Prehistory of Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

​Valentí Rull is biologist with a PhD in Paleoecology. During the last 40 years, VR has used past ecological evidence to address topics such as i) the type and characteristics of biotic responses to environmental change; ii) the role of human and climatic drivers as causes of ecological change; iii) the role of tectonics, paleogeography and climate change on the origin of biodiversity; iv) hypotheses testing on long-term ecological processes; and v) predictions on biotic responses to eventual future climatic scenarios. VR has conducted his research on several temperate, tropical and subtropical regions as for example the northern tropical Andes, the Orinoco lowlands and delta, the Guayana region, the Maracaibo basin, Easter Island, the Azores Islands and the Pyrenees. Dr. Rull has published 12 books and more than 280 articles, and has been included in the Stanford World's Top 2% Scientists for the period 1996-2020.Christopher M. Stevenson received his Ph.D. in archaeology in 1984. Previous professional experience has included cultural resource management investigations (1985-2000) within the United States and a position in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources as a regional archaeologist (2000-2011). For over 25 years he has conducted archaeological fieldwork on Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile, investigating regional settlement patterns and ancient farming strategies. Other areas of fieldwork include excavations at prehistoric and historic archaeological sites in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the Canary Islands. Dr. Stevenson has published multiple books on Rapa Nui prehistory and 105 journal articles. His analytical specialties include infrared spectroscopy, hydrothermal alteration of glass, and obsidian hydration dating of prehistoric artifacts.

• Part I. Transpacific voyaging and settlement.- Chapter 1. Ex oriente lux? Amerindian seafaring and Easter Island contact revisited.- Chapter 2. Commensals/domesticates on Rapa Nui: what can their phlogeographic patterns tell us about the discovery and settlement of the island.- Chapter 3. Sweet potato on Easter Island: insights from a monographic study of the genus Ipomoea.- Chapter 4. Pre-European contact sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) at Rapa Nui: macrobotanical evidence from recent excavations in Rano Raraku quarry, Rapa Nui.- Chapter 5. Anakena Re-visited: new perspectives on old problems at Anakena, RapaNui.- Part II. The ancient Rapanui culture.- Chapter 6. A behavioralassessment of refuge caves (ana kionga) on Rapa Nui.- Chapter 7. Vinapu area revisited.- Chapter 8. Undelivered moai or unidentified monument?.- Chapter 9. Platforms in motion: a genealogical architecture.- Part III. Climatic and environmental change.- Chapter 10. Climatology of Rapa Nui (Isla de Pascua, EasterIsland).- Chapter 11. Prehistoric paleoecology of Easter Island.- Chapter 12. Geological and climatic features, processes and interplay determining the human occupation and habitation of Easter Island.- Part IV. Deforestation and extinctions.- Chapter 13. The flora and vegetation of Easter Island – past and present.- Chapter 14. Palms for the archaeologist.- Chapter 15. Spatio-temporal patterns of deforestation, settlement and land use on Easter Island prior to European arrivals.- Chapter 16. Economic causes and consequences of deforestation on Easter Island.- Chapter 17. Palm forests to gardens and grassland: a study of environmental and geomorphological changes of the Te Niu, Rapa Nui landscape.- Part V. Collapse or resilience?.- Chapter 18. Environmental change and cultural continuity – extraordinary achievements of the Rapa Nui society after deforestation.- Chapter 19. Ecology limits population, but culture determines it: carrying capacity on Rapa Nui.- Chapter 20. Population principles, climate change and the “collapse” of the Rapa Nui society.- Chapter 21. Claims and evidence in the population history of Rapa Nui (Easter Island).- Part VI. European contact.- Chapter 22. The Human Giants of Easter Island (Rapa Nui). Eighteenth century fake news and its significance for understanding the persistence of present-day myths.