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It is estimated that the Polynesians settled on Rapa Nui from as early as 300 - 400 CE to as late as 1200 CE, and even though researchers say it is most likely 1200 CE, it is still being debated. This is when they began making the Moai statues.
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The Rapa Nui people began the creation of the Moai from around 100 CE until the second half of the seventeenth century. The size and complexity of the Moai increased over time and were mostly made from volcanic tuff. Only one of fourteen Moai were made from basalt, and with the adaptation of Christianity in the 1860s, the remaining standing Moai were toppled.
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The Birdman cult was established as a ritual of trial of strength and endurance between chiefs and their followers.
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The practice of construction Moai peaked and increased.
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The statues began being toppled, and the health and sustainability of the island's ecosystem began to decline.
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Rapa Nui was discovered by Europeans, on the 5th of April 1722. This discovery was by a Dutch explorer called Jacob Roggeveen, who arrived on the island trying to find Terra Australis, which was an imagined southern continent. He named the island Easter Island, as he arrived on Easter Sunday.
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After 1838, the standing Moai that remained were toppled as a result of the social collapse due to the integration of Christianity by the Europeans.
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Around the late 19th century, Rapa Nui began receiving more regular visits by archaeologists, anthropologists and tourists. Spanish, British and French explorers and traders also began arriving on Rapa Nui. These visitors brought new diseases that the Rapa Nui people were not immune to.
The population of the Rapa Nui people had also decreased to just a few hundred. -
Peruvian slave raids severely decreased and harmed the population and abducted around 1500 people, including many cultural leaders, which lead to a huge loss of tradition and knowledge. The Europeans also began using all of the island's resource, including their food and wood.
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The Moai, Hoa Hakananai, was the first Moai to be taken to Europe. During the transportation of the Moai, the painting designs and eyes (red stone and coral) were washed off during the process.
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Rapa Nui became a part of Chile, bringing major political and cultural changes and challenges as the Rapa Nui people became Chilean citizens.
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Around the mid-20th century, Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian explorer, suggested that South America and Polynesia had early contact based on the similar cultures and cultural objects.
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UNESCO named Rapa Nui a World Heritage Site, to help protect the Moai and other cultural landmarks.