Rapa Nui’s population 'crash' debunked by ancient DNA

A study of ancient genomes has dispelled the theory that early inhabitants of Rapa Nui (also known as Easter Island) ravaged its ecosystem and caused the population to crash. Researchers analysed the DNA of ancient and modern Rapa Nui individuals and found no sign of a ‘population bottleneck’ that would have indicated a collapse. Genomes from ancient Rapa Nui people are predominantly of ancestries similar to those of other Pacific islanders, but around 10% of their genetic material can be traced to ancestors from coastal areas of what is now called South America. The findings suggest that Rapa Nui people made contact with people from these regions hundreds of years before Europeans first visited the island.