Easter Island has suffered from heavy soil erosion in recent centuries, aggravated by massive historic deforestation alongside modern sheep farming throughout most of the 20th century. Jakob Roggeveen reported that Easter Island was exceptionally fertile. "Fowls are the only animals they keep. They cultivate bananas, sugar cane, and above all sweet potatoes." In 1786 Jean-François de La Pérouse visited Easter Island and his gardener declared that "three days' work a year" would be enough to support the population. Rollin, a major in the Pérouse expedition, wrote, "Instead of meeting with men exhausted by famine... I found, on the contrary, a considerable population, with more beauty and grace than I afterwards met in any other island; and a soil, which, with very little labor, furnished excellent provisions, and in an abundance more than sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants." The islanders' innovation of lithic mulching – the practice of covering fields with gravel or rocks to trap moisture and improve soil fertility – is a well-known and effective practice in dry areas of the premodern world.

According to Diamond, the oral traditions (the veracity of which has been questioned by Routledge, Lavachery, Mètraux, Peiser, and others) of the current islanders seem obsessed with cannibalism, which he offers as evidence supporting a rapid collapse. For example, he states, to severely insult an enemy one would say, "The flesh of your mother sticks between my teeth." This, Diamond asserts, means the food supply of the people ultimately ran out. Cannibalism, however, was widespread across Polynesian cultures. Human bones have not been found in earth ovens other than those behind the religious platforms, indicating that cannibalism in Easter Island was a ritualistic practice. Contemporary ethnographic research has proven there is scarcely any tangible evidence for widespread cannibalism anywhere and at any time on the island. The first scientific exploration of Easter Island (1914) recorded that the indigenous population strongly rejected allegations that they or their ancestors had been cannibals. A total of 887 monolithic stone statues have been inventoried on the island and in museum collections. Although often identified as "Easter Island heads", the statues have torsos, most of them ending at the top of the thighs; a small number are complete figures that kneel on bent knees with their hands over their stomachs. Some upright moai have become buried up to their necks by shifting soils.

Almost all (95%) moai were carved from compressed, easily worked solidified volcanic ash or tuff, found at a single site on the side of the extinct volcano Rano Raraku. The native islanders who carved them used only stone hand chisels, mainly basalt toki, which lie in place all over the quarry. The stone chisels were sharpened by chipping off a new edge when dulled. While sculpting was going on, the volcanic stone was splashed with water to soften it. While many teams worked on different statues at the same time, a single moai took a team of five or six men approximately a year to complete. Each statue represented the deceased head of a lineage.

Only a quarter of the statues were installed. Nearly half remained in the quarry at Rano Raraku, and the rest sat elsewhere, presumably on their way to intended locations. The largest moai raised on a platform is known as "Paro". It weighs and is long. Several other statues of similar weight were transported to ahu on the north and south coasts.

Possible means by which the statues were moved include employment of a miro manga erua, a Y-shaped sledge with cross pieces, pulled with ropes made from the tough bark of the hau tree and tied around the statue's neck. Anywhere from 180 to 250 men were required for pulling, depending on the size of the moai. Among other researchers on moving and erecting the moai was Vince Lee, who reenacted a moai moving scenario. Some 50 of the statues were re-erected in modern times. One of the first was on Ahu Ature Huke in Anakena beach in 1956. It was raised using traditional methods during a Heyerdahl expedition.

Another method that might have been used to transport the moai would be to attach ropes to the statue and rock it, tugging it forward as it rocked. This would fit the legend of the Mo'ai 'walking' to their final locations. This might have been managed by as few as 15 people, supported by the following evidence:

  • The heads of the moai in the quarry are sloped forward, whereas the ones moved to final locations are not. This would serve to provide a better centre of gravity for transport.
  • The statues found along the transport roads have wider bases than statues installed on ahu; this would facilitate more stable transport. Studies have shown fractures along the bases of the statues in transport; these could have arisen from rocking the statue back and forth and placing great pressures on the edges. The statues found mounted on ahu do not have wide bases, and stone chips found at the sites suggest they were further modified on placement.
  • The abandoned and fallen statues near the old roads are found (more often than would be expected from chance) face down on ascending grades and on their backs when headed uphill. Some were documented standing upright along the old roads, e.g., by a party from Captain Cook's voyage that rested in the shade of a standing statue. This would be consistent with upright transport.

There is debate regarding the effects of the monument creation process on the environment. Some believe that the process of creating the moai caused widespread deforestation and ultimately a civil war over scarce resources.

In 2011, a large moai statue was excavated from the ground. During the same excavation program, some larger moai were found to have complex dorsal petroglyphs, revealed by deep excavation of the torso.

In 2020, a pickup truck crashed into and destroyed a moai statue due to brake failure. No one was injured in the incident.

<gallery align="center" caption="Moais" widths="180px">

File:Kneeled moai Easter Island.jpg|Tukuturi, an unusual bearded kneeling moai

File:Ahu-Tongariki-2013.jpg|All fifteen standing moai at Ahu Tongariki, excavated and restored in the 1990s

File:Ahu-Akivi-1.JPG|Ahu Akivi, one of the few inland ahu, with the only moai facing the ocean

</gallery>

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Ahu (stone platforms)

thumb|right|Two ahu at [[Hanga Roa. In foreground Ahu Ko Te Riku (with a pukao on its head). In the mid-ground is a side view of an ahu with five moai showing retaining wall, platform, ramp and pavement. The Mataveri end of Hanga Roa is visible in the background with Rano Kau rising above it.]]

Ahu are stone platforms. Varying greatly in layout, many were reworked during or after the huri mo'ai or statue-toppling era; many became ossuaries, one was dynamited open, and Ahu Tongariki was swept inland by a tsunami. Of the 313 known ahu, 125 carried moaiusually just one, probably because of the shortness of the moai period and transportation difficulties. Ahu Tongariki, from Rano Raraku, had the most and tallest moai, 15 in total. Other notable ahu with moai are Ahu Akivi, restored in 1960 by William Mulloy, Nau Nau at Anakena and Tahai. Some moai may have been made from wood and were lost.

The classic elements of ahu design are:

  • A retaining rear wall several feet high, usually facing the sea
  • A front wall made of rectangular basalt slabs called paenga
  • A fascia made of red scoria that went over the front wall (platforms built after 1300)
  • A sloping ramp in the inland part of the platform, extending outward like wings
  • A pavement of even-sized, round water-worn stones called poro
  • An alignment of stones before the ramp
  • A paved plaza before the ahu. This was called marae
  • Inside the ahu was a fill of rubble.

On top of many ahu would have been:

  • Moai on squarish "pedestals" looking inland, the ramp with the poro before them.
  • Pukao or Hau Hiti Rau on the moai heads (platforms built after 1300).
  • When a ceremony took place, "eyes" were placed on the statues. The whites of the eyes were made of coral, the iris was made of obsidian or red scoria.

Ahu evolved from the traditional Polynesian marae. In this context, ahu referred to a small structure sometimes covered with a thatched roof where sacred objects, including statues, were stored. The ahu were usually adjacent to the marae or main central court where ceremonies took place, though on Easter Island, ahu and moai evolved to much greater size. There the marae is the unpaved plaza before the ahu. The biggest ahu is and holds 15 statues, some of which are high. The filling of an ahu was sourced locally (apart from broken, old moai, fragments of which have been used in the fill).

thumb|right|A Hare Moa, a Chicken House, image cut from a [[3D scanner|laser scan collected by nonprofit CyArk.]]

Stone walls

One of the highest-quality examples of Easter Island stone masonry is the rear wall of the ahu at Vinapu. Made without mortar by shaping hard basalt rocks of up to to match each other exactly, it has a superficial similarity to some Inca stone walls in South America.

Stone houses

Among the various structures, the hare paenga, hare oka, tupa, hare moa, and the distinctive stone houses of Orongo village stand out for their unique designs and functions.

The hare paenga, commonly referred to as "boat houses," were the predominant residential structures in ancient Rapa Nui. Their design featured an elliptical foundation constructed from meticulously dressed basalt slabs, known as paenga stones, which supported a thatched roof resembling an inverted boat hull. This aerodynamic shape was particularly suited to withstand the island's strong winds. These dwellings varied in size, with some measuring up to 45 meters in length, indicating their communal use by extended families or for significant gatherings.

The hare oka were round stone structures whose specific functions remain less documented. Closely related to these were the tupa, which bore a striking resemblance in design but served a specialized purpose. Tupa were typically situated near the coastline and were inhabited by astronomer-priests who observed celestial movements, underscoring the importance of astronomy in Rapa Nui culture.

Integral to Rapa Nui settlements were the hare moa, oblong stone enclosures designed to house chickens. Given the value of poultry as a food source and possibly for ceremonial purposes, these structures were strategically placed within villages to facilitate monitoring and protection of the birds.

The ceremonial village of Orongo presents a unique architectural adaptation. Here, the traditional hare paenga design was transformed; instead of thatched roofs, the houses were constructed entirely from flat basalt slabs sourced from the Rano Kao crater. These stone houses, built around 1400, reflect a response to the village's exposure to harsh coastal weather conditions and the availability of basalt as a building material. The entrances to these dwellings were notably low, requiring individuals to crawl for entry, a feature that may have offered protection against the elements and added structural stability.

Petroglyphs

Easter Island has one of the richest collections of petroglyphs in all Polynesia. Around 1,000 sites with more than 4,000 petroglyphs are catalogued. Designs and images were carved out of rock for a variety of reasons: to create totems, to mark territory, or to memorialize a person or event. There are distinct variations around the island in the frequency of themes among petroglyphs, with a concentration of Birdmen at Orongo. Other subjects include sea turtles, Komari (vulvas) and Makemake, the chief god of the Tangata manu or Birdman cult.

<gallery widths="300" heights="200" align="centre" caption="Petroglyphs">

File:Makemake.jpeg|Makemake with two birdmen, carved from red scoria

File:Ahu-Tongariki-4-Petroglyph.JPG|Fish petroglyph found near Ahu Tongariki

</gallery>

Caves

The island and neighbouring Motu Nui are riddled with caves, many of which show signs of past human use for planting and as fortifications, including narrowed entrances and crawl spaces with ambush points. Many caves feature in the myths and legends of the Rapa Nui.

Stone aerophone

thumb|Pu o Hiro (Trumpet of Hiro)

The Pu o Hiro (Trumpet of Hiro) is a high ancient stone aerophone on the north coast of Easter Island.

thumb|upright|left|Sample of [[rongorongo]]

Rongorongo

Easter Island once had an apparent script called rongorongo. Glyphs include pictographic and geometric shapes; the texts were incised in wood in reverse boustrophedon direction. It was first reported by French missionary Eugène Eyraud in 1864. At that time, several islanders said they could understand the writing, but according to tradition, only ruling families and priests were ever literate, and none survived the slave raids and subsequent epidemics. Despite numerous attempts, the surviving texts have not been deciphered, and without decipherment it is not certain that they are actually writing. Part of the problem is the small amount that has survived: only two dozen texts, none of which remain on the island. There are also only a couple of similarities with the petroglyphs on the island.

Wood carving

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Wood was scarce on Easter Island during the 18th and 19th centuries, but a number of highly detailed and distinctive carvings have found their way to the world's museums. Particular forms include:

thumb|upright|Ancestor figure, , from [[LACMA collections]]

  • Reimiro, a gorget or breast ornament of crescent shape with a head at one or both tips. The same design appears on the flag of Rapa Nui. Two Rei Miru at the British Museum are inscribed with Rongorongo.
  • Moko Miro, a man with a lizard head. The Moko Miro was used as a club because of the legs, which formed a handle shape. If it was not held by hand, dancers wore it around their necks during feasts. The Moko Miro would also be placed at the doorway to protect the household from harm. It would be hanging from the roof or set in the ground. The original form had eyes made from white shells, and the pupils were made of obsidian.
  • Moai kavakava are male carvings and the Moai Paepae are female carvings. These grotesque and highly detailed human figures, carved from Toromiro pine, represent ancestors. Sometimes these statues were used for fertility rites. Usually, they are used for harvest celebrations; "the first picking of fruits was heaped around them as offerings". When the statues were not used, they would be wrapped in bark cloth and kept at home. There were a few times that are reported when the islanders would pick up the figures like dolls and dance with them. The islanders also maintain a national football team and three discos in the town of Hanga Roa. Other cultural activities include a musical tradition that combines South American and Polynesian influences and woodcarving.

Sports

The Chilean leg of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series takes place on the Island of Rapa Nui.

Tapati festival

Tapati Rapa Nui festival ("week festival" in the local language) is an annual two-week long festival celebrating Easter Island culture. The Tapati is centered around a competition between two families/ clans competing in various competitions to earn points. The winning team has their candidate crowned 'queen' of the island for the next year. The competitions are a way to maintain and celebrate traditional cultural activities such as cooking, jewelry-making, woodcarving, and canoeing.

Demographics

2012 census

Population at the 2012 census was 5,761 (increased from 3,791 in 2002). In 2002, 60% were persons of indigenous Rapa Nui origin, 39% were mainland Chileans (or their Easter Island-born descendants) of European (mostly Spanish) or mestizo (mixed European and indigenous Chilean Amerindian) origin and Easter Island-born mestizos of European and Rapa Nui and/or native Chilean descent, and the remaining 1% were indigenous mainland Chilean Amerindians (or their Easter Island-born descendants). , the population density on Easter Island was .

Demographic history

The 1982 population was 1,936. The increase in population in the last census was partly caused by the arrival of people of European or mixed European and Native American descent from the Chilean mainland. However, most married a Rapa Nui spouse. Around 70% of the population were natives. Estimates of the pre-European population range from 7–17,000. Easter Island's all-time low of 111 inhabitants was reported in 1877. Out of these 111 Rapa Nui, only 36 had descendants, and all of today's Rapa Nui claim descent from those 36.

Languages

Easter Island's traditional language is Rapa Nui, an Eastern Polynesian language, sharing some similarities with Hawaiian and Tahitian. However, as in the rest of Chile, the official language used is Spanish. Easter Island is the only territory in Polynesia where Spanish is an official language.

It is supposed that the 2,700 indigenous Rapa Nui living in the island have a certain degree of knowledge of their traditional language; however, census data does not exist on the primary known and spoken languages among Easter Island's inhabitants, and there are recent claims that the number of fluent speakers is as low as 800. Indeed, Rapa Nui has been declining in its number of speakers as the island undergoes Hispanicization, because the island is under the jurisdiction of Chile and is now home to a number of Chilean continentals, most of whom speak only Spanish. For this reason, most Rapa Nui children now grow up speaking Spanish, and those who do learn Rapa Nui begin learning it later in life. Even with efforts to revitalize the language, Ethnologue has established that Rapa Nui is currently a threatened language.

The commune of Isla de Pascua shares with the commune of Juan Fernández the constitutional status of "special territory" of Chile, granted in 2007. a special charter for the island was under discussion in the Chilean Congress.

Administratively, the island is a province (Isla de Pascua Province) of the Valparaíso Region and contains a single commune (comuna) (Isla de Pascua). Both the province and the commune are called Isla de Pascua and encompass the whole island and its surrounding islets and rocks, plus Isla Salas y Gómez, some to the east. The provincial governor is appointed by the President of the Republic. The municipal administration is located in Hanga Roa, led by a mayor and a six-member municipal council, all directly elected for a four-year mandate.

In August 2018, a law took effect prohibiting non-residents from staying on the island for more than 30 days.

Since 1966 rape, sexual abuse and crimes against property in Easter Island had lower sentences than corresponding offences in mainland Chile. This law was repealed in 2021 by a Constitutional Court decree.

International relations

Easter Island has international relations institutions such as the Migration and International Police Unit of the Investigations Police (PDI) at Mataveri International Airport, and the Rapa Nui Alliance Française, which is responsible for promoting French culture and language on the island. Until the COVID-19 pandemic, Mataveri International Airport had international flights to Papeete in French Polynesia, a territory with historical ties linked to cultural dialogue and transnational migration of the Rapa Nui people, as well as to the celebration of shared festivities such as the Festival of Pacific Arts (FESTPAC), which is organized every four years on a rotating basis across Polynesian islands.

Notable people

thumb|140px|[[Angata, 1919]]

thumb|140px|[[Mahani Teave, 2012]]

Indigenous figures

  • Hotu Matuꞌa, island founder
  • Nga'ara (died 1859), one of the last 'ariki
  • Riro Kāinga (died 1898 or 1899), last person to hold title of king and rule before Chilean consolidation
  • Ana Eva Hei (c.1849 – c.1949), consort of Atamu Tekena and one of the last women to have traditional facial tattoos
  • Atamu Tekena ( 1850–1892), missionary installed King who ceded island to Chile
  • Angata ( 1853–1914), native catechist and prophetess who led a 1914 rebellion
  • Alexander Ariʻipaea Salmon (1855–1914), English-Jewish-Tahitian de facto ruler of Easter Island, 1878–1888
  • Juan Tepano (1867–1947), indigenous leader and cultural informant
  • Jacobo Hey Paoa, first Rapa Nui male to earn a law degree and become an attorney
  • Juan Edmunds Rapahango (1923–2012), former mayor
  • Valentino Riroroko Tuki (1932–2017) last claimant to the Rapa Nui throne
  • Carmen Cardinali (born 1944) a Rapa Nui Chilean professor, governor of Easter Island, 2010–2014
  • Melania Hotu (born 1959), governor (2006–2010, 2015–2018)
  • Pedro Edmunds Paoa (born 1961), mayor and former governor
  • Lynn Rapu Tuki (born 1969), head-teacher, promotes the arts and traditions of the Rapa Nui People
  • Marta Hotus Tuki (born 1969), governor (2014–2015)
  • Luz Zasso Paoa (born 1972), a Rapa Nui politician, mayor of Easter Island, 2008–2012
  • Laura Alarcón Rapu (born 1977), governor from 2018 to 2022
  • Tiare Aguilera Hey (born 1982), member of the Chilean Constitutional Convention
  • Mahani Teave (born 1983), a Chilean American classical pianist
  • José Fati Tepano, first Rapa Nui male to serve as a titular judge upon completing training in Chile

Foreign settlers and researchers

  • Felipe González de Ahedo (1714–1802), a Spanish navigator and cartographer; annexed Easter Island in 1770.
  • Eugène Eyraud (1820–1868), missionary
  • Hippolyte Roussel (1824–1898), a French priest and missionary
  • Jean-Baptiste Dutrou-Bornier (1834–1876) a French mariner, removed many of the Rapa Nui people and turned the island into a sheep ranch.
  • Policarpo Toro (1856–1921), a Chilean naval officer, took possession of the island on behalf of Chile.
  • Katherine Routledge (1866–1935), an English archaeologist and anthropologist
  • Monsignor Rafael Edwards Salas, (1878–1938), a Chilean priest, professor, and bishop who served as the military vicar of Chile and specially in the island.
  • Sebastian Englert (1888–1969), missionary and ethnologist
  • Thomas Barthel (1923–1997) a German ethnologist and epigrapher
  • Thor Heyerdahl (1914–2002), a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer
  • William Mulloy (1917–1978), an American anthropologist and archaeologist

Transportation

Easter Island is served by Mataveri International Airport, with jet service (currently Boeing 787s) from LATAM Chile and, seasonally, subsidiaries such as LATAM Perú.

<gallery mode="packed">

File:HangaroaAlcaldía.jpg|Hanga Roa town hall

File:TAMURE.png|Polynesian dancing with feather costumes is on the tourist itinerary.

File:EasterIslandsFishingBoats.jpg|Fishing boats

File:Hanga Roa Catholic Church exterior 1.JPG|Front view of the Catholic Church, Hanga Roa

File:Hanga Roa Catholic Church exterior 2.JPG|Catholic Church, Hanga Roa

File:Hanga Roa Catholic Church interior.JPG|Interior view of the Catholic Church in Hanga Roa

</gallery>

See also

  • Humankind: A Hopeful History
  • King of Easter Island
  • Lists of islands
  • List of largest monoliths
  • North Sentinel Island
  • Omphalos
  • Podesta

● Isla Salas y Gómez

References

Bibliography

Further reading

  • in Internet Archive
  • Terevaka Archaeological Outreach (TAO) – Non-profit Educational Outreach & Cultural Awareness on Easter Island
  • Easter Island – The Statues and Rock Art of Rapa Nui – Bradshaw Foundation / Dr Georgia Lee
  • Chile Cultural Society – Easter Island
  • Rapa Nui Digital Media Archive – Creative Commons – licensed photos, laser scans, panoramas, focused in the area around Rano Raraku and Ahu Te Pito Kura with data from an Autodesk/CyArk research partnership
  • Mystery of Easter Island – PBS Nova program
  • Current Archaeology's comprehensive description of island and discussion of dating controversies
  • Books and Texts about Easter Island from the Internet Archive
  • History of Easter Island illustrated by stamps