MYSTERIES OF EASTER ISLAND Laura Hamilton Waxman masin Lerner Publications Minneapolis
INTRODUCTION ENCOUNTERING A MYSTERY On Easter in 1722 a fleet of three Dutch ships was exploring the southeastern Pacific Ocean The fleet's commander Jacob Roggeveen was searching for an undiscovered continent that the Dutch thought might exist in the area Instead Roggeveen and his men spotted a small island Roggeveen named it Island Easter
As the Dutch ships drew closer to the island the sailors noticed smoke rising into the air The smoke signaled that people were living there But the island itself looked empty with dry grass and few trees When Roggeveen and his men came ashore they met a community of perhaps two thousand people They also saw something that struck them with awe hundreds of giant statues stone
