Yahoo

Rocks on Rapa Nui tell the story of a small, resilient population − countering the notion of a doomed overpopulated island

Conventional wisdom holds that the island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, once had a large population that crashed after living beyond its means and stripping the island of resources. A new ...
Yahoo

Drones, physics and rats: Studies show how the people of Rapa Nui made and moved the giant statues – and what caused the island’s deforestation

Scientists used drones to produce this 3D model of Rano Raraku, the volcanic crater where 95% of Rapa Nui's giant statues were carved. Lipo et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC BY Rapa Nui, also known as Easter ...
Inverse

Easter Island: Mysterious Arrangement of Rapa Nui Statues Finally Explained

Mysterious, statue-laden Rapa Nui, dubbed Easter Island by European colonizers, is not an easy place to thrive. At more than 2,000 miles from the coast of South America, it is one of Earth’s most ...
Inverse

Easter Island's Giant Stone Hats Are Rewriting Its Mysterious History

Modern researchers have long suspected that the inhabitants of Rapa Nui — known to English-speakers as Easter Island, home of the giant carved monoliths — lived in warrior societies that were ...
Newsweek

Sinister ‘Secrets’ of Easter Island’s Doomed Civilization Begin to Unravel With Rapa Nui Genetic Discovery

Few places on earth are as well known for their so-called mysteries as Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui. For a tiny island of 64 square miles, with its nearest neighbours some 1,300 miles away, ...
PBS

In bringing the Song of Rapa Nui to the world, pianist brings music education home

Mahani Teave grew up on one of the most remote islands on Earth, but the 38-year-old pianist still found a way to bring her music to the world — and music education to Rapa Nui. Jeffrey Brown tells ...
Thomson Reuters Foundation

The Rapa Nui have shown us that conservation can protect their ocean – and their culture

Rapa Nui men prepare their boats on Easter Island, 4,000 Km (2,400 miles) west of Santiago, Chile, in this 2003 archive photo. REUTERS/Carlos Barria * Any views expressed in this opinion piece are ...
Artnet

The Civilization on Easter Island May Have Collapsed a Lot Later Than Previously Believed, a New Study Says

Archaeologists have long assumed that the ancient society that erected the colossal Moai figures on Chile’s Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, collapsed many centuries ago. Now, a new study ...
Prevention

A New Discovery at Easter Island Could Rewrite History as We Know It

For decades, archeologists have debated whether the writing system of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), known as Rongorongo, was invented independently or influenced by Europeans. A new study that uses ...
The Globe and Mail

On Rapa Nui, step away from the crowds to explore one of the world’s most remote places

It is dark, pleasantly nippy and easy to get sucked into the blob of tourists sitting in front of a bunch of famous statues at one of the world’s most remote places. The sun is about to break on Rapa ...
CNN

Easter Island: Make the most of its mysteries

Easter Island is on lots of bucket lists. Who wouldn’t want the chance to visit one of the world’s most remote islands and take selfies with those ancient, stoic stone faces? Yet there’s more to ...