THE TITLE OF FAGAN'S BOOK, "The Long Summer. .. " refers to global warming that began some 18,000 years ago with the end of the last Ice Age, and which has since continued. According to the author, Earth's climate has shaped civilizations. Fagan states: "Climate is, and always has been, a powerful catalyst in human history ...."</p

Lee, Georgia

English

eVols at University of Hawaii at Manoa

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH (IN ANTHROPOLOGY/ARCHAEOLOGY) ON EASTER ISLAND IN THE FUTURE?I have so many possible research projects on Easter Is-land it would make your head spin. If there were five MA stu-dents who wanted to work on Easter Island, I could give themeach a viable project in the next 6 minutes. Give me fivemore, and it will take about 10 minutes and a lecture to getthem started.I have four concise ideas about what I would like to doin the future, all small but critical projects to answer one, two,or three straight forward questions about Easter Island's pre-history, but I have also seen that, among several Easter Islandresearchers, that my ideas have become their project and so,reluctantly, I won't mention them at this point. Sadly, I'velearned to distrust publicizing one's future plans. Geology,also, is becoming somewhat similar but it has taken two dec-ades to catch up.WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?I have just finished "In the Heart of the Sea", by Phil-brick, am nearly finished with "Krakatoa" by Winchester, andam starting "White Rivers & Black", by MacCreagh. ~The Long Summer: How Climate ChangedCivilisationBrian FaganBasic Books. Perseus Books Group, New York. 2004ISBN 0-465-02281-2252 pp., plus notes and index. Hard coverReview by Georgia Lee, Ph.D.THE TITLE OF FAGAN'S BOOK, "The Long Summer. .. " refersto global warming that began some 18,000 years ago with theend of the last Ice Age, and which has since continued. Ac-cording to the author, Earth's climate has shaped civilizations.Fagan states: "Climate is, and always has been, a powerfulcatalyst in human history ...."Well-researched and written, this book is classic envi-ronmental determinism: history as shaped by climate - and astudy of climate change aimed for those who are concernedwith the future of civilization. Never mind Genghis Kahn, cli-mate is the major player in the fall of civilizations.Climatic studies provide some really dreadful warningsand this book puts them out there for us to ponder. Over mil-lennia, civilizations arose, people ravaged their local habitats,and then found themselves vulnerable to climate shifts; whenthe climate changed, the civilization ended. Ancient Egyptwas once in a benign Sahara - but it was turned into a desert.And, once a society is on the edge of environmental vulner-ability, it takes very little to push it over: a change in weatherpatterns, a drought, or a 500-year cold snap (such as happenedin Europe in the 14th century).This book presents a haunting chronicle of our planet'spast, and the impact on our frail species. While Fagan doesnot address Easter Island, he does explore the effects of EINino on the Pacific Ocean and its associated landmasses. Thebottom line is that, despite a long history of overpopulationand deforestation, we still have not learned to live reasonably.We have not learned from the past but have only increased thescale of our vulnerability. Sea levels rise, icecaps shrink, andthe world's population is placed in a global experiment of un-guessable consequences. Fagan writes, "Civilisation aroseduring a remarkably long summer. .. We still have no ideawhen, or how, that summer will end."ImJBetween Nature and Culture;The Burial of the Placenta in French Polynesia(Entre nature et culture - La mise en terre du pla-centa en Polynesie franfaise)Bruno SauraHaere Po, 2003. P.O. Box 1958 - 98 713 Papeete, TahitiSoftcover, 162 pages ISBN 2 904-171 54-6Translation and Review by Ann M. Altman, Ph.D.Tms BOOK, BY A PROFESSOR at the University of French Poly-nesia in Tahiti, is both fascinating and frustrating: fascinatingbecause of the subject matter and frustrating because of thepresentation. The book deals in exhaustive detail with the cus-tom, widespread throughout the Pacific, of ceremonial dis-posal of the placenta and umbilical cord after the birth of achild, which often, in Tahiti, occurs in conjunction with theplanting of a tree. However, while the details of such prac-tices, comparisons among Pacific islands, and analogies are ofgreat interest, the book is written, somewhat disconcertingly,in three languages, namely, French, English and Tahitian,with frequent inclusion of Tahitian words in parentheses whenthe text is in English or French. Moreover, while there arenumerous subheadings in each chapter, the book lacks an in-dex so that the copious information in each section is rela-tively inaccessible.To add to the confusion, there is a brief Summary of top-ics covered at the front of the book and a more comprehensiveTable of Contents at the back. It is only from the Table ofContents that it becomes clear that some of the contributionsto the book are not by Saura and that many of them have beenpublished elsewhere. Moreover, some of the material appearsin both French and English; some appear only in French; andsome appear in both French and Tahitian.It is certainly kind of Saura to provide translations ofsome of the material but it is unclear why only some of thetext is translated and some is not. For example, one wonderswhy the lengthy discussion with Robert Koenig (the Directorof the Haere po Press), printed in French at the end of thebook, is translated into Tahitian but not into English, whileone chapter by Saura is translated into English and others arenot. A contribution in English by Georgia Lee is translatedinto French but the work of Pascale Bonnemere is only acces-sible to those who read French.But now, having given full vent to my frustrations, Ishall focus exclusively on what is admirable and interest-Vol. 18 (2) October 2004 134 Rapa Nui Journal1Lee: The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilisation (Review)Published by Kahualike, 2004

The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilisation (Review)

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The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilisation (Review)

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