Societal Collapse
Greenland
Easter Island/Rapa Nui
Easter Island
-the most isolated populated island in the world
Settled by Polynesians around 400 AD
Population at Peak 10000-30000 (about 450 people per
Square km) in 12-15 different chieftans.
Famous for
Stone statues
Purpose for statues is unknown…it is thought
that warring tribes competed by building
Bigger and bigger statues
Chicken Barns
Chickens were the only domesticated
animal on the island (besides rats), and the
easter people build thousands of barns out
of rock to contain and protect them (from thieves)
Easter Island Size
Made from Volcano’s
Is 25 by 15 km’s
Freshwater streams only flow when its raining. Besides that, people have to collect fresh
water at low tide from underground streams that flow into the ocean between the high and
low tide levels
Soil is fertile, yet the climate is cold (similar to Maine)
Islanders ate mostly
- Sweet potatoes
-fish and dolphin
-chicken
-ducks
After cutting down the last of the trees, the Islanders could not longer build rafts/boats.
With there being no trees left, erosion washed away most of the soil. The duck population
quickly vanished.
By studying the bones left in their garbage heaps, the population switched from eating fish
and dolphins, to chicken and humans.
Lack of food resulted in a population crash around 1400 AD and societal collapse. All of
the statues were knocked over as people rebelled against their chiefs.
First contact with Europeans in 1770, resulted in most of the population dying from
smallpox.
1862 – Peru slave ships took 1500 people as slaves in Guano mines
By 1900, only 120 people were left on the island. Starving and living in caves along cliffs
for protection.
A popular insult “The flesh of your mother hangs in my teeth”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hO-vCPuuQQ
A popular event in Easter Island Birdman Competition
One male from each tribe would run/swim/climb to a nearby island and get a newly
hatched egg. (the waters were shark infested).
The contestant would then run/swim/climb back to the start of the race and present
the unbroken egg to the Head Chief of their tribe.
The winner would be regarded as an image of God for the whole year and their tribe
would be the head tribe for the year. Everything was done for the winner. They were
fed, washed, clothed for the entire year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nQPLO6eAAg&feature=related
Easter Island Today
Belongs to Chile
Tourism is the biggest industry
Most of the island has been converted to sheep farming (the sheep ate most of
the remaining indigenous bushes and shrubs)
Mangareva, Pitcairn Island,
Henderson Island
These island now belong to French Polynesia, but for centuries were on their own
All three island settled around 300 AD
Mangareva is has a large lagoon and coral reef (15 miles in diameter), where countless fish
and oysters can be found. Lots of quality farmland. People grew mostly sweet potatoes
and coconuts, as well as pigs and chickens
Mangavera has lots of food, but does not have the resources to make stone tools (as a
volcanic island, it’s rocks were weak). Tools needed to make fish hooks, scissors, shovels to
farm the land
Population 50,000 at its peak
Stone tools in Mangareva were
Pitcairn – only 2.5 miles wide
No freshwater streams
Large forests
No reefs for oysters or fish
Steep hills offering limited farming land.
But, it had a quarry of volcanic glass, that could be used to make stone tools, scissors,
scapels, etc.
Had a quarry of basalt, used to make shovels, axes, etc
Pitcairns volcanic glass and basalt can be found as far away as
New Zealand
Populaton at peak – 1,000
Henderson 14 miles wide.
Is not a volcanic island, but made up of a raised
coral reef
No freshwater
No big trees
Limited farming land
Surrounded by a huge coral reef, where lots of fish
and oysters live.
Lots of Sea Turtles and Birds nest here.
Max Population about 200 People
All three islands, Mangareva, Pitcairn Island, Henderson Island, relied on each other
for survival.
Around 1600’s, Mangareva’s population outgrew the island. Pigs had eaten most of
the wild food, rats ate most of the birds eggs, and wars broke out over food
resources.
All the trees were cut down. Soil erosion washed away most of the soil (they didn’t
have the tools to farm the land anyway)
By 1797 when Columbus came to the island, the islanders had only rafts made of
grass.
With no rafts, trade collapsed between the three islands.
With no trade, Mangareva eventually used up all their volcanic glass and
basalt. Farming and fishing came to a halt.
With no trade, the people on Pitcairn had all the volcanic glass and basalt they
could use, but had nobody to trade with for food…they starved.
On Henderson, the population had no large trees to make their own
boats…they died out
By 1810, all the populations of Pitcairn and Henderson had died out and
Mangareva’s population was reduced to only several hundred.
Today
Henderson is a nature reserve
Pitcairn was settled by mutineers from the Bounty (current population 100)
Mangareva is part of French Polynesia and is a tourist attraction (for the very rich)
Ireland
Ruled by the British
In 1760’s potatoes, imported from Chile, became the main food grown by
the poor. They ate potatoes three meals a day.
Population exploded with the arrival of potatoes in early 1670’s from Chile. Population grew
from 1 million to over 8 million
1845 Blight Arrived and caused every single potato to rot
The rich did not eat potatoes and were not affected. They continued to export Wheat, cows
and sheep to Britain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvBcMGa7QIM&feature=related
1846 Blight caused every single potato to rot
The population tried to revolt, but the British (with their guns)
prevented them
1847- All potatoes rotted
The Great Hunger
The Great Hunger; Ireland 1845–1849
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LtW7g4os8
In Ireland, Land Owners owned the land. When the peasants crop failed three years in a
row, the landowners began kicking all of the peasants off their land. Landowners wanted
this to happen as they could make more money raising sheep then taxing the peasants.
1.5 million people left Ireland for US, Canada and Australia between 1845 and 1849, with
another 2-3 million dying from hunger
1850 Population was 8.3 million
1890 Population was 4.5 million
Between 1850-1870 another
1 million Irish Immigrated
How were the Irish Treated in US and Canada ??
Chicago, Toronto and New York all had riots
break out as the citizens did not want the Irish
refugees moving into their towns.
The Irish Ghetto in Toronto is called Cabbage Town
(the area smelt like cabbage as that’s the only
Food the Irish could afford)
Cabbage Town today in Toronto
Haiti and the Dominican Republic
One Island with two very different outcomes
Island of Hispaniola
Haiti
French speaking
Poorest country in North America (almost the world). Has the highest rates of Malaria, AIDS
and tuberculosis in North America.
Settled by African slaves kidnapped to work in sugarcane fields.
Lies on a fault line, making it prone to earthquakes. They
are too poor to build earthquake proof homes.
Is dry land with little rainfall except during the rainy season.
1% of the country is forested
Main source of heat and cooking is charcoal (charcoal is made from
burning wood to a particular point, letting it cool for several days, then
setting it on fire again)
Haiti farmers farm sugar cane primarily…thus they need to import food
to eat. Most of their food comes from government aid organizations and
relief efforts.
Poor farming habits, led to severe erosion. Silt eroded into the rivers,
causing major floods as the river levels rose.
Silt led to massive fish die off in lakes and rivers in Haiti
Dominican Republic
Spanish Speaking
Was ruled by a dictator “Trujillo”, who was ruthless and killed off much of his population.
He was a killer, yet an environmentalist, who created massive state parks. Anyone who
built or hunted in the parks was killed/imprisoned, and their buildings where burned
down.
Medium poor country (People can afford to heat their homes and cook food with oil), …
thus they have much more forested land.
People can afford to build better homes to withstand earthquakes.
Currently
28% of the country is forested
More rainfall throughout the year means the land is more productive. Rivers
are pristine, full of fish and do not flood their banks too often.
Farmers grow a variety of food. Farmers grow enough food to feed the
population and export the rest for extra cash
DR is a major tourist destination
Rwanda
Societal collapse turns into anarchy !
Genocide happened in 1994
Pre 1994
Rwanda is known as the garden of Africa..growing lots of tea, coffee and bananas.
Rich fertile lands. With the arrival of wheat, corn, and potatoes, in 1800’s and free medicare
in the 1950’s a population explosion resulted (1740 people per square km in 1988, rising to
2040 in 1993) (China is only 300 people per sq km and PEI 24.7 per square km)
Every available piece of land in the country became farmland.
Bigger families, resulted in farmers splitting their land up between more sons…resulted in
smaller and smaller fields = less food per person
Two main tribes..Hutu and Tutsi
Main difference was their height and body build. They spoke the same language, same
religion, lived in the same communities. The Twa ( a third cultural group stayed out of
the fight)
Sharp division and hatred between the two going back hundreds of years.
With population explosion, land became scarce and valuable.
In 1993, 100% of sons in early 20’s still lived at home (no land or jobs were available)
Without land or a job, these men were single.
1992 Hutu militia bought 581,000 machetes (they are cheaper then guns)
In 1993 the Hutu attacked the Tutsi and killed 800,000 as well as 200,000 moderate
Hutu’s (15 % of the total population of Rwanda)
In many villages, only the Hutu’s who owned land were killed
The slaughter only stopped when a Tutsi army from Burundi (neighbouring country)
invaded the country. The Tutsi army retaliated and killed about 60,000 Hutu’s
Over two million Hutu’s fled Rwanda into the Democratic Republic of the Congo
They are still there and started a war in 1998. Between 3 - 5.4 million people have died.
The East part of the country (bordering Rwanda) is in chaos. Most of the villages, towns
and cities have been burned. Most of the native population has fled west.
DR Congo is the rated by the UN as the most dangerous country in the world to live.
Parents are often killed and their children are used as child
soldiers (cheap and easy to control)