Northern Chile - Easter Island
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Easter Island is a destination that seems to inhabit our
subconscious. The image of those great stone moai with their backs to
the vast Pacific strikes some chord within us, recalls some ancient, creative
urge.
This is the world's most isolated bit of land, a tiny
pinprick in the great pacific, a mound of consolidated lava and ash from
three submarine volcanoes. The natives call their island Rapa Nui or Te
Pito o Te Henua, 'the navel of the earth.'
Linguistic and cultural comparisons indicate that the
first humans on Easter Island arrived from the west, most likely from
the Marquesas islands or Mangareva, as part of a greater migratory process
which spread Polynesian culture throughout the south Pacific. However,
the twelve centuries which elapsed between the arrival of the first intrepid
'settlers' near 500 AD and the 'discovery' of the island in 1722 by the
Dutch admiral Jacob Roggeveen are among the world's great mysteries.
Visit-Chile.org has also provided
a photo
gallery of over 90 of the most stunning scenic photos
ever published anywhere. |
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