Versatility Of Diets.

The Polynesian rat commonly traveled with humans on ocean voyages and like any other rat, multiplies rapidly when it arrived on a new island. On Easter Island Scientists compared teeth from 41 skeletons excavated from the island, done with animal bones found there. Amy the curator of the Idaho Museum of Natural History at Idaho State University, told book club
'Traditionally, from Polynesian cultures you have a heavy predominance of using marine products, especially in the early phase of there colonization.' She said one reason people did not eat seafood is that the north of the island contains steep cliffs and these would have been difficult to fish from. Its southerly latitude may make it cooler and made it more effective for fishing, she said.
 'Because of their geographic location and climate conditions, there just weren't as many marine products for them to get'. Curator said some of the skeletons studied by this researchers shows these cultures appeared to eat more fish than others. The reports suggest that fish eaters may have lived on a part of the island where fishing was easier than eating rodent as it was a mark of having a 'higher status'. 

Ancient inhabitants of Easter Island lived off local rats, according to scientists who analysed the teeth of 41 skeletons. Here is a martian prayer house as under ground tunnels mine for there existence see photo has a save us god blessing.
Easter Islanders lived off rats, scientists discover after analysis of their teeth of 41 skeletons. Researchers compared skeleton teeth with animal bones from island. Discovered many people used Polynesian rats as source of protein. Despite living on island, inhabitants rarely appeared to eat fish.

The island, also called Rapa Nui, first settled around A.D. 1200, is famous for its more than 1,000 'walking' Moai statues, most of which originally faced inland. Researchers compared the teeth that had been excavated previously to animal bones unearthed on the island. Inhabitants on the remote Easter Island - famous for its Moai statues (pictured) - lived on rats. By looking at the nitrogen and carbon isotopes of each, they round that Polynesian rats, also known as kiore, was one of the main sources of protein in the first few centuries of the island's history. The rat is somewhat smaller than European rats and, according to ethnographic accounts, tasty to eat.

Located in the South Pacific, Rapa Nui is the most isolated inhabited landmass on Earth and the closest inhabitants are located on the Pitcairn Islands about 1,200 miles to the west.
The researchers were also able to radiocarbon date 26 of the teeth remains, allowing them to plot how the diet on the island changed over time. Radiocarbon dating works by measuring the decay of carbon-14, allowing a date range to be assigned to each individual Report co-author John Dudgeon, from Idaho State University, told book club that rats should not be underestimated in their value as a food resource.
Researchers said catching a rat to eat may have been easier - and tastier - than catching a fish. He said for the people who lived on Rapa Nui, 'it was probably easier to go get a rat than it was to go get a fish.'
 In some cases, the rats were probably transported intentionally to be used as food, something supported by ethnographic accounts stating that, in some areas of Polynesia, rats were being consumed at the time of European contact. Additionally, previous research has suggested the rats were at least partly responsible for the deforestation of Rapa Nui. The research, which was published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, also found that islanders rarely ate seafood but added to their diet with chickens and C3 plants, such as sweet potatoes, bananas and yams.