Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

By scoleman
  • Period: 300 to 800

    First Settlement by Polynesians

    They first arrive in Rapa Nui
  • 800

    Commencement of Woodland Clearance (Rano Kau)

  • 1000

    Commencement of Moai Production

    They begin building the Moai statues
  • 1100

    Intensification of Agriculture in the South

  • Period: to

    Birdman competition

    People started dedicating themselves to some extent to the tangata manu or birdman competitions in the village of Orongo, situated on the cliffs of volcano Rano Kau.

  • Europeans Arrive

    Dutch explorers land on Easter Day Jacob Roggeveen and his crew never reported seeing any statues that had fallen to the ground; every statue they saw was standing.
    They bring diseases that wipe out lots of the Rapa Nui people

  • James Cook Visits

    British explorer James Cook visits
    he notes that many of the Moai statues have been knocked over.

  • They Abandoned Their Old Culture

    Catholic missionary Eugenio Eyraud heard about the unfortunate happenings at Rapa Nui, so he went for a nine month visit in 1864. Two years later, he established a Catholic mission. The missionaries told the natives to abandon their old practises, such as that of the birdman competition, which they did. They converted all natives to christianity. No slave trade ever occurred at Easter Island again.