The Fifth Annual Pitt Rivers Lecture - Rapa Nui (Easter Island): Myths and realities of an iconic past

The Fifth Annual Pitt Rivers Lecture - Rapa Nui (Easter Island): Myths and realities of an iconic past

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is a small, remote, volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean, some 2500 km from its nearest neighbour and 4000km from mainland Chile. Its extreme isolation has governed its past and ongoing existence. Many myths and enigmas about Rapa Nui have been generated by the records of early explorers, folk memories surviving from a population that had declined to about 250 people by 1915, sensationalised concepts of self-induced eco-disaster, and by the public’s fascination with the idea of societal collapse associated with the demise of an iconic tradition of colossal statue construction (AD 1200 and 1550). Today, Rapa Nui’s population of about 6000, gains much of its income from heritage tourism. It is faced with highly challenging issues of sustaining a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site which is undergoing physical erosion on an alarming scale. Over much of the past decade the Rapa Nui Landscapes of Construction Project, funded by The British Academy and AHRC, has considered these issues and the results and future development of the project will be discussed in this lecture. The lecture will also consider how Rapa Nui’s living heritage, past and present, has complex social, ideological, and ecological interfaces that need to be understood and addressed on an island-wide scale and within a Polynesian context.

For further information on this event please contact Professor Timothy Darvill at [email protected].   

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