Easter Island: Scientific Exploration into the World's Environmental Problems in Microcosm

Rating:
Summary: A List of Errors
Review: This is not so much a review as a list of errors I encountered while reading "Easter Island: Scientific Exploration into the World's Environmental Problems in Microcosm". Some of the errors may seem minor, some are glaring, and some of simply odd. It's as if the editors really didn't do much editing. Not only is the writing rather clumsy and amateurish throughout (especially when John Loret is involved), but it seems as if the authors and editors didn't really do their homework when it came to prior research on the island. In the end, a good (even a mediocre) proof-reader would have made a big difference. (I haven't encountered this many problems in one book on this subject since Jo Anne Van Tilburg's "Easter Island".) Not that this book doesn't have anything interesting to contribute, but I eventually became distracted by the number of problems -- and, while I don't necessarily subscribe to the view that because a book has a handful of typos, it lacks substance (after all, the biggest fool can say the sun is shining but that doesn't make it dark outside), as my list grew in length I did begin to wonder about the quality of the research itself. More than likely I'll need to re-read the book, and try to focus on the larger issues.

Here's the list...

* Page vii: In an effort to reinforce the theme of Easter Island as microcosm, it is asserted that the Rapanui had the option to migrate to other locales, in contrast to the people of the Earth generally who have no where to go -- which essentially flies in the face of the closed system Easter Island is supposed to represent in this context (to say nothing of the fact that subsequent visits to, and departures from, the island probably never occurred because of the extreme isolation and difficulties involved in contact from such distances); ironically, later, on page 187, it is asserted that the Rapanui had "no other place to go".

* Page vii: Stonehenge is misspelled "Stone Henge".

* Page 2: Leica (camera manufacturer) is misspelled "Lica".

* Page 19: Petroglyphs is spelled "petrographs" (though throughout the rest of the book it's spelled "petroglyphs").

* Page 48: Papa Vaka is spelled "Paka Vaka" (this happens elsewhere as well, including in the index on page 236).

* Page 54: In a description of the Birdman competition, the hopu is referred to as a warrior rather than a surrogate and "presumably" climbed down the cliff face at Rano Kau; why "presumably"? has anyone suggested they dove off the cliff face? or that they reached the islet by boat from other parts of the island?

* Page 93: Caste is misspelled "cast".

* Page 95: Moai hands are described as being over the "groin area" -- essentially correct but in so far as the belly is believed to be the seat of the soul, the hands are really over the belly (if, yes, "above" the groin area).

* Page 95: Bas relief is misspelled "base relief".

* Page 98: There are repeated references to "verbal traditions" when what is probably meant is "oral traditions". Believe it or not, there is a difference between "verbal" and "oral".

* Page 98: It is asserted that Sonia Haoa, not Sergio Rapu, discovered the mata at Anakena. While Sonia Haoa was involved in the discovery (along with six other eye fragments), the point isn't so much the discovery but identification -- and that credit belongs to Rapu.

* Page 113: Isla de Pascua is referred to as "Isla Pascua".

* Page 225: Moai Kava Kava is misspelled "Mai Kava Kava".

* Page 235: Motu Kao Kao is misspelled "Motu Kau Lau".

* Page 235: Motu Tautara is misspelled "Motu Taurara".

* Page 239: Roggeveen is misspelled "Toggeveen" (moreover, while the index entry for Roggeveen lists several pages where the name appears, "Toggeveen" lists a page where Roggeveen appears but it's not listed in the index under "Roggeveen").

* Page 161: Figure 5 shows a picture of the beach and ahu at Anakena but the caption describes it as "Tongariki".

* Page 185: A chapter photo refers to the largest moai on the island (Tongariki) but for some reason doesn't actually identify it by name.

* Page 209: The legend of the Long Ears vs. Short ears is resurrected but, aside from a single line stating there is some dispute about the legend, there is no discussion about the etymology of the terms in use or the erroneous earlier interpretations of the meaning.

* Despite commenting about the detrimental impact of tourists touching the moai, there is a photo (Plate 1) showing someone actually hugging a moai at Rano Raraku.

* The caption for Plate 2 misspells Rano Raraku as "Rano Ravaku".

* The caption for Plate 7 misspells Motu Nui as "Motu Nai".

* Varying from chapter to chapter, Rano Kau appears as "Rano Kau" and "Rano Kao" (though, admittedly, Routledge is probably to blame somewhat for this).

* Varying from chapter to chapter, Puna Pau appears as "Puna Pau" and "Punapau" (somewhat understandable given Polynesian compound terms but it's the inconsistency that bothers me).

* Varying from chapter to chapter, El Niño appears with and without the tilde. (Accent and diacritical marks very from chapter to chapter as well.)

* The size of the island in square kilometers or miles varies depending on the chapters.

* The index lists entries inconsistently: there are entries for "Ahu Nau Nau" and "Anu Nau Nau III" (but no "II") and yet, later on, there are entries for "Nau Nau East" (?), "Nau Nau I", "Nau Nau II", "Nau Nau III", and "Naunau Site".

* There are frequent references to Bahn & Flenley's "Easter Island Earth Island" but relatively little of the other major "players" in EI publications -- and yet it seems as if information from Bahn & Flenley didn't entirely filter down to these chapters (e.g., the legend of the Long Ears vs. the Short Ears).

* The blurb on the back cover suffers from serious problems in punctuation and grammar.