Evidence for a Shorter Chronology on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

ABSTRACT

Archaeologists have long accepted a colonization date of between AD 400 and 800 for Rapa Nui based on few radiocarbon dates, lake-core results, and assumptions from historical linguistics. A new suite of radiocarbon dates from stratigraphic excavations at Anakena and “chronometric hygiene” analysis of earlier radiocarbon determinations reveals little reliable evidence for a longer chronology. In this paper we present additional lines of evidence in support of a shorter chronology: lake-core evidence for vegetation change and fire history, stratigraphic studies of deforestation and soil erosion, the results of obsidian hydration dating, and considerations of East Polynesian chronologies. The current evidence is best explained by a colonization date for Rapa Nui of about AD 1200. We briefly outline implications of the shorter chronology.

Keywords:

• colonization
• environmental change
• chronometric hygiene
• Rapa Nui
• Polynesia

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank Sergio Rapu, Rapa Nui Heritage Foundation, Francisco Torres Hochstetter, P. Sebastian Englert Museum for their collaboration and generous support. We also thank David Addison, Bruce Masse, and two anonymous reviewers for their comments on our paper. Finally, we thank the many students from the University of Hawai’i and California State University Long Beach Archaeological Field Schools for their contributions and hard work in the field aspects of this project.

Notes

1. Dates from lake-core samples were initially presented as uncorrected, uncalibrated dates in BP (before present) and have been converted to BC/AD for consistency.