Early Settlement of Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Abstract

RAPA NUl, THE SMALL REMOTE ISLAND that constitutes the easternmost corner of the Polynesian triangle, was found and populated long before the Europeans "discovered" this part of the world in 1722. The long-standing questions concerning this remarkable island are: who were the first to populate the island, at what time was it populated, and did the Rapa Nui population and development on the island result from a single voyage? Over the years there has been much discussion, speculation, and new scientific results concerning these questions. This has resulted in several conferences and numerous scientific and popular papers and monographs. The aim ofthis paper is to present the contemporary views on these issues, drawn from the results of the last 45 years of archaeological research on the island (Fig. 1), and to describe recent fieldwork that Martinsson-Wallin completed on Rapa Nui.Results from the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Rapa Nui in [1955][1956] suggest that the island was populated as early as c. A.D. 400 (Heyerdahl and Ferdon 1961: 395). This conclusion was drawn from a single radiocarbon date. This dated carbon sample (K-502) was found in association with the so-called Poike ditch on the east side of the island. The sample derived from a carbon concentration on the natural surface, which had been covered by soil when the ditch was dug. The investigator writes the following:There is no evidence to indicate that the fire from which the carbon was derived actually burned at the spot where the charcoal occurred, but it is clear that it was on the surface of the ground at the time the first loads of earth were carried out of the ditch and deposited over it. (Smith 1961 : 388) This sample is dated to 1570 ± 100 B.P. and it is so far the earliest date from an excavated site on the island. Using a calibration program, this date is estimated to be cal A.D. 320-670 at the 95 percent confidence interval. (This date and the following A.D. dates were calibrated using the computer program Oxcal. v.2.18 at two sigmas.)Two worked obsidian pieces, five obsidian chips, three sling stones, a basalt sinker or anchor, and three adzes were found during the excavation of the ditch, but none of them was found in direct association with the early dated carbon sample. The butt end of a chipped adz with triangular cross section (type 2-A) Helene Martinsson-Wallin is an associate professor at the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway, and Susan Crockford is employed by Pacific Identifications, Inc., Victoria, British Columbia.

The slow demise of Easter Island: insights from a modeling investigation

“…While the initial number of rats does not affect their population dynamics, because of their high growth rate, the initial number of human settlers is more problematic. However, the value of 50 reflects the common opinion that the first Polynesian settlers arrived in a small group of less than 100 individuals (Martinsson-Wallin and Crockford, 2001;Hunt, 2007;Croix and Dottori, 2008).…”

Påskeøya – tidlige genetiske spor etter amerikanske indianere

“…De fleste forskere mener imidlertid at den første befolkningen på Påskeøya var polynesere som kom fra andre øyer i Polynesia (8). Ifølge deres teori kom polyneserne opprinnelig fra Sørøst-Asia, via Melanesia (den store gruppen av øyer like nordøst for Australia) (fig 1), og nådde de vestlige deler av Polynesia (Samoa, Tonga etc.)…”

“…Herfra seilte de videre i sine kanoliknende båter til andre deler av Polynesia (Hawaii, New Zealand), og nådde de østre deler, inkludert Påskeøya, for ca. 1 000-1 500 år siden (8). En rekke undersøkelser av mitokondrie-DNA (mtDNA) (ramme 1) støtter også denne teorien (10,11).…”

“…Den ene muligheten er selvfølgelig at noen amerikanske indianere kom til Pås-keøya på balsaflåter, ved å følge de vestgående havstrømmene fra de nordlige deler av Sør-Amerika, slik Thor Heyerdahl viste var mulig ved sin Kon-Tiki-ekspedisjon i 1947. En annen mulighet er at noen polynesere har seilt videre østover, til de traff Sør-Amerika, og så returnert til Påskeøya med noen amerikanske indianere om bord (8). Etter at vi hadde gjort våre første DNAundersøkelser fant noen forskere rester av kyllinger i El Arenal, som ligger i den sørlige delen av Chile, et par kilometer innenfor kysten.…”

Islands of Inquiry: Colonisation, seafaring and the archaeology of maritime landscapes (TA29) : Colonisation, seafaring and the archaeology of maritime landscapes

“…Anderson 2006), and that prehistoric voyaging in any direction in the Pacific was probably relying on fair winds, some paddling and some drifting . However, there is now cautious agreement among Pacific scholars that of the two groups, it was Polynesians who had the better navigation skills, and they could well have had the capability for deliberate voyaging to the coast of South America and back (Martinsson-Wallin and Crockford 2001;Anderson 2005;Anderson 2006), albeit mostly relying on downwind sailing .…”