Page "Thor Heyerdahl" Paragraph 20

In Easter Island: The Mystery Solved ( Random House, 1989 ), Heyerdahl offered a more detailed theory of the island's history.

Based on native testimony and archaeological research, he claimed the island was originally colonized by Hanau eepe (" Long Ears "), from South America, and that Polynesians Hanau momoko (" Short Ears ") arrived only in the mid-16th century ; they may have come independently or perhaps were imported as workers.

According to Heyerdahl, something happened between Admiral Roggeveen's discovery of the island in 1722 and James Cook's visit in 1774 ; while Roggeveen encountered white, Indian, and Polynesian people living in relative harmony and prosperity, Cook encountered a much smaller population consisting mainly of Polynesians and living in privation.