The OTHER Amazing Thing Easter Islanders Did with Rocks

Did the Easter Islanders really cause their own civilization's collapse? Probably not. In fact, they used rock gardens to grow food sustainably on the island of Rapa Nui for centuries.

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Sources:

[cosmoplakat]

As a freshwater fishkeeper who adores aquatic plants that are usually planted in inert gravel, this isn't surprising at all! Just add fertilizer and fish poop and voilà! These people made advanced gardens to deal with the irrigation issue, another layer of innovation! ❤

[josecorchete]

This technique is used to grow vineyards in Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands.

[caspenbee]

What a clever system. I know a lot of fields in dry, windy places where this could be useful. In irish myth the Fir Bolg used a similar strategy with seaweed to add organic matter and minerals.

[Crembaw]

Human consumption doesn’t have to be greedy to exceed an ecosystem’s rate of recovery, that was never the insulting part of the hypothesis. The insulting part was that people assumed this nonwhite civilization descended into brutal war and cannibalism as a result, despite no real evidence to suggest it. When last I checked there seemed to be no real evidence that the loss of palm trees affected their population figures at all, but ample evidence that they were dramatically impacted by diseases from contact with outside visitors.

[p.-npcg.]

This is used in decorative gardening, when the plant is planted into shallow soil some rubble with or without an intermediate layer is placed around the stem to protect the roots from heat and excessive rain that could splatter out any loose ground

[ziggybender]

Random theory: what if the 3 styles of rock garden were actually done in phases where they'd start with boulders but before the organic matter and nutrients are gone they break the rocks down into their next smaller phase and add in organic matter at the same time, the rock dust and fragments would further feed that plot. Then again when the time comes the rocks get broken up in place again into the fist sized pieces and organic matter added. + there could be a 4th stage of breaking them down into dust and fragments that is no longer detectable by archaeologists in any form that suggests design. It'd explain them lasting more than just 3 generations on a garden like the Chinese saying suggested.

[ikocheratcr]

Missed opportunity: When life gives you rocks => one makes stone soup. Stone soup is a very good soup, an no one complains it is missing something they had added if it was them. :)

[AquibMohammedAyman]

Growing beans in limited irrigation / dryland farming in southwestern US is a good idea as they are both heat tolerant and drought tolerant. Another surprising candidate is okra, which loves full sun, is heat tolerant, and do not like waterlogging and so it is possible to grow in a limited irrigation system. They are not suitable for dryland farming and are not common here though.

[macsnafu]

What's really amazing is how easy it is to overlook the obvious. Anybody can add rocks to a small vegetable garden. You don't a lot of money, people, or technology to do it.

[JimFortune]

Here in Poland many farmers cultivate large fields of rock gardens. Not on purpose...

[Nouvellecosse]

If there are any Rapa Nui gardeners watching, you guys rock!

[LukeBunyip]

In Central Australia, car parts from old wrecked vehicles are used instead of mulch to protect seedlings. Apparently ants would steal the traditional mulch made from chopped up vegetivative waste

[bruce-le-smith]

As someone who has been on a gravel kick in my garden for the past couple of years I see this as a total win.

[Delekhan]

We love you Savannah! Thanks to you (and the whole SciShow team)! Much love!

[tellmeaboutyourgame]

Stonework like the iconic statues doesn't evolve in a vacuum. I'm certain that they were masters of the craft in ways we'll never know

[ikeekieeki]

human resourcefulness and innovation is awesome

[jameslmathieson]

I would think that modern mechanization would make large scale rock farming viable. You absolutely could build a tractor attachment to scrape the top soil, filter out rocks, apply a treatment like compost to the soil, and lay it all back down in the desired mixture and layers. The machine would take a beating, but humans have gotten pretty good and moving dirt and rocks around.

[christopherg]

"If all you got is rocks, every problem looks like a building challenge."

[alittleofeverything]

The collapse of the ecosystem on that island doesn't necessarily mean that the inhabitants were greedy with the tree resources. The whole ecosystem got flipped upside down from outside sources.

[sharonminsuk]

Having trouble paying attention to what you're saying because I'm stuck on something you said early on – about the rats that stowed away on the boats of the first Polynesian settlers. How much is known about the size and complexity of the boats (or ships, perhaps), that those settlers used? I always imagine this migration throughout the Pacific as happening on fairly small craft, but now I'm questioning whether that is just a chauvinistic assumption on my part. Because when I picture rats in a small boat, I imagine they would not really have anywhere to hide, and they would have been seen, and either thrown overboard or eaten. Doesn't the idea of stowaway rats surviving a long sea voyage suggest that these were quite large and complex ships? I would like to see a video about *_that._* I wonder if their technology was a lot more advanced than I was aware of.