A new theory about who built the iconic human figures on Easter Island has shocked the archaeological community.
Most historians agree that the stone structures were built by the Polynesians about 900 years ago. However, Graham Hancock, British writer and explorer, claims that they are more than 11,000 years old.
Easter Island is home to approximately 1,000 large stone heads, known as Moai, spread throughout the island.
Hancock maintains that the island was settled and the statues built about 12,000 years ago, and that a population remained on the island to eventually encounter the Polynesians.
His theory is based on a study that suggests banana plants were present on Easter Island at least 3,000 years ago. He uses this to argue that plants (and a pre-existing population) arrived 12,000 years ago, at the end of the last Ice Age.
‘What I am suggesting is that the Polynesians found a pre-existing population on that island, evidenced by those bananas (remains)… present there at least 3,000 years ago,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘And that from that pre-existing population they inherited the oldest traditions and songs that we see today.’
Hancock also proposes that the Easter Island statues are probably much older than the platforms, called Ahu Vinapu, on which many of them sit, noting that the two feature different construction techniques.
What IS the origin of the statues on Easter Island?: Graham Hancock appears in front of the statues that, he maintains in his new Netflix series, were made by an ancient civilization that arrived on the island about 12,000 years ago.
The claims are part of Hancock’s ‘Lost Ice Age Civilization’ hypothesis, which suggests that a highly advanced ancient civilization existed before the end of the last Ice Age.
This theory has reached millions through the Netflix series ‘Historic Apocalypse’.
However, it has been criticized by many archaeologists who argue that there is insufficient evidence to support Hancock’s claims.
According to Hancock, the statues are single, smooth works, while the platforms are much rougher, built from stacked stone fragments.
In one case, a platform even reuses the head of a Moai statue.
Dr. Dale F. Simpson Jr., an archaeologist who has studied the Moai, refuted Hancock’s claims. He noted that similar stone statues are found on many other islands, including Hiva Oa in the Marquesas Islands and the Raivavae Islands.
These statues are also positioned in a manner comparable to those on Easter Island, with their hands clasped around their bellies and featuring the same elongated figures, suggesting a potential connection between their builders.
‘(Easter Island) It’s one of the most incredible places on planet Earth I’ve ever been to. “It is riddled with mystery,” Dr. Simpson said. “But sometimes people take microbits of data and turn them into macro interpretations to support claims that are not fully substantiated.”
Easter Island is one of the most remote islands on Earth, located about 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) from the nearest landmass, the Pitcairn Islands, and more than 2,100 miles (3,500 kilometers) off the coast of Chile.
Hancock pointed out the location of the heads on the island and said some were on platforms while others appeared to be scattered randomly. He used this to suggest that some might have been moved at a later date.
The above is a map of the positions of the stone heads on Rapa Nui. Hancock noted that some were on stone platforms while others were scattered seemingly at random.
Both Hancock and archaeologists agree that the fact that anyone ever reached Easter Island is nothing short of a “miracle.”
However, unlike academics, Hancock suggests that the island was inhabited much earlier.
He cites a 2013 study of a soil core from the crater of the island’s extinct volcano, which indicates that banana plants, a species that could not have crossed the ocean without human intervention, were present on the island 3,000 years ago.
A second study, published in 2008, showed that the island was populated by various shrubs and herbs (plants potentially consistent with human presence) around 14,000 to ten,000 years ago.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, archaeologists raised concerns about the 2013 study, noting that sediments, particularly in flooded areas such as craters, can change over time.
This movement could cause remains, such as those of banana plants, to settle in much older layers, creating an inaccurate impression of the island’s flora and fauna during a specific period.
Dr Simpson added that evidence shows that six species of large flightless land birds existed on the island more than 1,000 years ago, a finding that is not usually consistent with human presence.
Famously, the Dodo, a large flightless bird, survived in Mauritius for thousands of years, but became extinct 80 years after the arrival of Dutch sailors.
Additionally, there is no evidence of pigs, dogs, cattle or other large animals typically associated with human presence on Easter Island several thousand years ago.
Easter Island vs Marquesa Islands: The statue on the left is on Easter Island and the one on the right is from Marquesa Island, about 3,600 kilometers away. Archaeologists said the two were similar. The statue on the right is about 1,000 years old, and archaeologists say the one on the left is about 600 years old.
The above shows a stone figure in Raivavae, Polynesia. The photograph was taken between 1913 and 1915.
The image above shows the side of the main volcano on which the Easter Island heads were carved.
In the Netflix series, Hancock highlights oral traditions on Easter Island that describe people arriving from an island called Hiva, which flooded and forced its inhabitants to relocate.
Hancock interprets this as a reference to massive flooding at the end of the last Ice Age, when global sea levels rose 400 feet, submerging low-lying, fertile areas where humans likely lived.
It suggests that when the first settlers arrived, Easter Island was probably larger due to lower sea levels and tectonic plate movements. He theorizes that most of the population lived in the now submerged low-lying areas.
Dr. Simpson responded that extensive research has been done in the waters surrounding Easter Island, including diving expeditions in the 1970s and 1980s and explorations by the Chilean Navy.
Above shows the stone altar with fitted blocks, which Hancock suggests was built by a different culture.
But around the sides and back of the sculpture, the altar is revealed to be filled with rubble, not unlike the other altars on the island. An Easter Island head also lies on its side
These investigations have revealed little evidence of human activity, except for a site used to mine obsidian, a substance comparable to glass, probably after the area was submerged.
No evidence has been found of additional statues or platforms, which might be expected if the island had been inhabited before sea levels rose.
When DailyMail.com presented the archaeologists’ response to Hancock, he said: “I see nothing in the ecology of the island that would rule out a human presence so far back, and I doubt anyone specifically looked for evidence of such early settlement.”
“I am not surprised that this inherited iconography appears in other parts of Polynesia, as well as on Easter Island.”
However, the Moai of Easter Island are so different from the anthropomorphic figures of the Marquesas and Raivavae that I think it is best understood whether they evolved completely independently of those figures,” Hancock said.
“However, they share a key element of the iconographic ‘DNA’ found scattered throughout the world and throughout history: hands placed near the navel.”
Hancock is now gearing up for a third season of Historic Apocalypse, which he hopes will focus on Ancient Egypt.
