Where Is Easter Island?

Product Description Unearth the secrets of the mysterious giant stone statues on this tiny remote Pacific island. Easter Island, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean thousands of miles from anywhere, has intrigued visitors since Europeans first arrived in the 1700s. How did people first come to live there? How did they build the enormous statues and why? How were they placed around the island without carts or even wheels? Scientists have learned many of the answers, although some things still remain a mystery. Megan Stine reveals it all in a gripping narrative. This book, part of the New York Times best-selling series, is enhanced by eighty illustrations and a detachable fold-out map complete with four photographs on the back. About the Author Megan Stine has written several books for young readers, including Where Is the White House?, Who Was Marie Curie?, and Who Was Sally Ride?. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Where Is Easter Island? It was Easter Sunday in April 1722. Jacob Roggeveen had been sailing for more than eight months. He was the commander of three Dutch ships. They were searching the South Pacific for parts of the world that had never been seen or explored. Roggeveen hoped to find a huge, legendary continent that many believed existed. It was called Terra Australis. Other explorers had searched parts of the South Pacific, but no one had found it yet, or mapped the area correctly. That Easter Sunday, Roggeveen and his crew were a thousand miles from anywhere. Suddenly, they spotted land. What could it be? There was smoke rising in the distance, which meant people lived there. But what kind of people? Some of the natives in the Pacific islands were peaceful and friendly. But others were not. Jacob Roggeveen had heard stories about cannibals! No one knew how his crew would be greeted by the islanders. Roggeveen decided it was better to wait until morning before he and his men went ashore. He named the island Paasch Eyland—the Dutch words for Easter Island—since that’s the day he had arrived. The next morning, the weather was rainy—not the best time to put small boats into the water. And besides, his men were nervous. Maybe they should wait another day. But natives on the island had seen the Dutch ships offshore and were eager to find out who these strange visitors were. So one of the island people got into a canoe. He paddled out to Roggeveen’s ship and climbed aboard. He was totally naked! He was also friendly and warmhearted. He danced and sang with the sailors. They played a violin for him and gave him small gifts, including a mirror and a pair of scissors. The man seemed so happy, he didn’t want to leave. They had to force him into his canoe to make him go back to the island. He motioned for them to follow. It was several more days before the Dutch would finally set foot on the island. When they did, they found something amazing—something no one had ever seen or imagined. Lining the beach were giant stone statues, as tall as three-story buildings. Some were twenty or thirty feet tall. Others were just huge heads, buried in the sand up to their necks. How did the statues get there? Who carved them? The islanders had no modern tools. They had no carts with wheels. They lived in simple grass-covered huts. How could they possibly have carved these huge blocks of stone? How could they have moved such heavy pieces of stone at all? Roggeveen saw only a few of the statues. He didn’t know there were more than nine hundred of them! They were scattered all over the island. How they really got there, and why, is just part of the story—and the mystery—of Easter Island. Chapter 1: Stranded on a Remote Island Easter Island is in the middle of nowhere. If you look at a map of the world, the island is so tiny, it’s barely even a dot. Lost in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, it’s more than two thousand miles west of South America. The nearest islands are the Pitcairn Islands—more th