Author ORCID Identifier
0000-0003-4391-3590
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Summer 6-21-2024
Keywords
Archaeology, Rapa Nui, Easter island, Collapse, Sustainability
Subject Heading(s)
Archaeology, Sustainability
Abstract
Communities in resource-poor areas face health, food production, sustainability, and overall survival challenges. Consequently, they are commonly featured in global debates surrounding societal collapse. Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is often used as an example of how overexploitation of limited resources resulted in a catastrophic population collapse. A vital component of this narrative is that the rapid rise and fall of pre-contact Rapanui population growth rates was driven by the construction and overexploitation of once extensive rock gardens. However, the extent of island-wide rock gardening, while key for understanding food systems and demography, must be better understood. Here, we use shortwave infrared (SWIR) satellite imagery and machine learning to generate an island-wide estimate of rock gardening and reevaluate previous population size models for Rapa Nui. We show that the extent of this agricultural infrastructure is substantially less than previously claimed and likely could not have supported the large population sizes that have been assumed.
Publisher Attribution
Science Advances
Recommended Citation
Dylan S. Davis et al. Island-wide characterization of agricultural production challenges the demographic collapse hypothesis for Rapa Nui (Easter Island).Sci. Adv.10,eado1459(2024).DOI:10.1126/sciadv.ado1459
Mulch estimation
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
