Island at the Edge of the World

Pitts, Mike. Island at the Edge of the World: The Forgotten History of Easter Island. New York : Mariner Books 2026. Print.

First Sentences:

This story about statues begins on Easter Sunday, 1722, on what was then the remotest inhabited island on Earth. This was the day the first European set eyes on Rapa Nui, the start of the final century when Islanders were in control of their own world. It was the day when everything about the island began to change, so that within a few generations no one there could say what the statues meant or who made them.

Description:

No one can deny a secret fascination with Rapa Nui (Easter Island). After all, it's a barren island thousands of miles from the nearest land, with no trees, few inhabitants, and hundreds of huge stone statues of heads and bodies scattered throughout the land. How was this island ever discovered and by whom? Where did all those people go? Why are there no trees? And, of course, who carved the gigantic heads and for what purpose?   

 

Mike Pitts, in his extensively researched Island at the Edge of the World: The Forgotten History of Easter Island, looks deeply into original documents recorded by the first seamen who came across Rapa Nui in the 1700s, as well as the diaries and notes taken by early researchers, Katherine and Scoresby Routledge, who in 1910 lived for months on the island with to study and understand its people, culture, and history. DNA and radiocarbon dating were also studied. He also included research by Thor Heyerdahl from the 1960s, although Pitts feels many of Heyerdahl's conclusions, while extremely popular with the public, were based on legends, misconceptions, and racism which perpetuated many untruths about Rapa Nui and its history.

 

Little is known of Raga Nui prior to 1760, with only scattered eye-witness records of Europeans from 1722 on and before the slave traders, missionaries, and South American governments took a self-centered interest.

 

Author Pitts divides Island at the Edge of the World into sections to explore several major questions. He focuses his studies about each subject on related hard evidence and original documents to draw conclusions based on facts rather than legends and unsupported rumors:

• First settlers? - Pitts research indicates that Polynesians were the first settlers around 1200. They were masters of navigating long distances and had already colonized other islands using huge outriggers that could carry sufficient men, women, and children as well as animals, tools, and food to start a colony. Easter Island culture is full of Polynesian art, building style, traditions, etc.

• First Europeans? - In 1760 a Dutch East Indian Company ship stumbled upon the island on, guess what, Easter Sunday, 1760. Other voyages followed, including those of James Cook and explorers from other countries as well. Pitts searched out these first-hand observations as the most reliable accounts of island life and people.

• What happened to the people? - Pitts found records indicating the immediate influx of Peruvian slave traders who captured most of the population as slaves. A decade later when the Chilean government passed laws to stop this human trading and return captured islanders, the released captives brought back diseases which decimated the population even further. The arrival of Christian missionaries spread more disease, further diminishing the culture and population. Investors bought the abandoned homes and gardens of deceased islanders and turned it into sheep-grazing land, destroying cultural centers, farms, houses, and religious symbols. The island was "sold" by the Chilean government in 1897 to one man who turned all the land to sheep grazing. The population was rounded up and placed in a single large community behind walls and not allowed outside that compound. Only a hundred or so people survived in 1877, down from an estimated population of 6,000  only a decade ago.

• Who built the stone heads (moai) and why? - Although the earliest interviews with the islanders were recorded by the Routledges in 1910, the current people did not know the origin of the carvings and purpose even at that early date. Recent carbon dating puts the stone carving between 1200-1680CE. Pitts concludes that the slave trade removed the men who knew how to carve the statues, as well as those who understood the purpose and traditions the carvings represented. Recent archeological digs have uncovered human bones at the foot of these stone heads, indicating the giant heads might be grave markers and protectors of ancestors.

• How were the statues moved? - Almost 1,000 heads were found scattered all over the island. They must have been moved from the quarry to their varied locations. But this barren island never provided enough trees to use as rollers under the statues, a difficult undertaking with any trunks that were not perfectly cylindrical. Rope-walking the heads was also tricky as statues were likely to fall, unable to be raised again. Pitts tested and soon felt the answer was sleds made of palm fronds and a couple of trunks which could easily slide the heads into desired locations.

• What new research is there? - DNA and radiocarbon dating have become very sophisticated, allowing anthropologists and archeologists solid data on the age of the stone carvings, the tools used, the ancestral history of the surviving people through buried bones, and the beginning of understanding of the few pieces of writing and pictures found.

Each of Pitts' conclusions was reached after exhaustive research into ancient records and visits to Raga Nui himself. Interestingly, he located records from Katherine Routledge, (the first person to actually study the island and culture), including her diaries, maps, statue counts and descriptions, sketches of petroglyphs, and interviews with natives. These documents had long before been seized and suppressed by her husband, Scoresby, after he had her forcibly committed her to an asylum for her paranoid behavior. Pitts also visited and described what few artifacts exist in museums around the world, including several carved heads, some untranslated writing on wood planks, and a feathered helmet.

 

Sorry this review is so long, but it is a fascinating subject full of thorough research clearly presented to try to unlock the secrets of Rara Nui. Many of Pitts' findings counter Heyerdahl's and other popular theories, with Pitt feeling these accounts relied on unproved rumors and conjectures by the writers, and did much damage to the real story of these islanders by suppressing the cruel influence that Europeans had thrust upon them. 

 

So read or at least skim this book for what I consider the true history, culture, and fate of this most mysterious of isolated islands: Rara Nui, also known as Easter Island. 

   

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:]

 Heyerdahl, Thor. Easter Island: The Mystery Solved

Read Heyerdahl's own explanation of the history of Easter Island, the stone carvings, writings, and original settlers. He proposes very different answers to the questions raised about the island, its people, and carvings. (Note: Mike Pitts, in the above book, thinks Heyerdahl is mistaken in almost ever explanation he proposes, but it is interesting to contrast their research and conclusions.)  (Previously reviewed here.)

 Happy reading.

Fred

[P.S. Click here to browse over 500 more book recommendations by subject or title and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader.]

My First Hundred Years

Murray, Margaret. My First Hundred Years. London: William Kimber 1963. Print.

First Sentences:

I always think that an autobiography should begin with some account of the forebears and immediate family of the writer so that one can understand some of the early influences which have affected the writer and have helped to make him what he is. My ancestral tree is a very short one going back to only one set of great-great-grandparents, about two hundred. I have quite undistinguished lineage...

Description:

I sought out Margaret Murray's autobiography My First Hundred Years after reading The Dictionary People by Sarah Ogilivie, and discovered Murray was a contributor of more than 5,000 entries to the original Oxford English Dictionary. The words and definitions she sent to the editors (after the call went out to the general public for assistance in finding new items), focused on India where she was born and spent much of her life, as well as her field of Egyptology and also witchcraft. Better still, I found OED contributor Murray had written her autobiography at age 100, something I felt would be extremely interesting to peruse.

And she did not disappoint. Her memory is remarkable for a centenarian (or for anyone for that matter), and her writing style exquisite: free-flowing, descriptive, chatty, and full of interesting details of life as a woman archeologist in that very new field.

Born and raised in Calcutta, India, to wealthy parents, Murray was educated in London where she became interested in archeology, a class she only had taken on a whim. The professor, Sir William Petrie, a pioneer of the new field of Egyptology, took Murray under his wing. She edited and illustrated his writings, eventually accompanying Petrie to Egypt as a site nurse. There she absorbed his methods and discoveries at various sites and soon grew to be a qualified archeologist in her own right. She became a teacher of Egyptian linguists and translator of hieroglyphics at the University of London.

What I loved about her recollections was her attention to details and personal feelings. She related memories of the visit to India of the Prince of Wales, where attending Maharajahs competed to out-dazzle each other in their dress. For example, the Maharajah of Patiala wore a coat with "fronts, color, cuffs, and hem embroidered with gold thread and peals, [and] round his neck he wore at least four graduated rows of diamonds, the longest reaching nearly to his waist."

Her early home life included eating with small silver cutlery (larger ones were never adopted by her father) and, at the end of the meal, having the visiting servants of the invited diners carefully frisked for any valuable spoons they might have pocketed. Her mother encouraged a broad education without focus on a single subject, a technique that so limited Murray's brilliant sister Mary she never could focus on one skill and thus was unable to rise to her potential in piano, mathematics, or language. Murray also recalled tales of the horrific Indian Mutiny as related by her grandmother.

As an Egyptologist, Murray translated inscriptions found in tombs, uncovered a major temple to Osiris constructed by the Pharaoh Seti I, and was the first woman to unwrap an Egyptian mummy. 

Murray later became an ardent supporter of women rights and suffrage, including pushing for acceptance of women in academia and archeology. She expanded her on-going interest in folklore to include witchcraft, a topic on which she wrote many books as well as the entry for the Encyclopedia Britannica on that topic.

Hers was an amazing life, one that is now available to lucky readers to delve into the world of nineteenth century India and twentieth century (and centuries-earlier) Egypt. I was totally fascinated to "listen" to her recall story after story, detail after detail, of the worlds she knew and was eager to share. A lively, lovely story of an important woman's world and achievements. 

 

[If this book interests you, be sure to check out:] 

  

Ogilivie, Sarah. The Dictionary People.    

Carefully details the lives of those people from the general public who contributed words, definitions, and sources for terms to be included in the original Oxford Dictionary. (previously reviewed here)

Happy reading.

Fred

 

Click here to browse over 465 more book recommendations by subject or title

(and read the introduction to The First Sentence Reader).

Four Lost Cities

Newitz, Annalee. Four Lost Cities: A Secret History to the Urban Age. New York: Norton 2021. Print

First Sentences:

I stood on the crumbling remains of a perfectly square island at the center of an artificial lake created by hydraulic engineers 1,000 years ago.


Description:

Ancient people, civilizations, and cities have always fascinated me since traveling in my youth to climb around the Mexican pyramids of Chichen Itsa and the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, AZ. Nearby today, there are ancient mounds near my home in Ohio. These relics always whisper of mystery, intrigue, and wonder as viewers try to imagine the people, culture, and engineers who constructed and lived with these monuments to human achievement. 

 

Science journalist Annalee Newitz is a like-minded person. In her book Four Lost Cities: A Secret History to the Urban Age, she thoroughly researches four great ancient cities: the 7,000-year-old Neolithic site of Catalhoyuk, Turkey; the 2,500-year-old Pompeii; the Cambodian city of Angkor (from 1,000 years ago); and Cahokiawith, with its pyramids and mounds in southern Illinois, also inhabited about 1,000 years ago.

 

For each city, she interviewers researchers, anthropologists, archeologists, and other scientists to piece together what is known of these ancient urban areas. Always, she visits the sites, picking up details about the people who lived there as she paints a realistic picture of what their lives were like. 

For Pompeii, a scientist who studies the ancient roads, told her he noticed the ruts were the same distance apart, showing all carts were uniform in wheel base. He also noted that curbs were worn down on the right side, revealing that vehicles often cut corners while turning right, gradually eroding the curbs. No such breakage occured on the left curbs. The implication was that traffic direction flowed from the right side, like traffic in the United States, rather than from the left side as in England. Who could not enjoy reading about such details?

In Catalhoyuk, thought to be one of the first cities in the world, Newitz researches the causes behind why humans who settled there switched from being wandering nomads to creators of a cluster of permanent shelters. The next question she explores is why these early city-dwellers  chose to remain in the same location for thousands of years, building and then re-building on top of the foundations of their old cell-like homes (after filling in the old unit with all their trash to serve as a more solid foundation). 

After carefully assembling this scientific data of the cities and people, Newitz uses other interviews with experts to try to understand why these thriving urban developments were later abandoned. Was the emptying of the city a sudden geological occurrence as with Pompeii, or did the departure of inhabitants occur over many, many years as the artifacts from Angkor and Catalhoyuk suggest? Environment? Politics? Food shortage? Fire? Other factors?

 

Four Lost Cities is a thoroughly engrossing book, clearly-written and understandable to non-scientists like me. Newitz has a passion for history, people, behavior, and cities that shows on every page. If you are intrigued by history, people, culture, and unraveling mysteries, this is the book for you. Highly recommended.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Preston, Douglas. The Lost City of the Monkey God.   

In 2012, author Douglas used sophisticated lidar radar from a plane to locate a lost city densely covered and forgotten by the forest of Honduras. Rumors of the fabulous riches of the "White City" have been whispered since the  days of the Spanish conquistadors. This book details the true adventures, dangers, ferocious animals, disease and other challenges experienced in the exploration Douglas undertakes to rediscover this ancient, sprawling city.   (previously reviewed here)

 

Tip of the Iceberg

Adams, Mark. Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000-Mile Journey Around Alaska, the Last Great American Frontier New York: Crown 2018. Print.

First Sentences:

Our two-person kayak skimmed the surface of Glacier Bay's glassy water, the bow pointed like a compass needle at the rocky lump of Russell Island.

The sun was out, always a pleasant surprise in Southeast Alaska ...

Description:

One thing I love about travel writer Mark Adams is his ability to make me want to binge read an entire book in one sitting. Combining history and current travel adventures with humor and curiosity, he always lures me deeper into his experiences and mind no matter what lands he is describing. His latest travel book, Tip of the Iceberg: My 3,000-Mile Journey Around Alaska, the Last Great American Frontier, is no exception, and certainly holds it own with my previous favorite of his, Turn Right at Machu Picchu.

In 1899, Edward Harriman, the multimillionaire railroad magnate, designed and embarked on a unique voyage up the coast of Alaska. Known as the Inside Passage, the route was little explored much less studied. Harriman, supposedly on vacation from his wheeling and dealing with railroad expansion, converted a steamship into a luxury liner and embarked on the two-month voyage. He also invited noted scientists in biology, geology, and ecology, along with famous photographers and writers including John Muir, to accompany him and study and describe to the public this wild area.

Kyle [Adams' guide] pointed out a mountain that had never been climbed, one of thousands of such peaks in Alaska.

In Tip of the Iceberg, Adams decides to retrace Harriman's trip, using rickety ferry boats and kayaks to duplicate the route of these scientists. Adams, not a camper or explorer, brings a novice's eye to the daily experiences, both awe-inspiring and tawdry. In addition to his own adventures, Adams weaves in historical anecdotes from the original 1899 expedition, with stories about each city, the Alaskan locals and native Tlingit people, but best of all the mountainous glaciers. 

Glaciers play a large role in his narrative. Much of Alaska was formed by glacial movements carving valleys and wearing away gigantic mountains. The essays from the first expedition from John Muir, a glacier expert, are astonishing. Climbing monstrous glaciers in freezing rain and snow storms, Muir noted the size of Alaskan glaciers, named several (including Muir Glacier, the biggest one, of course), and measured their retreat (three miles) when he returned 20 years later. Adams writes with awe about his own first sighting of these mountains of ice, watching the calving of ice breaking off glaciers (and the huge waves that form as a result), and calculating, like Muir, their retreat from their position 110 years ago (over 30 miles).

Along the way, Adams talks to many of his fellow passengers and local residents. From Mounties to museum directors, fishermen to kayakers, they all have colorful stories to share that Adams passes on to us, his lucky readers. We learn: 

• For some time now, Alaska has been warming twice as fast as the rest of the United States, including the growing season expanding by 45%, and plants and animals migrating to the north in record numbers;
• Facing down a bear is like facing down a drunk: You just have to bluff that you're tougher than he is.
• Salmon fisherman can make "ten grand in a few busy weeks;" 
• Every person of the Alaskan population pays no state income tax, but receives a yearly payout from oil companies of between $1000 - $2,000;
• Tlinglets, the "uncivilized native tribes" according to the 1867 laws, were subject to all laws and regulations but were denied "all the rights, advantages, and immunities of citizens of the United States....They were barely tolerated guests in the home they'd occupied for thousands of years;"
• At northernmost villages, the entire local population boards any boat that enters their port to eat the hamburgers offered by the galley. It's a rare treat for places with no restaurants and few groceries.

Like Alaska, this book is too rich to fully describe here in a few paragraphs. But I highly recommend it for anyone traveling to Alaska to get to know what they are in for (the good as well as the quirky), and for those like me who enjoy armchair adventures and travel experiences. A binge-worthy addition to any travel reader's collection.

You can be in awe of the beauty, but you have to remember that things can go from "Ooh, aah!" to "Oh, shit!" in an instant.

Happy reading. 

Fred

Other book recommendations
About The First Sentence Reader blog

____________________

If this book interests you, be sure to check out:

Adams, Mark. Turn Right at Machu Picchu  

Author Adams retraces the 1911 trip in the Peruvian Andes of Hiram Bingham that led to the discovery of Machu Picchu. Adams is a wonderfully entertaining writer, combining historical antedotes with funny, fascinating experiences from his day-by-day hike with an eccentric, enthusiastic guide. (previously reviewed here)