Scientists ‘uncover real history behind Easter Island tribe’ casting doubt on 400-year-old story of war & cannibalism

A NEW study has shed light on a 400-year-old indigenous tribe on a mysterious island in the Pacific Ocean.

It was previously believed that the indigenous population on Easter Island had collapsed in the 1600s after committing "ecocide".

However, a new study published in Nature revealed that there was no evidence of a "DNA bottleneck" before the arrival of Europeans in 1722 and that the island population thrived.

The study examined DNA genomes from 15 indigenous people called Rapa Nui who lived on the island famed for its giant heads between 1670 and 1950.

The findings suggest the population grew steadily from the 10th century to the estimated 4,000 residents when Europeans arrived some 800 years later.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Barbara Sousa da Mota, the study author from the University of Lausanne said: "Our genetic analysis shows a stably growing population from the 13th century through to European contact.

"This stability is critical because it directly contradicts the idea of a dramatic pre-contact population collapse."

It was previously theorised by anthropologist Jared Diamond that the Island had a once booming population of 15,000 before environmental mismanagement resulted in famine, war and cannibalism.

Dylan Davis, an environmental archaeologist at Columbia University and co-author of the Science Advances study said: "When we label an entire culture as an example of bad choices, or as a cautionary tale of what not to do, we had better be right, otherwise we feed stereotypes."

"In this case, the Rapa Nui managed to survive in one of the most remote places on Earth and did so fairly sustainably until European contact.

"This suggests we can learn something from them about how to manage limited resources."

There are currently 3,000 Rapa Nui people on the island.

The mystery of Easter Island has continuously baffled experts.

Famously, there are approximately 900 statues, or moai, located around the remote Pacific island.

Most are found around the coast and were built sometime between the years 1200 and 1600.

Researchers from New York’s Binghamton University are suggesting the lost civilisation used the iconic statues to signal locations where fresh water was available.

Anthropologist Carl Lipo has been looking into how the local Rapa Nui people were able to survive with such limited access to drinking water.

They were forced to rely on brackish groundwater as their main source, according to the research published in the Hydrogeology Journal.

It is saltier than freshwater but not as salty as seawater and can be found in coastal areas.

The study says: "Two field surveys indicate abundant locations of brackish but potable water along the coastline.

"Although coastal groundwater sources are of poor quality, they were apparently sufficient to support the population."

It also stated this allowed them to build the "magnificent" nine-metre-high statues for which Easter Island is famous.

Dr Lipo added: "Now that we know more about the location of fresh water, however, the location of these monuments and other features makes tremendous sense.

"They are positioned where fresh water is immediately available."

Easter Island is situated approximately 1,400 miles west of South America and is a part of Chile.

Who are the Easter Island Tribe

Known as the Rapa Nui, the indigenous people of Easter Island were believed to arrive on the remote island in the 10th century, where they thrived until the arrival of Europeans.

The Rapa Nui society had a high chief, as well as several chiefs across nine clans which ruled over the general population.

It is was previously believed that the decline of the Rapa Nui people prior to European arrival was caused by an over exploitation of the island's environment.

The name Easter Island originated with the European explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who first saw the island on Easter Sunday, 1722.

It is famously known for the statues of heads, known as Moai that dot the island.

The moai represent ancestral chiefs who were believed to be descended directly from the gods and whose supernatural powers could be harnessed for the benefit of humanity.

The giant stone sculptures commonly weigh between 10 and 12 metric tons. Their average height is roughly 13 feet, but they range anywhere from 8 feet to 70 feet high.

UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site in 1995, with much of the island protected within Rapa Nui National Park.

Chile annexed Easter Island in 1888 and in 2007 the island gained the constitutional status of "special territory".