New research reveals that the demographic collapse attributed to Easter Island is actually a myth. Easter Island has managed to support a stable population of around 3,000 inhabitants through innovative agricultural methods, despite limited resources
A new study involving researchers from Binghamton University and the State University of New York, reveals that the theory about the "population collapse" on Easter Island is just a myth.
The widely held assumption that there was a demographic collapse on Easter Island has been disproved by new findings, which show that the island managed to support a stable population of around 3,000 inhabitants through innovative farming methods, despite limited resources.
Historians have previously suggested that the early inhabitants of Easter Island lived beyond their ecological capacity, cutting down all the island's trees to build their large stone statues. The population collapsed along with the environment, and was reduced to a few thousand people until the Europeans "discovered" the island in 1722.
However, a new study published in Science Advances debunks this persistent myth, showing that there were never many people on Rafa Noi in the first place.
Correcting the historical narratives through technology
The researchers used modern technologies to more accurately measure the number of stone gardens on the island and the amount of food that was produced there before the arrival of Europeans. Among the researchers are Professor of Anthropology and Environmental Sciences, Carl Lippo; Research Development Specialist in Environmental Sciences, Robert J. DiNapoli; and anthropology graduate, Dylan S. Davis, who is now a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University's School of Climate.
The volcanic island was formed about a million years ago, and rains over time washed away the essential substances for plant growth, such as potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen, which made the soil less fertile.
"The soils on Rapa Noi Island have never been particularly fertile," Lipo explained. "When the people arrived on the island, they had to deal with these limitations."
Innovative farming methods in Rapha Noi
Their first method was slash-and-burn agriculture, during which they cut down trees to return nutrients to the soil, but when these trees ran out, they turned to other methods, such as composting and adding layers of stones to the soil.
The compost was not enough to support the population, but using stones was a laborious and efficient process. The islanders broke the bedrocks and put them in the ground, which improved the soil's fertility and protected it.
Rethinking demography and survival strategies
When the Europeans first arrived on the island, it was reported that gardens covered about 10% of the island. Previous studies, which were based on satellite images, produced erroneous results, which also included roads.
Davis used short-wave infrared (SWIR) satellite imagery and machine learning to more accurately estimate the gardens' area, which is about 180 acres, far less than previous estimates.
Based on these estimates, the researchers determined that about 3,000 people lived in Rapha Noi at the time of the first European contact, a number that agrees with the archaeological evidence on the island.
"The island could never have supported a large population due to its ecological limitations," Davis said. "This is not a case of ecological catastrophe, but of stable survival over time with limited resources."
Misconceptions following the Moai statues
The island's large sculptures, the Moai, have led to erroneous assumptions about the number of people needed to erect them. Ecologists have sometimes used Easter Island as an example of an ecological disaster.
"We can't use Easter Island as a convenient example for stories," Lippo said. "We need to understand the island in its own context, because what it actually tells us is very different from what is commonly thought."
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