The article “Adaptive Failure: Easters End” was written by Jared Diamond a professor of geography and physiology at the University of California. The article was written to raise awareness of man’s impact on ecology and the earth resources. In this article, he explores the reasons for the destruction of civilization in Easter Island. The end of Easter Island is an example of how people can destroy a prosperous civilization if they cannot adapt to the natural resources resourcefully.
The name of the island comes after its discovery by Dutch explorer Jacob Rogeveen in April 5, 1722. Easter Island lies in the Pacific Ocean 2000 miles west of the nearest continent, South America, and it covers 64 square miles of land. On Roggeveen’s arrival there were only a few grasses, sedges, ferns and insects, leading him to believe that its inhabitants had little or no means of life. There were no trees higher than 10 feet. The larger animal found was only the insects; and the chickens were the only domestic animals the islanders had.…show more content… They lacked the knowledge and materials to make sea worthy craft that was water proof. And only 3-4 canoes were noted on the entire island. The islands most famous artifact is its huge stone statues that stood lining the coast. More than 200 had once stood on massive platforms and at least 700 more in progress has been found abandoned on the island in quarries or along roads. Most of the statues had been carved from the same quarry and had heights of 33 feet, and weighed up to 82 tons. The abandoned statues were as much as 65 feet tall and weighed up to 270 tons. The island was prosperous and the civilization was in full bloom many years back. But, the destruction of the civilization has raised a lot of unsolved