The Prehistory of Rapa Nui (Easter Island): Towards an Integrative Interdisciplinary Framework

ISBN-13: 9783030911263 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022

Rull, Valentí

Opis

This book addresses the main enigmas of Easter Island’s (Rapa Nui, in the Polynesian language) prehistory from the time of initial settlement to European contact with a multidisciplinary perspective. The main topics include: (i) the time of first settlement and the origin of the first settlers; (ii) the main features of prehistoric Rapanui culture and their changes; (iii) the deforestation of the island and its timing and causes; (iv) the extinction of the indigenous biota, (v) the occurrence of climatic shifts and their potential effects on socioecological trends; (vi) the evidence for a cultural and demographic collapse before European contact; and (vii) the influence of Europeans on prehistoric Rapanui society. The book is subdivided into thematic sections and each chapter is written by renowned specialists in disciplines such as archaeology, anthropology, paleoecology, ethnography, linguistics, ethnobotany, phylogenetics/phylogeography and history. Contributors have been invited to provide an open and objective vision that includes as many views as possible on the topics considered. In this way, the readers may be able to compare different of points of view and make their own interpretations on each of the subjects considered. The book is intended for a wide audience including graduate students, advanced undergraduate students, university teachers and researchers interested in the subject. Given its multidisciplinary character and the topics included, the book is suitable for students and researchers from a wide range of disciplines and interests.

Spis treści

Introduction

Title: Aims, scope and contents of the book

Authors: Valentí Rull, Christopher M. Stevenson, Thegn Ladefoged

Part I. Transpacific voyaging and settlement

Chapter 1

Title: Southern Ocean climate influence on trans-eastern pacific voyaging and colonization of Easter Island

Authors: Ian D. Goodwin, Stuart A. Browning

Chapter 2

Title: Computer simulation of the ocean voyages required for the colonization of Rapa Nui

Authors: John Temmen, Alvaro Montenegro, Valentí Rull

Chapter 3

Title: Ahu Nau Nau re-visited: new perspectives on old problems at Anakena, RapaNui

Authors: Paul Wallin, Helene Martinsson-Wallin

Chapter 4

Title: Geological processes determining the human occupation of Rapa Nui

Authors: Alberto Sáez, Olga Margalef, Santiago Giralt, Sergi Pla, Laura Becerril, Christian Herrera, James Goff

Chapter 5

Title: Sweet potato in Easter Island: insights from a monographic study of the genus Ipomoea

Authors: Pablo Muñoz-Rodríguez, Robert Scotland

Chapter 6

Title: Appraisal of the origins and timing of Rapa Nui’s early settlement

Author: Claudio Cristino, Patricia Vargas

Chapter 7

Title: Prehistoric genetic and cultural relationships between Easter Island and Tiwanaku (Bolivia, Titikaka Lake Altiplano)

Authors: Antonio Arnaiz

Chapter 8

Title: mtDNA from chickens and how this relates to human settlement of the Pacific

Authors: Jeremy Austin

Part II. The ancient Rapanui culture

Chapter 9

Title: An assessment of refuge caves (ana kionga) on Rapa Nui

Authors: Christopher M. Stevenson, Juan G. Borrega, José M. Ramírez

Chapter 10

Title: Vinapu area revisited

Authors: Helene Martinsson-Wallin

Chapter 11

Title: Crematoria and cremations in Rapa Nui traditional society

Authors: Helene Martinsson-Wallin

Chapter 12

Title: Health and diet of ancient Easter Islanders: contribution from bioarchaeology

Authors: Caroline Polet

Chapter 13

Title: Undelivered moai or unidentified monument?

Authors: Nicolas Cauwe, Morgan De Dapper

Chapter 14

Title: Reconstructions and condemnations of cult platforms

Authors: Nicolas Cauwe

Chapter 15

Title: Palms for the archaeologist

Author: David W. Ingersoll, Kathleen B. Ingersoll

Chapter 16

Title: Rano Raraku quarry excavations

Author: Jo Anne Van Tilburg, Mads Ravn, Casey R. Barrier, Alice Horn

Chapter 17

Title: Microstratigraphy in Rano Raraku: implications for slope development and site formation in the moai quarry

Author: Sarah C. Sherwood, Jo Anne Van Tilburg

Chapter 18

Title: History intrinsic in Rapanui and Māori cultural traditions, and the revitalization of waka horua (canoe voyaging) and traditional celestial navigation

Authors: Kate Souness et al.

Chapter 19

Title: Geological origin and geomorphology of the Rano Raraku landform – providing context for human land use and archaeological study

Author: Richard K. Dunn

Chapter 20

Title: The influence of climate, lava weathering and rock gardens on Easter island’s rock-derived soil nutrients

Authors: Oliver Chadwick, Nina Bringham, Cedric Puleston, Thegn Ladefoged, Peter Vitousek, Sonia Haoa, Christopher M. Stevenson

Chapter 21

Title: Pollen, phytolith, and starch evidence for agricultural plants on Rapa Nui

Author: Linda S. Cummings

Part III. Climatic and environmental change

Chapter 22

Title: Prehistoric paleoecology of Easter Island: historical account and a synthesis of the main contributions

Author: Valentí Rull

Chapter 23

Title: Climatology of Rapa Nui (Isla de Pascua, Easter Island) Chile

Authors: Raymond S. Bradley, Henry F. Diaz, William J. D’Andrea, Liang Ning

Chapter 24

Title: Changing environment and the socio-ecological evolution of Easter Island

Author: David A. Sear, Melinda Allen, Pete Langdon, Alex Morrison, Justin Sheffield, John Dearing

Chapter 25

Title: Easter Island past hydrological balance as inferred from Rano Aroi pound record: clarifying the role of the ENSO phases

Authors: Bruno Malaizé, Thierry Delcroix, Anne-Marie Sémah, Thibaut Caley, Isabelle Billy, Michel Orliac, Sonia Haoa Cardinali, Christine Hatté, Rodrigo Abarca del Rio, Anne-Laure Daniau, Charlotte Skonieczny, Catherine Orliac

Chapter 26

Title: Lipid-based records of hydroclimate change during the occupancy period of Rapa Nui

Authors: William J. D’Andrea, Raymond S. Bradley, Andrea Seelenfreund, Núria Cañellas-Boltà, Olga Margalef, Santiago Giralt, Alberto Sáez, Sergi Pla-Rabes, Valentí Rull

Part IV. Deforestation and extinctions

Chapter 27

Title: Economic causes and consequences of deforestation on Easter Island (alternative: Open-access resources and the rise and fall of Easter Island)

Author: James Brander

Chapter 28

Title: Spatial and temporal patterns of deforestation and other socioecological features of Easter Island

Author: Peter Steiglechner, Esteban Acevedo-Trejos, Agostino Merico

Chapter 29

Title: Flora of Easter Island – past and present

Author: Georg Zizka

Chapter 30

Title: Interpreting past terrestrial ecosystems of Rapa Nui: documenting palaeoecological proxies for biodiversity change

Authors: Matthew Prebble, Núria Cañellas-Boltà, Olga Margalef, Mark Horrocks, Dorren Bowdery, Dave McWethy, Valentí Rull

Chapter 31

Title: Morphological changes of the Te Niu landscape from AD 1300 to the mid-19th century

Author: Joan A. Wozniak

Part V. Collapse or resilience?

Chapter 32

Title: Population dynamic principles applied to Rapa Nui human fluctuations

Authors: Mauricio Lima, Eugenia M. Gayo, Sergio A. Estay, Nils C. Stenseth

Chapter 33

Title: Environmental change and cultural continuity – the extraordinary achievements of the Rapa Nui society after deforestation

Authors: Andreas Mieth, Burkhad Vogt, Annette Külhem, Hans-Rudolf Bork

Chapter 34

Title: Malthusian models and population history of Rapa Nui

Authors: Carl L. Lipo, Robert DiNapoli, Terry L. Hunt

Chapter 35

Title: The population dynamics of Rapa Nui (Easter Island): synthesizing advances from the fields of archaeology, demography and ecology

Author: Cedric O. Puleston, Thegn Ladefoged

Chapter 36

Title: What did collapse on Rapa Nui before European contact?

Author: Claudio Cristino, Patricia Vargas

Chapter 37

Title: Modeling the Easter Island population and ecology with uncertainty and Bayesian parameter inference

Author: William Basener

Part VI. European contact

Chapter 38

Title: The struggle to be Rapanui: some sharp points about remote Easter Island

Author: Grant McCall

Chapter 39

Title: First contact and after: social, political, and cultural change on Rapa Nui 1722-1900

Author: Joshua Pollard, Kate Welham

O autorze

​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.