Rapa Nui

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Underwater Mountains Serve Up Dozens of New Species

On this expedition in the South Pacific, at least 50 new ones emerged

(Newser) - Over 40 days exploring an 1,800-mile underwater mountain chain extending from Chile to Easter Island, an international team of scientists discovered an entirely unknown species once a day on average. The team led by Erin Easton of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and Javier Sellanes of Chile'...

New Easter Island Statue, Unseen for Centuries, Emerges
On Easter Island, a Sight
Unseen for Centuries Emerges
in case you missed it
Mar 5, 2023 7:11 AM CST

On Easter Island, a Sight Unseen for Centuries Emerges

A centuries-old statue is revealed when crater lake dries up

(Newser) - For centuries, the Easter Island moai lay hidden in a volcano crater filled with water. Five years ago, that crater lake began to dry up, and last week, the dry lake bed revealed what it had concealed for so long, per AFP . A team of volunteers from three Chilean universities...

For Easter Island Head, a 'Profoundly Significant' Move

Moai held at Chile's national museum since 1878 to rejoin the Rapa Nui on Easter Island

(Newser) - A century and a half after it was removed from Easter Island, a giant moai is about to head home. The 1,500-pound moai statue housed at Chile's National Museum of Natural History since 1878 will next week begin a five-day journey back to Easter Island , a Chilean territory,...

'Incalculable' Damage After Truck Hits Easter Island Statue

The unmanned vehicle was parked, but the brake apparently failed

(Newser) - For the Rapa Nui, the iconic moai statues of Easter Island are "sacred structures," Camilo Rapu, the head of the indigenous community there, tells CNN . That's why what went down in the Chilean territory Sunday has the locals distressed and wondering how to better protect the famous...

Bones Taken From Easter Island to Be Returned

Explorer Thor Heyerdahl took them from the island in the '50s

(Newser) - Thor Heyerdahl's most famous feat didn't involve Easter Island: The Norwegian explorer is best known for sailing more than 3,700 miles from Peru to Polynesia on a reed raft dubbed the Kon-Tiki. But just shy of a decade after that 1947 journey—an attempt to prove people...

What We Assumed About Easter Island May Be Wrong
What We Assumed About
Easter Island May Be Wrong
in case you missed it
Aug 18, 2018 10:00 AM CDT

What We Assumed About Easter Island May Be Wrong

New study looked at the source of the tools used to carve the heads

(Newser) - The tale of the demise of Easter Island's people may have to be rewritten. The story has long held that infighting as resources ran out was one of the main drivers of the collapse, but a new study published in the Journal of Pacific Archaeology suggests a different scenario....

Easter Island Natives Want British Museum's 'Stolen' Statue

Rapa Nui say the Hoa Hakananai'a moai piece was stolen 150 years ago

(Newser) - It's been called one of the British Museum's must-see marvels. But Hoa Hakananai'a won't remain there, if Easter Island's indigenous people get their way. The 7-foot-tall moai statue housed in London since it was taken 150 years ago from what's now a Chilean territory...

Researchers Solve Piece of Easter Island Mystery

The ongoing debate: Did Rapa Nui do themselves in, or are Europeans to blame?

(Newser) - The ongoing debate over what prompted the decline of Easter Island's native Polynesian inhabitants, known as Rapa Nui, is being clarified by scientists digging for answers in the soil. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , an international team of researchers explain that they examined agricultural...

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