A Society that Self-Destructed?

Bishop Museum Podcasts

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is often portrayed as the locale of a dramatic societal collapse triggered by overpopulation and environmental degradation during the late pre-European contact period (before A.D. 1722). Despite the popularity of this collapse narrative, there is very little solid evidence for it. In this presentation, Dr. Mara Mulrooney shares the results of recent archaeological research into settlement and land use on the island.