRED OBJECTS?

THE ANSWER MAY LIE HIDDEN UNDERGROUND.

♪♪

[ RUMBLING ]

[ RUMBLING ]

Narrator: AFTER CENTURIES ALONE ON THEIR ISLAND,

THE RAPA NUI WERE ABOUT TO MEET OUTSIDERS

FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Narrator: ON EASTER SUNDAY, 1722,

THE SAILS OF A DUTCH SHIP APPEARED ON THE HORIZON,

AND TURNED THE RAPA NUI'S WHOLE UNIVERSE UPSIDE DOWN.

Narrator: THE FIRST EUROPEAN VISITORS

DESCRIBED THE MOAI AS STILL STANDING.

BUT WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DECADES,

MORE AND MORE WERE TOPPLED

UNTIL ALL LAY ON THE GROUND.

IF THIS WAS NOT THE RESULT OF CIVIL WAR,

WHAT WAS THE CAUSE?

ARCHEOLOGIST MACIEJ SOBCZYK EXPLORES THE VAST CAVE NETWORKS

THAT SNAKE BENEATH THE VOLCANIC ISLAND.

HE BELIEVES CLUES TO THE DEMISE OF THE MOAI

CAN BE FOUND UNDERGROUND.

[ SPEAKING SPANISH ]

♪♪

[ SPEAKS SPANISH ]

Narrator: THE ISLANDERS USED THESE CAVES

AS NATURAL SHELTERS, VAULTS, AND TEMPLES

FOR NEARLY 1,000 YEARS.

Narrator: BUT AFTER CENTURIES, THINGS SUDDENLY CHANGED.

MACIEJ HEADS DEEPER INTO THE CAVE TO INVESTIGATE.

Narrator: THE RAPA NUI USED THESE TUNNELS AS TOMBS.

THE AHU WERE THE BURIAL PLACES FOR THE ELITE,

BUT MANY ORDINARY PEOPLE WOULD BE INTERRED UNDERGROUND.

MACIEJ HAS DISCOVERED THAT DURING ITS FINAL CENTURY OF USE,

MORE PEOPLE WERE BEING BURIED HERE THAN EVER BEFORE.

WHAT COULD HAVE CAUSED THIS SUDDEN RISE IN DEATHS?

WHEN EUROPEANS FIRST DISCOVERED THE ISLAND

ON EASTER SUNDAY, 1722...

...THEY DESCRIBED HEALTHY NATIVES

AND A FERTILE LANDSCAPE.

EUROPEAN VISITS OVER THE NEXT 100 YEARS

BROUGHT DEADLY DISEASES LIKE TUBERCULOSIS AND SMALLPOX,

TO WHICH THE ISLANDERS HAD NO IMMUNITY.

AND IN 1862, PERUVIAN SLAVERS KIDNAPPED

OVER 1,000 RAPA NUI,

WHO WERE TAKEN TO WORK IN PLANTATIONS AND MINES.

ONLY 15 RETURNED ALIVE.

AFTER JUST A CENTURY OF EUROPEAN CONTACT,

THERE WERE ONLY 111 RAPA NUI LEFT.

THEIR CULTURE WAS ALL BUT WIPED OUT.

EXPLORATION OF THESE CAVES HAS REVEALED HUNDREDS OF SKELETONS.

MOST BELONGED TO THE FIRST GENERATION OF ISLANDERS

WHO CAME INTO CONTACT WITH OUTSIDERS.

THE RAPA NUI WERE BEING OVERWHELMED BY DISEASE.

Narrator: AS MORE AND MORE PEOPLE DIED,

RAPA NUI PRACTICES AND BELIEFS SUFFERED.

Narrator: WITH THE FATEFUL ARRIVAL OF THE EUROPEANS,

RAPA NUI SOCIETY WAS FINALLY UNDONE.

SOME EXPERTS SAY THAT AS THE POPULATION PLUMMETED,

THE ISLANDERS BELIEVED THEIR MOAI

WERE FAILING TO PROTECT THEM.

THE STATUES HAD LOST THEIR POWER AND WERE TOPPLED.

EASTER ISLAND WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN.

♪♪

THE HUNDREDS OF STONE STATUES LEFT BEHIND BY THE RAPA NUI

ARE THE LEGACY OF ONE OF HISTORY'S

MOST ADVANCED STONE AGE CIVILIZATIONS.

Narrator: EXPERTS ARE DIVIDED

ON EXACTLY WHAT WIPED OUT THIS ANCIENT SOCIETY.

BUT ONE THING IS CERTAIN --

THIS MYSTERIOUS PLACE STILL HAS SECRETS TO REVEAL.

Mulrooney: WHEN YOU'RE HERE ON THE ISLAND,

YOU CAN REALLY FEEL THE BIGNESS OF THE WORLD

AND THE SMALLNESS OF THE ISLAND.

IT REALLY IS LIKE NOWHERE ELSE.

♪♪

Narrator: WITH THE HELP OF TODAY'S RAPA NUI PEOPLE,

EXPERTS ARE PIECING TOGETHER

THE CLUES THEIR ANCESTORS LEFT BEHIND.

THEY'RE UNCOVERING THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY

OF EASTER ISLAND.

♪♪

THE MOAI OF EASTER ISLAND ARE AMONG

THE MOST ADVANCED STONE AGE MEGALITHS ON EARTH.

THEIR REMARKABLE CONSTRUCTION MARKS CENTURIES

OF STATUE-BUILDING EVOLUTION.

ALMOST OVERNIGHT, EASTER ISLAND WAS PULLED

INTO THE MODERN WORLD.

AND THOUGH THE MEMORY

OF THEIR TRADITIONAL WAY OF LIFE HAS FADED,

THE FACES OF THE ANCESTORS STILL WATCH OVER THE RAPA NUI.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪