The History of Easter Island

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is the most famous of the Oceanic Islands with its iconic stone statues (moai). However, the history of the island and their people are more than just the Easter Island statues.

Easter Island is situated 2000 miles west of Valparaiso in Chile, and 2000 miles east of Tahiti and the Tuamatou archipelago. Its only neighbour is Sala y Gomez, a tiny, uninhabited barren rock, 200 miles to the east. The island is triangular in shape, with an extinct volcano at each corner, and low hills inland. The island is about twelve miles in diameter, roughly half the size of the Isle of Wight in the UK.

The island was first settled around 900 CE, and offers one of the best known examples of social collapse in Pacific pre-history (Bellwood & Hiscock, p.294). Thor Heyerdahl claimed in 1952 that “two separate waves of South American settlers had arrived on Easter Island, the later of which erected the stone statues, which were carved after 1100 CE” (Bellwood & Hiscock, p.296). In 1997, five years before his death, Heyerdahl still retained these views with little modification to this view.

It is believed by the Rapanui that the first coloniser was the chief Hotu Matua, roughly about 500 years ago. When Hotu Matua first came to Easter Island, he arrived with his people in two large primitive vessels, and is said to have come from Hiva (Beighton, p.350). However, there is considerable uncertainty about the validity of this claim amongst scholars today.

The moai statues are one of the most famous landmarks in the world. They were carved from volcanic agglomerate, from quarries in the steep inner and outer crater walls of the extinct volcano, Rano Raraku (the volcano is a mile wide, five hundred feet deep, and contains a marshy lake). They were transported and erected on raised stone platforms named ‘ahu’ in rows facing inland. How they were transported, however, is still uncertain at this point in time.

The largest statue measures 38ft high and measures nearly 100 tonnes. All the statues are carved as busts above the waist with their hands clasped together at the navel. Apart from one statue, all the statues are male, which has been suggested that this reflects the social order of the time.

The first European to visit the island was the Dutchman Roggeveen, in 1722. He was followed by the Spanish in 1770. They erected three crosses on the volcano Poike, sang the Ave Maria, and formally took possession of the island in the name of King Charles of Spain. They then sailed away, never to return. The great English circumnavigator Captain Cook landed during his voyage a few years later. He was followed by the French privateer La Perouse (Beighton, p.349).

In ancient days the Polynesians knew it as 'Te Pito o te Henua'-the Navel of the World. Today, it has been named the 'loneliest place on Earth'. Despite its isolation, Easter Island and its magnificent statues inspire people and can offer us great insight into the history and culture of its people.

Bibliography:

Beighton, Pater (1966) East Island People, The Geographical Journal, Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society.

Bellwood, Peter & Hiscock, Peter (2005) The Human Past – Australia and the Austroneasians, Thames & Hudson, London.