As the old ways waned, a new set of beliefs arose, known as the Birdman Cult. This was believed to have centered around a new class of warriors and venerated the god Makemake (pronounced "maw-kay maw-kay").
Activity for the Birdman Cult was centered at the Orongo ceremonial village, perched in a dramatic location at the edge of a volcanic crater. The picture below gives you an overview of the area; the volcanic crater rim is at left, and the village continues on toward the right; the lookout just right of center is where most of the interesting birdman petroglyphs (rock carvings) are at.
One of the symbols you see everywhere at the Orongo site is the birdman, basically a man with the head of a frigate bird. Here's a:
Southwest of Easter Island, below the Orongo site, are three small islands which are shown below. The biggest one, Moto Nui (farthest away of the three below), played a role in the important birdman ritual. There would be an annual contest where people would swim to the big island of Moto Nui and return with the egg of a sooty tern. The first one back with an unbroken egg would be designated the birdman, and receive great honor and power for the year, although much of it would have to be spent in ritual seclusion. The rocks on the right show more birdman petroglyphs.
Below you can see more petroglyphs on the foreground stones, and in the background you can see the round stone houses that people lived in during the birdman period.
Here's a closer look at one of the stone houses. At right is a peek inside the very low door; they would have had to crawl to get inside.
The birdman lives again!
The Birdman Cult was the last stage of indigenous Easter Island culture. While islanders had begun the collapse of their society, outsiders finished the job. During the 19th century, whalers began stopping at the island and brought venereal disease. Missionaries also came, which began to obscure knowledge about the old ways. But the greatest devastation was a raid by Peruvian slave traders who carried off some 2000 islanders, including the king, his son, and most of the educated people who knew the lore of the old ways. After a protest by the Bishop of Tahiti, there was an effort to return them, but by that time only 100 were left, the rest having died from labor conditions or disease. By the time they reached Easter Island, only 15 were still alive. But worst off all, they brought smallpox to the island and the population was brought down to only 111 (from an estimated prehistoric population of over 10,000). This is why there are so many gaps in our knowledge about the island's history and culture; most of the islanders who knew the history died from disease or were otherwise killed.
Now let's take a look at what Easter Island is like today.
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All content copyright 2003 by Christopher A. Flaat.