Road my body goes: re-creating ancestors from stone at the great<i>moai</i>quarry of Rano Raraku, Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Richards, Colin; Croucher, Karina; Paoa, Tiki; Parish, Tamsin; Tucki, M Enrique; Welham, Kate

doi:10.1080/00438243.2011.579483

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Rano Raraku is a broad volcanic cone rising from an open plain in the south east of Rapa Nui (27°07′S, 109°17′W). It was the main source of the volcanic tuff used for moai (anthropomorphic statues) carving (Richards et al., 2011). Most red-tailed tropicbird nests are associated with moais or rocks (considered to be protected), others are situated on the slopes dominated by the introduced molasses grass (Flores et al., 2017; considered to be exposed).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Potential Predation Risk by Introduced Predators on Unattended Eggs in the Red-Tailed Tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda, on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Varela

Brokordt

Luna‐Jorquera

2018

Tropical Conservation Science

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Anthropogenic impact has been heavy in remote oceanic islands, including the introduction of alien species, having negative effects on native seabirds. The isolated and subtropical Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is one of the few known breeding sites of the red-tailed tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda in Chile (southeastern Pacific Ocean) where is listed as vulnerable. A relatively new breeding colony is found in the Rano Raraku volcano, where human-introduced species are present. We used hen eggs as a proxy for red-tailed tropicbird eggs to assess potential predation risk on unattended eggs. Each experimental egg was monitored by camera traps during 6 days. Three predatory species were identified on the records: the Brown rat Rattus norvegicus, the Polynesian rat Rattus exulans, and the raptor Chimango Caracara Phalcoboenus chimango. The most frequent species were the Rattus spp. A total of 45 predatory visits were recorded with a total time of 1.7 h, accounting for the 0.3% of the experimental time. Within this time of visits, all the potential predators spent time in both interacting activities (trying to prey on) and no-interacting activities with the experimental eggs. Only a Brown rat was able to prey on one of the eggs. Our results suggest that these invasive species are a low threat for unattended red-tailed tropicbird eggs at Rano Raraku, Rapa Nui. However, future research is needed to determine the potential negative effects over unattended red-tailed tropicbird nestlings that are easier for these predators to handle compared with an egg.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing Potential Predation Risk by Introduced Predators on Unattended Eggs in the Red-Tailed Tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda, on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Varela

Brokordt

Luna‐Jorquera

2018

Tropical Conservation Science

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“…While many moai (ca. 400) remain at the statue quarry at Rano Raraku, hundreds of moai , weighing several tons each, were transported along statue roads and erected upon ahu [53–55]. In addition, many moai were also adorned with large red-scoria ‘hats’ called pukao [56,57].…”

Section: Background To Rapa Nui and Its Monumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) monument (ahu) locations explained by freshwater sources

et al. 2019

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Explaining the processes underlying the emergence of monument construction is a major theme in contemporary anthropological archaeology, and recent studies have employed spatially-explicit modeling to explain these patterns. Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) is famous for its elaborate ritual architecture, particularly numerous monumental platforms (ahu) and statuary (moai). To date, however, we lack explicit modeling to explain spatial and temporal aspects of monument construction. Here, we use spatially-explicit point-process modeling to explore the potential relations between ahu construction locations and subsistence resources, namely, rock mulch agricultural gardens, marine resources, and freshwater sources—the three most critical resources on Rapa Nui. Through these analyses, we demonstrate the central importance of coastal freshwater seeps for precontact populations. Our results suggest that ahu locations are most parsimoniously explained by distance from freshwater sources, in particular coastal seeps, with important implications for community formation and inter-community competition in precontact times.

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“…concluded that the moai quarry shows evidence of multiple independent work areas [e.g., 9,103,104]. Similarly, obsidian was an important raw material available from four source locations on the southwestern part of the island, and obsidian artifacts are abundant in archaeological contexts across the island [105].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Population structure drives cultural diversity in finite populations: A hypothesis for localized community patterns on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile)

et al. 2021

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Understanding how and why cultural diversity changes in human populations remains a central topic of debate in cultural evolutionary studies. Due to the effects of drift, small and isolated populations face evolutionary challenges in the retention of richness and diversity of cultural information. Such variation, however, can have significant fitness consequences, particularly when environmental conditions change unpredictably, such that knowledge about past environments may be key to long-term persistence. Factors that can shape the outcomes of drift within a population include the semantics of the traits as well as spatially structured social networks. Here, we use cultural transmission simulations to explore how social network structure and interaction affect the rate of trait retention and extinction. Using Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) as an example, we develop a model-based hypothesis for how the structural constraints of communities living in small, isolated populations had dramatic effects and likely led to preventing the loss of cultural information in both community patterning and technology.

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Road my body goes: re-creating ancestors from stone at the greatmoaiquarry of Rano Raraku, Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

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Cited by 11 publications

References 11 publications

Assessing Potential Predation Risk by Introduced Predators on Unattended Eggs in the Red-Tailed Tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda, on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Assessing Potential Predation Risk by Introduced Predators on Unattended Eggs in the Red-Tailed Tropicbird, Phaethon rubricauda, on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) monument (ahu) locations explained by freshwater sources

Population structure drives cultural diversity in finite populations: A hypothesis for localized community patterns on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile)

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