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1. What surprised me the most about the topic is the fact that the mystery of how the statues were created and why they're we so many placed on the island,
is still unsolved. With so many researchers, scientists and theorists it's still baffling that their are still unanswered question.

2. This topic is interesting to me because I have always found ancient civilizations interest. I also found it interesting to discover that 5,000 people
permanently live on Easter Island even though it is 2,300 miles away from the coast of South America. Besides the fact their are so many stone statues that
we are still not sure their meaning, it is interesting to know how people can survive on such an isolated island.

3. I found it most interesting to research that their are 887 statues on the island. I found it interesting because the statues are actually all faced inwards as
the stones are believed to be reincarnation of ancestors and are faced that way as a way to watch over the villagers and protect them.

4. I am most likely to remember how the stones were created and carved from stone because it was not your typical way of creating statues. Normally you have
a chunk of stone and place it where you want it to be then carve a shape out of it, but instead the polynesians uniquely carved it out of the side of a
mountain then transported them.

5. I think the most harmful pseudoscience belief is Perception and Observation. I think this because memories and expeirences make our memories faulty and
75% of wrongful convictions due to eyewitness testimonies. This is harmful because lots of innocent people are put away for a crime they didn't commit
and even some people are given the death penalty and killed because of this. I think the least harmful pseudoscience belief is the unexplained. For
example, many mysteries about the stonehedge are unsolved simply because it cannot yet be explained, this does not cause harm to anyone and instead
just baffles peoples minds.

6. My family and friends are big believers in the paranormal. After taking this course, I think the most important thing to pass on is the Pseudoscience Red
Flags, specifically Proof of Verbosity and All Natural. I specifically identified those two red flags because my family members are easily gullible when large
amounts of infromation are given to support a claim and especially when products claim to be all natural which can certainly be a believable claim.

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Description:
The website explains the new 'theory' that the researchers at CNN have concluded. It explains that due to depletion of natural resources and fighting over land
Connection:
The website can cause some skepticism because it talks about the depletion of the human inhabitants of the island that began almost 900 years ago. One can be skeptical of this remark as almost 5,000 natives of the island still inhabit the island today. Ideology is also present in the article as CNN has appeared to make up their own set of ideas and explanations as to why they believe the polynesian seafarers left the island. Lastly, confirmation bias can also be demonstrated as the reporter of CNN continously talks about and elaborates on the theory of the CNN's researchers and does not gather any information outside of this.

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what  happened on easter island? new theory proposed - cnn

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What happened on Easter Island? New theory proposed

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For decades, mystery has swirled around what happened to the founding population of the remote Easter Island. A long-held theory suggests they destroyed their own society through infighting and a depletion of resources. But a new study suggests otherwise.

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Description:
The picture shows several statues lined up side by side on a stone wall over looking a piece of flat believe to have previously been home to a small village. It is believed that the statues represent ancestors who are looking over the people for protection.

Connection:
The picture coincides with agenticity because they believe the statues represent the reincarnation of their ancestors and have assigned them as higher being to watch over them. The Pseudoscience watchlist 'often appeals to emotion' and ancient wisdom is also evident in this picture because the statues were made in belief that they represent distant relatives that one would feel a connection to.

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Description:
The video demonstrates an archeologist who describes the true nature of how the stone were carved. They were carved out directly out of the mountain meaning the faced was carved out horizontally so that the creators of the stone could eventually climb over the face to get to the other side of the statue to detach it from the mountain of rock. The rock statues were then somehow transported to the selected destination on the island.

Connection:
The critical thinking process was applied to this belief when archeologists were recreating how the polynesians created the statues. It is evident that critical thinking was applied because the story can be backed up with evidence of other statues on the island being carved this way and the process is deemed logical. A flaw unfortunately for the creators of the statues is that the terrain on the island is very uneven, sometimes the statues would break during transportation to where they were being placed and the statues were break. Resulting in 2 years of work to create the one statues, gone to waste.

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How Were Easter Island's Gigantic Statues Actually Carved?

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Description:
The video illustrates the 5 different theories on how the giant statues were possibly moved from their creation site to all around the island. The theories include; aliens, not moving them at all, dragged along the ground, rolled over logs and stood up vertical while being pulled in a forward direction with ropes.

Connection:
Most of the theories seem ethically reasonable, although the aliens and not moving the stones at all can seem strange and unexplained. The theoriests at National Geographic are still not able to determine exactly how they were moved and must create an ideology to brainstorm these ideas and create some sort of hypothesized explanation. A limitation is that neither of these theories can be confirmed. It has not been determined yet which exact theory is true.

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Easter Island Animation—How Were the Giant Statues Moved? | National Geographic

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Description:
The website talks about how the British stole a seven-foot moai stone figure from Easter Islans in 1868. It then goes on to describe how the governer of the Island is pleading for the return of the statue back from the British. In his plea, he desribes the statue as being an incarnation of the island's ancestors and tribal leader. He states in the article, ‘We are just a body. You, the British people, have our soul’.

Connection:
The website connects to agenticity as the governor and the people of Easter Island have assigned this stone figure as being an agent of higher authority as it reflects their ancestors. As he goes on to explain its importance as being his ancestors, an emotional connection can be made. The governer also plays on the emotional story that his grandmother died and was never able to meet her ancestor as the stone is located in England and is very far away from Easter Island. Lastly, the website also connects with the Pseudoscience watchlist because it 'convinces by faith and belief' of people claiming the statue is a reincarnation of tribal leaders and ancestors. The governer wants people to believe the stone has meaning by playing on the beliefs of his people.

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In an emotional plea to the British Museum on Tuesday, the governor of Easter Island (known as Rapa Nui in the local language) has asked the British Museum to return one of their most spiritually important stone figures saying: 'We are just a body. You, the British people, have our soul'.

The seven-foot basalt moai figure, known as 'Hoa Hakananai'a', which means 'lost or stolen friend', was taken without permission from the remote Chilean island in 1868 by the British frigate HMS Topaze. It was then presented to Queen Victoria, who gave it to British Museum in 1869. It now stands at the entrance to the Wellcome gallery.

The moai, which date from between 1100 and 1600 CE, were made by ancestors of the islanders to remember dead relatives. Many islanders believe that the statues are an incarnation of their ancestors or tribal leaders. There are hundred scattered across the remote Pacific island, however this statue is one of only 14 statues made from basalt, with other examples carved from softer volcanic stone.

A delegation from the island, including Carlos Edmunds, president of the council of Rapa Nui elders, Felipe Ward, Chile's minister for national property and governor Tarita Alarcón Rapu, travelled to London this week to make the case for the statue's return.

'My grandma, who passed away at almost 90 years, she never got the chance to see her ancestor,' Rapu told reporters, after meeting with delegates from the British Museum. 'I am almost half a century alive and this is my first time' he continued. 'I believe that my children and their children also deserve the opportunity to touch, see and learn from him.

Ward said: 'This is the first of many conversations we will have. We are looking forward to the next, and probably the second one will be in Rapa Nui, where we invited the authorities of the museum.'

This is the first time that the British Museum, which controversially holds objects of significance to many cultures, has agreed to hold talks about the sculpture. However, talk has thus far only concerned loans, rather than the return of 'Hoa Hakananai'a'.

A spokesperson from the museum said: 'The museum is one of the world's leading lenders and the trustees will always consider loan requests subject to usual conditions'.

'Hoa Hakananai'a' is free to view and is among the most popular and most photographed exhibits with our six million visitors each year'.

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Governor of Easter Island Makes Emotional Plea for British Museum to Return Spiritually Important Sculpture

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In an emotional plea to the British Museum on Tuesday, the governor of Easter Island (known as Rapa Nui in the local language) has asked the British Museum to return one of their most spiritually important stone figures saying: 'We are just a body. You, the British people, have our soul'.

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Description:
The picture demonstrates a the head of the statues being pulled back by rope and what appears to be a large piece of candy inserted into the head. The picture is making fun of the statues in a way as to what there use is for by demonstrating it was used as a candy holder.

Connection:
As humans we sometimes associate mysteries with our every day life. In relation to the picture, we are using patternicity to relate the mystery of the statues to what we know as a PEZ candy dispenser - which often children use to store sweet treats. Another red flag is confusion of correlation with causation just because the picture jokes about this being the reason the statues were built, doesn't mean it actually happened. Skepticism can also be applied as one would have doubts that this theory is mearly a hoax and nearly impossible for this to be true as it is unlikely the ancients created them for this reason.

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Description:
The Picture demonstrates the circle in the picture as being the earth and how the body of the statues found on Easter Island are massive in size. They are so massive in fact that the toes of the statue reach all the way to england and protrude out of the earth to form what is known as Stonehenge - which can be seen in the upper right picture. The picture also demonstrates fingers protruding out of the earths surface further below the island on what is called Punta Del Este, which is a beach in Uruguay that depicts what appears to be fingers coming out of the sand.

Connection:
The picture connects to the suppression by authorities because maybe perhaps this is true. The geographical areas of stonehenge and Punta Del Este match up with the location of the statues placed on Easter Island. Perhaps people might think the authorities don't want you to know the truth behind the statues. A flaw is that their is no one able to authenticate this picture. Of course, it is just a cartoon drawing, but perhaps with no little research found to be successful about the statues, their is no way to uncover if this is true since it is nearly impossible to dig up that much of a statue.

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Description:
The video describes gives great detail about the statues on the island. It also goes into great detail about the facts and mysteries that present itself. The video also explains the multiple theories that give a possible explanation as to how the statues on Easter Island came to be.

Connection:
The video connects to the unexplained because it explains the multiple mysteries associated with the island. It gives detail about how the head statues have actual stone bodies attached to them underneath the ground. It explains how some theories believe that aliens created the statues. Due to many theories that explain the statues were created by the use of slavery, etc,. Ancient Wisdom comes into play. It can be thought that some people believe the ancients contained more knowloedge than modern science and believe that human sacrafice and slavery were the cause of the statues on Easter Island. Applying the critical thinking process to the creation of the statues - evaluating the sources and evidence, recognize assumptions, emotions and bias and consider alternative explanations (aliens, slavery) Applying the critical thinking process would likely debunk many theories.

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Description:
The website how researchers have solved one mystery about how the statues have appeared on Easter Island. It describes the gardens, crop and the two types of polynesian seafarer ancestors believed to have inhabited the island. The website then goes on to describe how the underground freshwater streams attracted the seafarers to inhabit the island almost a thousand years ago.

Connection:
The website connects to the Red Flag Red Herring because instead of answering the question about how the statues appeared on the island, the article continously throws irrelevant pieces of information at you about the island being full of beautiful gardens and the great environment to grow crops instead of answering the real question . A limitation of the website is that it only talks about the two types of ancestors and the underground freshwater streams. It does not explain the mystery of the statues.

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When it comes to (CNN) - Easter Island's towering stone heads, there's now one fewer mystery to solve.

Researchers have long puzzled over why the huge statues were placed where they are. However, a new study says the people of Rapa Nui, as the island is called in the local language, positioned them near sources of humanity's most vital resource: fresh water.

Archaeologists studied the location of the statues, or moai, and the platforms on which many of them stand, known as ahu. Polynesian seafarers first arrived on Rapa Nui, 2,300 miles off the coast of Chile, approximately 900 years ago.

They then went on to construct more than 300 ahu and almost 1,000 moai, which are believed to represent significant ancestors.

The authors of the new study, published in the journal PLOS One, sought to understand the distribution of the ahu in order to further understand their creators.

Study co-author Carl Lipo, professor of anthropology at Binghamton University, New York, told CNN: "That knowledge would tell us something about how the early people of Rapa Nui used the landscape and what they found important."

Researchers from six US institutions isolated an eastern area of Rapa Nui, containing 93 ahu. They analyzed the natural resources near the ahu, focusing on rock mulch gardens in which crops like sweet potatoes were grown, marine resources including sites for fishing, and sources of fresh water.

There proved to be no significant correlation between the location of the ahu and the presence of nearby gardens, suggesting that the ahu were not situated in order to monitor or signal control over these resources.

While both marine resources and fresh water sources were found near the ahu, the researchers concluded only the latter was significant; after all, both typically occur in the same locations and fresh water was much less widely available.

The research team mapped the island -- which has no streams or springs -- for sources of fresh water. They discovered that it emerged from underground in areas along the coast, through a process called groundwater discharge.

"Fresh water would literally come out right between the coast and the ocean in a stream. We'd see horses drinking out of the ocean, and it turned out they knew exactly where the fresh water was coming out," said Lipo. That explained the high concentration of moai and ahu along the coast, the researchers inferred.

Inland statues, too, could be connected to fresh water: they were found to be situated near caves, or other fresh water sources.

The findings suggest that Rapa Nui's moai and ahu were valuable beyond their ancestral significance to the island's early people, the study authors concluded.

"Building the statues wasn't inexplicable behavior, but something that was not only culturally significant but central to their survival," Lipo said.

Next, the researchers hope to further understand why such vast, elaborate statues were constructed. If their primary function was to indicate or claim ownership of a fresh water source, Lipo said, a simpler construction would surely suffice.

"It's incredible how much energy went into them," he observed. "The statues and the ahu themselves weren't just a single event -- they made the statues and these platforms to put them on, and then remade the platforms and additional statues to put on them."

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easter island statues: one mystery solved by researchers - cnn

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One mystery of Easter Island's statues finally solved, researchers say

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Researchers have long puzzled over why the huge Easter Island statues were placed where they are. However, a new study says the people of Rapa Nui, as the island is called in the local language, positioned them near a vital resource.

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Made by Erin Kemp, working individually