New DNA Evidence: What Really Happened on Easter Island

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is most famous for its nearly 1,000 monumental statues, known as moai, created by the early Rapa Nui people. In popular opinion, the construction of these statues led to severe environmental degradation, with massive deforestation destabilizing an already fragile ecosystem.
This allegedly triggered a period of resource scarcity, famine, and warfare culminating in a significant population decline. However, a recent genetic study questions the pre-European population collapse, often called ecocide theory.
The DNA evidence also sheds light on Rapanui and Indigenous American contacts.