In this set of materials, both the Reading passage and the lecture discuss about extinction of the Moai

island population. The author of the reading passage argues that their monolithic constructions
implies the collapse of the culture. On the other hand, the lecturer believes that it was not due to the
constructions.

First, the author of the reading passage states that the construction of the sculptures of the Easter
islands implies the waste of natural resources, he also observes that the Moai sculptures construction
entail the waste of wood to transport those heavy stones. He also mentioned that for that reason the
islands lost their forest. The lecture challenges these allegations by indicating that the deforestation of
the island did not are due to the construction of tracks to transport the monolithic, he points out that the
transportation of it were made by ropes that did not need wood.

Second, the author of the reading passages refers to the destruction of the environment of island. He
reveals that apart from the deforestation the island lost some species like de migratory birds. In addition,
he mentions that the lack of the trees produces an arid land. The lecture casts doubt on these claims, by
observing that the loss of the forest were due to rats that where bring to the island by the first visitors as
food.

Third, the author of the reading passage mention that in the moment in which the island where visited by
the first Europeans the population were only two thousand, furthermore, this population decrease rapidly
and the residents of the island as did not have food descend into cannibalism. The lecture contradicts
these points, bay claiming that the population was the largest in the history of the island at the moment it
was discovered.