Easter Island

Rock Art & Cannibalism

Evidence of Social Strife

Fig 6. Easter Island Rock Art

Fig 6. Easter Island Rock Art ...and... Fig 7. Easter Island Rock Carvings

As the moai were detroyed, the violence on the island became worse. It was said that the victors of fights between rival clans would eat their dead enemies to gain strength. There was other circumstantial evidence of cannibalism on the island also. The cave in figure 8 is called Ana Kai Tangata which is translated to "cave where men are eaten" and the inside is covered with ghostly pale pictures of birds flying upwards.
To confirm these legends, archaeologists later excavated bones on the island with markings typically associated with cannibalism.

Fig 8. Ana Kai Tangata Cave

Around the same time that the last of the moai were being destroyed, particular rock art and carvings begin to appear across the island. Nearly all of these depict, apart from birds in flight, a bird/man being. This pictures were related to the practice of a new religion which became known as the "Birdman Cult". Because this cult was practiced until relatively recently, it is fairly well documented. It consisted of an annual contest in which all rival clans would compete - the general object of the competition was to swim out to a nearby islet, search for the egg of the Sooty Tern and be the first to return. It seems that the Rapanui tried to ameliorate war through elaborate ritual, and, until the eventual permanent destruction of the people through the slave trade and disease of the late 1800's this seemed to be working.

Further information on Rock Art and Cannibalism can be found on the following sites -
Cannibalism I | Cannibalism II | Petroglyphs