Drought Linked to Decline of Rapa Nui’s Sculpture Traditions

Speedy Summary

• A newly identified drought on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), which occurred in the 1500s, may have led islanders to curb investments in constructing their famous stone moai statues.
• The island’s environmental history is often cited as a tale of disaster due to unsustainable resource use, including rapid deforestation after Polynesians settled there around the 1200s.
• Some archaeologists remain skeptical about directly linking this drought to decreased statue-building activities.

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