Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island or Te Pito o Te Henua (the navel of the world), is one of the most remote inhabited locations on Earth, situated over 1,900 km from the nearest Polynesian island and 3,700 km from South America.
Biggest mysteries of Easter Island
Despite extensive study by archaeologists, anthropologists, and geneticists, two central aspects of Rapa Nui’s history remain controversial.
The first contentious topic is the theory of Easter Island's population collapse due to “ecocide” or environmental mismanagement.
The second debate centers around whether the Polynesian ancestors of the Rapanui people had contact with Indigenous Americans before European arrival in 1722.
New clues in Easter Island remains
A new study published in the journal Nature examines the genomes of 15 Rapanui individuals who lived between 1670 and 1950.
The remains from Easter Island, housed in the Musée de l'Homme in Paris, were analyzed by an international team of scientists, including assistant professor Víctor Moreno-Mayar from the University of Copenhagen and researchers from institutions across Europe, the U.S., Chile, and Rapa Nui itself.
The study sheds light on both the ecocide theory and the possibility of transpacific contact.
A cautionary tale
For many years, the story of Rapa Nui has been used as a cautionary tale of ecological collapse . After the island was settled by Polynesians around 1250, its landscape dramatically transformed.
The famous moai statues were constructed, and the once-lush forests, particularly palm trees, disappeared by the 1600s.
According to the “ecocide” hypothesis, the environmental changes were triggered by a growing population of over 15,000 people, leading to resource depletion, warfare, famine, and even cannibalism, which ultimately caused a catastrophic population collapse.
Easter Island population was surprisingly stable
However, the new genetic study challenges this narrative. The researchers expected to find signs of a sudden population decline in the genomes of ancient Rapanui individuals, but their analysis showed no such genetic evidence.
Study co-author Bárbara Sousa da Mota is a researcher at the University of Lausanne .
“Our genetic analysis shows a stably growing population from the 13th century through to European contact in the 18th century. This stability is critical because it directly contradicts the idea of a dramatic pre-contact population collapse,” said Sousa da Mota.
The study illustrates the resilience of the Rapanui population in adapting to environmental changes, suggesting that the real disruptions came with European colonial activity after 1722.
Settling a long debate
Another long-debated topic is whether the Polynesian ancestors of the Rapanui reached the Americas before European arrival.
Despite previous studies rejecting the possibility of such contact, the new research paints a different picture.
By generating high-quality ancient genomes, the researchers discovered that around ten percent of the Rapanui gene pool has Indigenous American origins.
More importantly, the team found that this contact likely occurred before European arrival.
Distribution of ancient DNA
Study lead author Víctor Moreno-Mayar is an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Globe Institute.
“We looked into how the Indigenous American DNA was distributed across the Polynesian genetic background of the Rapanui. This distribution is consistent with a contact occurring between the 13th and the 15th centuries,” explained Moreno-Mayar.
While the study cannot pinpoint where this contact took place, the findings suggest that the ancestors of the Rapanui may have reached the Americas before Columbus . This could mean that Polynesians undertook even more formidable voyages than previously thought.
Challenging the narratives of Easter Island
The new findings challenge longstanding narratives about Easter Island and the potential collapse of its population.
“Personally, I believe the idea of the ecocide is part of a colonial narrative,” said Moreno-Mayar. “The notion that these supposedly primitive people could not manage their resources and almost destroyed themselves is not supported by the genetic evidence.”
“While we must acknowledge that human arrival dramatically altered the ecosystem, there is no evidence of a population collapse before Europeans came. So we can put those ideas to rest now.”
Likewise, the study debunks the idea that Indigenous American genetic ancestry in modern-day Rapanui is solely due to European colonial activity. Instead, it points to earlier interactions between Rapanui and Indigenous American populations.
“We believe this means that Rapanui were capable of even more formidable voyages across the Pacific than previously established,” noted Sousa da Mota.
The research team engaged directly with the Rapanui community, including the “Comisión Asesora de Monumentos Nacionales” (CAMN), to ensure the study addressed questions of interest to both scientists and the islanders.
Genetic revelations
One key outcome of these discussions was confirmation that the ancient Rapanui individuals studied are most closely related to the modern-day population of Rapa Nui.
“We have seen that museum archives contain mistakes and mislabels. Now that we have established that these 15 individuals were in fact Rapanui, we know they belong back on the island,” said Moana Gorman Edmunds, an archaeologist from Rapa Nui and co-author of the study.
Broader implications of the study
Th study offers significant new insights into Rapa Nui’s history, refuting the ecocide theory and providing evidence of pre-European contact between Rapanui and Indigenous Americans.
Moreover, it opens the door to discussions about repatriating the remains of Rapanui ancestors and preserving their legacy for future generations.
The Rapanui community, through CAMN, will also retain control over who has access to the genetic data of their ancestors and how it is used.
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