When Polynesian explorers landed on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, around 1200 C.E., they found nearly 20 million palm trees; by the time Dutch explorers arrived in 1722, they found only ...

Conventional wisdom holds that the island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, once had a large population that crashed after living beyond its means and stripping the island of resources. A new ...

Finding out what actually happened in the deep past can be a slog, so when ancient history is packaged as mystery—spine-tingling but solvable—it’s hard to resist. Who doesn’t want to know how a lost ...

For decades, archaeologists have debated whether the writing system of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), known as Rongorongo, was ...

Archaeologists have long assumed that the ancient society that erected the colossal Moai figures on Chile’s Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, collapsed many centuries ago. Now, a new study ...

Concert pianist Mahani Teave has traveled the world, But Rapa Nui, sometimes known as Easter Island, is her home. "Rapa Nui – that's what we call ourselves here also," she said. "That's our people, ...

Mysterious, statue-laden Rapa Nui, dubbed Easter Island by European colonizers, is not an easy place to thrive. At more than 2,000 miles from the coast of South America, it is one of Earth’s most ...

Mahani Teave grew up on one of the most remote islands on Earth, but the 38-year-old pianist still found a way to bring her music to the world — and music education to Rapa Nui. Jeffrey Brown tells ...

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is famous for its stone statues (moai) shown above. It is one of the most remote landmasses ever colonized by humans during pre-industrial times, sitting 1,290 miles from the ...