Overexploitation of nature? Study refutes Easter Island theory

The monuments, known as Moai, are said to represent a once flourishing culture that eventually collapsed because people cut down all the trees on the remote Pacific island and depleted the soil. Society destroyed itself by overexploiting nature. But this story doesn’t seem to be true.

There was probably never as large a population on the island as is commonly assumed, according to a study presented in the journal “Science Advances”. According to calculations, the remote Pacific island could not feed around 16,000 people, but only around 3,000 people, writes the research team led by Dylan Davis from Columbia University in the US.

“What we found is the opposite of the collapse theory”

“What we found is the opposite of the collapse theory,” explained Davis. Rather, the population had developed an astonishing system to feed themselves on the island’s poor soil and limited water. Other archaeological studies in recent years have also concluded that there was no social collapse on the island before the arrival of the Europeans in 1722.

The volcanic island, also called Rapa Nui, is relatively dry and the coasts are steep, making both agriculture and fishing very difficult. Many researchers believe that the use of sophisticated rock gardens is crucial. People scattered fist-sized stones directly on the ground. They also used a complex process to break up stones and work them into the soil. Large stones were also placed for protection. In the gaps they planted numerous varieties of sweet potatoes, once the main source of food on the island.

Davis’ research team had trained artificial intelligence to recognize such man-made rock gardens in satellite images using a special infrared view. Not every pile of stones was necessarily a garden in the past.

New theory from researchers

As a result, the researchers assume that the rock gardens made up less than half a percent of the island’s area. Previous research assumed much larger areas. The areas now identified would have been enough to supply around 2,000 people with sweet potatoes, the study says. In addition, the people would have eaten fish and other sea creatures as well as fruits such as bananas, yams, taro tubers and sugar cane. In total, the research team arrived at a population of around 3,000 people.

“What we’re really seeing here is that the island was never able to support many people because of the ecological constraints,” Davis explained. On the contrary, people managed to adapt their habitats and thus increase the area they could cultivate. “This is not an example of an ecological disaster, but of how people were able to survive for a long time in a fairly sustainable way despite really limited natural resources.”

Because it is so remote, Easter Island was not settled until very late. People from Polynesia probably came to the island around the year 1200. Today, the Pacific island belongs to Chile, even though its coast is about 3,500 kilometers away. The famous rock sculptures are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site and attract tens of thousands of tourists every year.