ENST 201 1st Edition Lecture 2 Outline of Last Lecture I Introduction II Cornucopians III Malthusians IV Neo Malthusians Outline of Current Lecture I Thoughts on Easter Island II The Beginnings of Easter Island III Contributions to the Failure of Easter Island IV Lack of Resistance against the Failure of Easter Island Current Lecture I II III Thoughts on Easter Island a Cornucopians i Believe Easter Island is not relevant to today s society because they were pre enlightenment and pre literate societies b Cultural Anthropologists i Refute the fact that Easter Island ever happened 1 They are bothered that environment can play a role alongside culture 2 Their ideals are threatened by anything that can influence human destiny besides human culture The Beginnings of Easter Island a Lush and fertile but oceanic geography caused ecological limitations which lead to the absence of large mammals i The island was only inhabited by migratory birds b Hard to cultivate life on the island because i Forest consisted of mostly small trees only one tall tree and was not very diverse ii No reef around island so only small fish were around Contributions to the Failure of Easter Island a Inhabitants on Easter Island cut down large palms to build canoes for deep sea fishing i Eventually they cut down trees faster than the trees replacement rate These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute IV b The inhabitants brought chickens rats and root crops to establish themselves on the island i The rats destroyed the large palms that were used to build canoes which also contributed to the rapid rate of deforestation on Easter Island ii They used slash and burn agriculture to grow their crops worked at first but as the population grew they left decreasing lengths of regrowth time between slash and burn cycles c As population grew self rule failed and there was increasing amounts of unrest which lead to fragmentation i The population broke into different clans who competed against each other by building the large statues that are now found on the island 1 The larger the status the higher the status of the builders d They practiced exogamy i Basically men stay in the family and women married out into different clans ii Clans with the largest statues had the highest status so in an exogamist society their daughters would be more desired Lack of Resistance against the Failure of Easter Island a Jobs over Trees i Those in power crushed the resistance against their old ways because it was more beneficial to them to stay in power b The changes were gradual i No photos and short life span so it was hard for people to notice the difference c Inhabitants could not just leave the island like the migratory birds i They were too isolated ii Had no more canoes or materials to make more canoes
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