Analysis of tools rewrites the history of Easter Island

During the archaeological excavations of the oldest settlement known to date on Easter Island in 1987–88, Helene Martinsson-Wallin found tools made of obsidian (volcanic glass). They have now been analysed in detail, using a microscope.

The researchers found traces of starch grains on the tools, which are around 800 years old, and compared these traces with a reference library of starch grains from different cultivated plants. It turned out that the tools had been used to process plants of both Polynesian origin (such as taro and breadfruit) and South American origin (sweet potato and manioc).

Confirms previous theories

The new analyses of the tools, along with genetic research published in 2024, confirms the theories Martinsson-Wallin presented in her doctoral thesis in 1994.

She argues that Easter Island was settled by people of Polynesian origin who early established contact with South America. These contacts influenced the culture and paved the way for the fashioning of the large statues on Easter Island with their singular cultural expression.

“Many other researchers have insisted that Easter Island was only colonised once, by a Polynesian people coming from the west. One exception was the well-known ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl, who argued that the island was first colonised by people of South American origin, who raised the statues, with people from Polynesia reaching the island later,” Martinsson-Wallin explains.

The new research findings now demonstrate that her theory from 1994 about the earliest history of Easter Island is the most likely.

“Naturally, it feels good to have my theories confirmed by new research. I had been hoping that my ideas could be verified by new methods such as DNA analysis,” Martinsson-Wallin says.

Extensive cultural contacts

In geographical terms, Easter Island is the most isolated place on Earth. The question of how and when the island was settled has been discussed for hundreds of years and especially intensively following Heyerdahl’s archaeological investigations there in the 1950s.

The issue of colonisation and cultural contacts between Polynesians and indigenous peoples in South America has long been a key feature of archaeological research on the Pacific islands, colonisation and the origins of Easter Island’s specific megalithic culture.

“Our research now indicates more extensive cultural contacts across the seas in prehistoric times than many other researchers have previously claimed was possible, given the seafaring craft and navigation of that time. Easter Island’s peculiar and fascinating culture arose at the intersection of these cultural contacts,” Martinsson-Wallin concludes.

Annica Hulth