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Easter Island

Rongorongo Tablet D engraved with the undeciphered script.  Source: (© Museum Archives of the Congregazione dei Sacri Cuori di Gesu e Maria, 3D model Produced by ERC INSCRIBE Project, based at the University of Bologna)

Undeciphered Rongorongo Script Found on Easter Island Predates European Contact

There has long been an air of mystery and intrigue surrounding a set of wooden tablets with writing on them found on the tiny, remote South Pacific island of Rapa Nui (more commonly known as Easter...
Easter Island. Source: Nadge / Adobe Stock.

How the Civilization on Easter Island Collapsed (Video)

The civilization on Easter Island faced a complex and ultimately catastrophic decline. Initially, this tiny island boasted a lush palm forest and abundant bird species, allowing its inhabitants, the...
Easter Island moai statues. Source: 16to9foto / Adobe Stock.

Scientists Make Easter Island Moai Statue Walk (Video)

Easter Island , also known as Rapa Nui , is a remote and mysterious island in the Pacific Ocean that has long captured the imagination of people around the world. The island is home to the famous...
Stylized AI generated graphic of a Moai statue.         Source: artefacti/Adobe Stock

New Moai Statue Found on Chile’s Easter Island Excites Researchers

In the news last October for the damage inflicted by a forest fire over 100 hectares, Easter Island is now in the news again – for the discovery and addition of a new Moai statue on the Chilean...
The famous moai statues of Easter Island have been damaged by a fire that is under investigation. Source: Municipality of Rapa Nui

700-Year-Old Moai Statues Irreparably Damaged by Fire on Easter Island

A shocking case of possible arson, still officially being called a forest fire, has caused irreparable damage to the ancient moai statues on Easter Island. The iconic towering stone heads and other...
Fantasy image of a lost civilization underwater.	Source: Максим Горбанев/ Adobe Stock

Nine Civilizations That Met Mysterious (and Unfortunate) Ends

One of the most fascinating subjects to study throughout history is the rise and fall of various civilizations. While in some cases we have an understanding of the evolution and downfall of these...
The return of the moai to Rapa Nui from Chile. Source: Paula Rossetti

The Return of the Moai: Rapa Nui and the Fight for its Ancestors

Rapa Nui, the original name for Easter Island, is most famous for its giant monolithic moai statues. Located 3,512 km (2,182 mi) off the coast of Chile, Rapa Nui has suffered a history of constant...
Easter Island. Source: Aliaksei / Adobe Stock

Easter Island and the Mysteries of the Moai

Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui , is a remote Chilean island a few thousand kilometers west of South America in the Pacific Ocean. Described as an archaeological Disneyland, the island has...
Dr. Rafał Wieczorek at the Berlin Museum analyzing the rongorongo tablet. Source: R. Wieczorek.

3D Analysis Uncovers Hidden Details in Easter Island Rongorongo Tablet

Easter Island is best known for its gigantic stone monumental statues . But it has produced a number of other intriguing artifacts, including wooden rongorongo tablets and other items inscribed with...
Deriv; Hawaiian Tiki carvings and Easter Island statues with Rongorongo script

Was there a Common Writing System used by Pacific Islanders?

In 2016 two tourists found engraved petroglyphs on a Hawaiian Beach. This was an important find because it suggested that the ancient Polynesians had a common writing system which was used from...
Top left: Cuzco, Peru. Top right: Western Italy. Bottom left: Alaca Hoyuk, Turkey. Bottom right: Casing stones on pyramid on Giza plateau.

Did Megalithic Sites in Turkey and Peru Share the Same Architects?

6,500 years before Stonehenge and 7,000 years before the pyramids were constructed, a cult megalithic complex sat atop the hills near current day Sanliurfa, in southeast Turkey. Göbekli Tepe was...
Moai on Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island. Source: thakala /Adobe Stock

Hidden Rapa Nui: Easter Island’s Cults, Cannibals, and Cultural Connections

Two-thousand-and-two-hundred miles (3,500 km) west beyond the coast of Chile, in the dark blue belly of the southeastern Pacific Ocean, hides Easter Island. A slightly more appropriate name of this...
A Wa'a Kaulua (double canoe) of Hawaiian Nobility of the 18th Century. Polynesia was inhabited by skilled seafarers.

Where Did the Polynesians Really Come From?

Oceania was the last region to be settled by humans and the last part of Oceania to be settled by humans was Polynesia. Polynesians are famous for their voyages to remote islands in distant parts of...
DNA genetic analysis proves link between Ancient Polynesians and Indigenous South Americans. Source: Ruben Ramos-Mendoza / Nature

Genetic Analysis Shows Early Contact Between South Americans and Polynesians

New evidence is emerging about the links between Polynesian and South American populations in the Pacific before the arrival of the Europeans . The theory that South Americans first colonized Easter...
Easter Island moai statue destroyed by truck.            Source: Comunidad Indígena Ma'u Henua

Truck Driver Destroyed Famous Easter Island Moai Statue

In a freak accident, a truck crashed into and destroyed one of the famous moai statues of Easter Island. Police arrested a Chilean man who lives on the legendary Easter Island and he was charged with...
Group of Moai statues at the quarry of Rano Raraku, Easter Island.    Source: thomaslusth / Adobe Stock

Easter Island’s Moai Enigma Finally Solved?

Rapa Nui (or Easter Island , as it is commonly known) is home to the enigmatic Moai , stone monoliths that have stood watch over the island landscape for hundreds of years. Their existence is a...
Moai Statues

Photos Reveal Giant Easter Island Moai Statues are Covered in Mysterious Symbols

Images from the 2012 excavation of Easter Island’s iconic statues reveal the renowned heads are not only connected to giant bodies, but the bodies are covered in mysterious designs and symbols, which...
Stylized artists impression of Easter Island.

Can Any Civilization Make It Through Climate Change?

A case study of the inhabitants of Easter Island served in part as the basis for a mathematical model showing the ways a technologically advanced population and its planet might develop or collapse...
Restored statue platform with standing moai on the south coast of Rapa Nui. Note that one of the moai is adorned with a red scoria pukao.

How the Easter Island Statues Received Their Hats: Final Report

How do you put a 13-ton hat on a giant statue? That's what a team of researchers is trying to figure out with their study of Easter Island statues and the red hats that sit atop some of them. "Lots...
Maoi statues on Easter Island

Demise of ancient Rapa Nui civilization linked to European contact

A 2015 study suggests that European “exploration” of the world resulted in the collapse of yet another indigenous people previously thought to have died out pre-contact: the Rapa Nui of Easter Island...
Tahai - Ahu Ko Te Riku, moai adorned with a pukao.

Pukao Study Claims Easter Island had a Cooperative Community Not A Warrior Culture

Analysis of these giant stone hats found on Rapa Nui, Chile (Easter Island) provides evidence contrary to the widely held belief that the ancient civilization had a warrior culture. According to a...
Moai statues on Easter Island

Mystery Deepens As Study Finds Native Americans Did NOT Help to Populate Easter Island

Easter Island is a place of mystery that has captured the public imagination. Famous for ancient carved statues and a location so remote it boggles the mind, the island presents a captivating puzzle...
The Ancient Inhabitants of Easter Island were not the Cause of the Deforestation on the Island

The Ancient Inhabitants of Easter Island were not the Cause of the Deforestation on the Island

A team of Spanish scientists has managed to reconstruct the past 3,000 years of history of Easter Island. Their new findings show that deforestation of the island occurred gradually, and not in all...
Easter Island statues by Honey Hooper, Fig. 92. Obsidian Spear-heads

New Study Asserts that Easter Island Was Not Destroyed by Warfare

By: Jack Phillips , Epoch Times The ancient civilization that inhabited Easter Island wasn’t destroyed by warfare, according to a recent study, contrary to what some researchers believe. Researchers...

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