A new study suggests that the island of Rapa Nui, otherwise known as Easter Island, didn’t develop in the extreme manner of ...

Archaeologists have analyzed ritual spaces and monumental structures across Polynesia, questioning the idea that Rapa Nui ...

Easter Island’s iconic statues remain at risk after devastating fire. Recent blazes chewed through the heritage site, causing “irreparable” damage to hundreds of Rapa Nui’s sacred moai.

In the heart of Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, a species long thought lost is taking root once again. The toromiro tree (Sophora toromiro), once a vital part of the island’s landscape ...

Its native people, who are also named the Rapa Nui, first arrived on the island’s shores between 1150 and 1280 CE, and lived in isolation until the arrival of Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen in ...

How Rapa Nui Lost a Tree, Only to Have It Sprout Up Elsewhere. Before the toromiro disappeared from the island, at least two men grabbed seeds from the last remaining plant and brought them home.

Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, sits in the Pacific Ocean, about 2,200 miles off the coast of Chile, and is among the world’s most remote inhabited islands. The island has drawn more than ...

According to this theory, a population of over 15,000 Rapa Nui individuals triggered widespread changes across the island, including deforestation to build the statues, ultimately leading to ...

Moai in Rapa Nui National Park on the slopes of Rano Raraku volcano on Easter Island, Chile. There are approximately 1,000 moai statues on Easter Island, but the recent discovery has excited ...

T he storied island of Rapa Nui finally reopens to tourists after more than two years on Aug. 1. Famous for the iconic massive and mysterious Moai sculptures crafted by its first inhabitants, Rapa ...

The sculpted figures on Rapa Nui, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site, suffered "irreparable" damage. The municipality's mayor said he believed the fire was not an accident.

The blaze broke out Monday and swept through at least 247 acres of the Rapa Nui National Park, which covers a little less than half of the island, officials there said.