Big History 2: Easter Island

Easter Island is a small 63-square-mile patch of land — more than a thousand miles from the next inhabited spot in the Pacific Ocean. In A.D. 1200 (or thereabouts), a small group of Polynesians — it might have been a single family — made their way there, settled in and began to farm. When they arrived, the place was covered with trees — as many as 16 million of them, some towering 100 feet high.

Can what happened on one South Pacific island serve as a cautionary tale for the planet as a whole?

Yet despite its superficial insignificance, the history of Easter Island is a grim warning to the world. (WARNING: This website has not been updated for some years. This website has been left as it may still contain useful content.)

Easter Island is a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean that is famous for the hundreds of stone statues that dot the island. Learn more about Easter Island.

New evidence points to an alternative explanation for a civilization's collapse

The first settlers on Easter Island didn't arrive until 1200 AD, up to 800 years later than previously thought, a new study suggests.

New findings rekindle old debates about when the first people arrived and why their civilization collapsed

Easter Island is the most isolated inhabited spot on Earth, devoid of heavy timber and most resources. Yet, the first European travellers to the island marvelled at large and delicately carved statues covering the whole of the island.

The notion of ecological collapse due to human-induced environmental change on Rapa Nui has recently been called into question by numerous scholars.

CyArk is an international non-profit organization that is using new technologies to create a free, 3D online library of the world's cultural heritage sites.