Your stop on the map

History of Rapa Nui, from the first canoes to the island today

Answer in brief

The history of Rapa Nui runs from Polynesian settlers around 600 and the moai age of 1000 to 1500, through crisis, the birdman cult and the slave raids of 1862, to Chilean annexation in 1888 and Rapa Nui management of the park since 2017.

Key dates

  • Roggeveen arrives at Easter 17223
  • Annexed on 9 September 18884
  • Ma'u Henua runs the park since 20175

Browse 20 stops

The moai of Rapa Nui, site by site

Start by picking a route; tap a pin or stop for its note and Google Maps.

Map of Easter Island with the places of its history: Anakena where Hotu Matu'a landed, the Orongo village of the birdman cult, Motu Nui, Tahai, Vinapu and Hanga Roa

  1. White coral sand and palms, and the place where oral tradition says King Hotu Matu'a came ashore.

    Google Maps

  2. The lone moai beside Anakena beach, raised again by Thor Heyerdahl's team in one of the first documented restorations.

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  3. The stone village of the birdman cult on the rim of Rano Kau, with Motu Kao Kao, Motu Iti and Motu Nui out in the sea below.

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  4. One of the islets off Orongo and the goal of the yearly race for the first manutara egg.

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  5. Three restored ahu and the remains of a village, steps from town; the park calls it one of the best places on the island for sunset.

    Google Maps

  6. The anthropological museum named after the priest Sebastian Englert; the Moai Tau, returned from Santiago, is shown here.

    Google Maps

  7. Two monumental ahu with fitted basalt walls that the park compares to Inca stonework.

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  8. The island's only town and the start of every tour; the airport sits beside it, and green turtles swim in the cove among the fishing boats.

    Google Maps

  9. Mataveri International Airport, reached by the direct flight from Santiago of 5 hours and 30 minutes.

    Google Maps

  10. The small harbor where the Moai Tau was landed from a navy barge on its return in March.

    Google Maps

  11. Village remains and toppled moai by the sea; the park links them to the civil wars of the 18th century.

    Google Maps

Map data: © OpenStreetMap contributors

Voyagers who found the most remote island of Polynesia, a statue-building age, a crisis, a new religion, then slave ships, a sheep ranch and a long fight to take the island's heritage back.

Editorial team, easterislandtour.quest · Updated November 11, 2026 · Takes 6 min

The essentials

  • SettlementPolynesians from the Marquesas arrived around the year 600.1
  • The moai ageStatues were carved mainly from 1000 to 1500 AD.2
  • ContactJacob Roggeveen arrived on Easter Sunday 1722.3
  • ChileThe island was annexed on 9 September 1888.4
  • TodayThe Ma'u Henua community has run the park since 2017.5

Easter Island before the moai

Long before anyone called it Easter Island, Rapa Nui was found by Polynesian navigators. Chile's statement of outstanding universal value for UNESCO says the island was settled around the middle of the first millennium AD by a small group from Eastern Polynesia,6 and the National Library of Chile places the arrival of settlers from the Marquesas around the year 600, carrying sweet potato, taro, yam, banana, sugar cane, the chicken and the Polynesian rat.1

Rapa Nui tradition remembers the leader by name. According to oral history the voyage was led by the ariki Hotu Matu'a, founder of the ruling lineage, whose sons became the ancestors of the island's tribes.7 He landed, the tradition says, on the beach of Anakena on the north coast,8 and the Rapa Nui people still mark that arrival every 7 July with a ceremony at the beach they call Hanga Rau.9

In the same tradition Tu'u Maheke, the first Rapa Nui, was born at Hanga Rau.10 Another story links the seven moai of Ahu Akivi to the first explorers sent ahead by Hotu Matu'a to scout the island.11 To understand Easter Island before the moai, start there: a seafaring people who arrived with plants and animals, organized by lineage, and with a founding story they still tell today.

Outsiders arrive

The first European visits

YearWhoWhat happened
1722Jacob RoggeveenArrives at Easter and names the island
1770A Spanish expeditionClaims the island for the crown
1774James CookNotes the monuments and the islanders' poverty

From the National Library of Chile's chronology of Rapa Nui.3,23,24

When were the moai on Easter Island built?

Ceremonial building began early. The National Library dates the first platforms to around the eighth century AD and names Ahu Tahai, built in 713 AD, as the oldest.12 Around the year 1000, the same source says, Rapa Nui society reached its peak and its population grew fast, and the building of ceremonial centers to the ancestors with their great stone statues began in earnest.16

So when were the moai on Easter Island built? Chile's conservation center gives the clearest answer, naming the Ahu-Moai period from 1000 to 1500 AD as the time when the statues were carved from the slope of Rano Raraku.2 Chile's UNESCO statement describes the technical skill as most intense between the eleventh and seventeenth centuries,17 a broad window that covers the great statue age.

Society in these centuries was hierarchical and organized by lineages, each holding its own territory. The population is estimated to have reached 10,000 people,18 and the library explains that rivalry between lineages drove the statues to grow ever larger.19 Each platform was the face of a clan toward its land, which is why most moai stand with their backs to the sea.20

People on the island

A population that nearly vanished

  • Estimated peak10,000
  • After 1870175
  • Lowest point100

The National Library's estimate and record, and Chile's UNESCO statement, which speaks of little more than a hundred people.18,21,22

Crisis, toppled statues and the birdman

Growth had a price. The library tells how almost total deforestation left the islanders unable to build boats that might have relieved the pressure on scarce food.28 Its chronology dates the start of conflict between lineages to 1680, a period that led to the destruction of a large share of the moai,29 and the conservation center calls the years from 1500 to 1722 the Huri Moai phase of social breakdown and war.30

In that period almost all the statues on the platforms were toppled and broken.31 A new order rose from the crisis: the cult of Make Make, the creator god, and the tangata manu, or birdman, ceremony, in which the lineages competed each year for political power.27 Its center was Orongo, a village of stone houses on the rim of the Rano Kau crater facing the islets offshore.32

The contest was dangerous. Chile Travel describes the race to bring back an intact egg of the manutara, a seabird, from the islet, and notes that many competitors died in it.33 Orongo holds about 50 elliptical houses,34 and the rocks at Mata Ngarau carry the island's richest birdman petroglyphs,35 part of some 1,000 rock-art sites recorded across Rapa Nui.36

Plan by interest

Which history tour suits you?

Start from the part of the island's past that pulls you most.

  • If The birdman cult and Orongo

    The Orongo to Ana Te Pahu day

    Orongo, Vinapu, Puna Pau, Akivi and a cave in 7 hours.

  • If Only Orongo, in a morning

    The birdman half day

    Orongo, the Rano Kau crater and Vinapu in 3 hours.

  • If The moai age and the quarry

    The culture day

    A full guided day through the quarry and the eastern platforms, 8 hours.

  • If The founding story

    Anakena

    Where tradition says Hotu Matu'a landed.8

  • If The modern story

    The museum in Hanga Roa

    It holds Father Englert's collections and Moai Tau.25,26

Where history happened

Places to see the story

The landing

Anakena

North coast

  • StoryHotu Matu'a's arrival
  • CeremonyEvery 7 July
  • AlsoSwimming
Show me

The birdman

Orongo

Rano Kau rim

  • HousesAbout 50
  • Rock artBirdman carvings
  • NoteOnce per ticket
Show me

The oldest ahu

Ahu Tahai

Hanga Roa

  • Built713 AD
  • TodayThree restored ahu
  • Best timeSunset
Show me

Ships from Europe

The first recorded European visit came in 1722, when the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen reached the island on Easter Sunday, which is how it got the name the outside world still uses.3 The arrival marked the end of centuries of isolation that Chile's UNESCO statement sees as central to the island's unique culture.63

Others followed. In 1770 a Spanish expedition took possession of the island for the crown,23 and in 1774 Captain James Cook called, impressed by the monuments and struck by how poor the islanders seemed.24 These early visitors left drawings and journals that historians still use, though each saw the island through his own expectations.

The voyages brought more than visitors. The UNESCO statement describes contact with Europeans in the eighteenth century arriving when the island's natural resources were already exhausted and its society in crisis.63 What followed in the next century was far worse than anything the eighteenth-century ships had brought.

Go with a guide

Price a history day for your group

Shared tours through the island's past.

Compare all 3 options

Price a history day for your group

Shared tours through the island's past.

2 people
  1. Orongo to Ana Te Pahu7 hours · price per person from $70

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    View
  2. Birdman half day3 hours · price per person from $82

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    View
  3. Rapa Nui culture day8 hours · price per person from $80

    ≈

    View

Starting prices on GetYourGuide, exchanged at the ECB reference rate. The booking page gives the exact price.

Key dates

Rapa Nui through the centuries

  1. Around 600

    Settlers arrive

    Voyagers from the Marquesas reach the island.1

  2. 713 AD

    First platform

    Ahu Tahai, the oldest dated ahu.12

  3. 1722

    Roggeveen

    A Dutch ship arrives on Easter Sunday.3

  4. 1862

    Slave raids

    Islanders are taken to the guano works of Peru.13

  5. 1888

    Annexation

    Chile takes possession of the island.14

  6. 1966

    Lease ends

    Rapa Nui returns to the Chilean state.15

  7. 2017

    Ma'u Henua

    The Rapa Nui take over the park.5

The darkest century

In 1862 a fleet of slave ships arrived to seize islanders and take them to dig guano on the coast of Peru.13 After French and British protests a repatriation was ordered, but only about fifteen of those taken came home, and they brought smallpox, which proved lethal for the people of the island.64

Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts arrived in 1864,65 and in 1870 the Frenchman Dutroux-Bornier came to take over the land, while his partner John Brander shipped workers to plantations elsewhere, leaving only 175 Rapa Nui on the island.21 Chile's UNESCO statement sums up the result: colonization, livestock, disease and above all slavery cut the population to little more than a hundred.22

Knowledge died with the people. The same statement links this collapse to the loss of the rongorongo script, which has still not been deciphered.66 The same decade, a moai left the island: in 1870 the corvette O'Higgins carried one to Santiago, the statue now known as Moai Tau.67

Video

Easter Island, where giants walked

Fall of Civilizations on YouTube · The video only starts loading on your tap.

It crystallized in the cult of Make Make, the creator god, and in the ceremony of the tangata manu, the bird man, in which the different lineages competed each year for political power.
Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural)27

Before a history day

History of Rapa Nui: visit checklist

Tickets3

  • Park ticket: Orongo, like Rano Raraku, allows one entry57
  • An accredited guide for every park site58
  • Orongo may close in strong wind; check the day's status59

Respect2

  • Do not touch petroglyphs or stone houses60
  • Leave stones and objects where they lie61

Add2

  • The museum in Hanga Roa for Moai Tau26
  • Tapati in February if your dates allow62

Chile, the sheep ranch and the road back

Easter Island became part of Chile on 9 September 1888,4 when Commander Policarpo Toro of the ship Angamos took possession for the Chilean government.14 The same year the island was turned into an enormous sheep ranch, and islanders who had lived from fishing became tenants of the foreign companies that ran it.68

In 1917 the island was placed under the naval authority of the Maritime Territory based in Valparaiso,69 and in 1936 the ranching company gave up its claims in return for a lease of 20 years.70 Protection of the archaeology began on paper in 1935, when the national park was created on 16 January and the island declared a Historic Monument on 23 July.71

Systematic archaeology arrived with Thor Heyerdahl's expedition in 1955,72 whose team also made the first documented restorations of moai.54 When the lease ended, Rapa Nui returned to the Chilean state in 1966,15 and tourism and a new value placed on the island's heritage began to reshape the relationship between its people and the state.

The island today

Modern protection took shape over the following decades. The National Library records that the park was renamed Rapa Nui National Park in 1976, covering 7,130 hectares, about 43% of the island,73 and CONAF dates both its present boundaries and its UNESCO World Heritage listing to 1995, the listing on 8 December.74 The island museum, founded by decree on 10 October 1973, keeps the collections of Father Sebastian Englert.25

On November 23, 2017 management of the park passed formally to the Rapa Nui people, and the Ma'u Henua indigenous community has administered it ever since.5 The handover rests on a concession of 50 years approved in an indigenous consultation in which more than 86% voted in favor,75 and the community now counts 2,500 members.76

History is also coming home. After 152 years in Santiago, the basalt Moai Tau has returned to the island,41 under a program to bring back ancestral remains and sacred objects.77 Each February the Tapati festival fills two weeks with dances, contests and body painting,78,62 proof that the culture you read about on this page is very much alive.

FAQ

Fast, clear answers, short.

Who were the first people on Rapa Nui?
Polynesian voyagers.

Settlers from the Marquesas arrived around the year 600, led in tradition by Hotu Matu'a.1,7

Why is it called Easter Island?
Roggeveen arrived at Easter.

The Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen reached it on Easter Sunday 1722.3

What was the birdman cult?
A yearly contest for power.

Lineages competed at Orongo for the first manutara egg; the winner's group held power for the year.27,33

What happened in 1862?
Slave raids.

Ships took islanders to Peru's guano works; about fifteen came back, bringing smallpox.13,64

When did Easter Island become part of Chile?
On 9 September 1888.

Commander Policarpo Toro took possession for the Chilean government.4,14

Who manages the national park today?
The Ma'u Henua community.

The Rapa Nui community has run the national park since 2017.5

Has rongorongo been deciphered?
No.

The rongorongo script was lost in the collapse and is still undeciphered.66

Sources

  1. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  2. Centro Nacional de Conservacion y Restauracion (CNCR, Chile) · Isla de Pascua, conservacion de su estatuaria (Conserva 4, 2000, PDF) ↩
  3. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  4. Centro Nacional de Conservacion y Restauracion (CNCR, Chile) · Ahu Tongariki: trabajos de conservacion de sus 15 moai (Conserva 11, 2007, PDF) ↩
  5. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park ↩
  6. Government of Chile (CONAF) · Propuesta de Declaracion Retrospectiva de Valor Universal Excepcional, Parque Nacional Rapa Nui (PDF) ↩
  7. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  8. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Anakena ↩
  9. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park ↩
  10. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park ↩
  11. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Itinerary through the must-see spots of Rapa Nui ↩
  12. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Arqueologia (Rapa Nui) ↩
  13. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  14. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  15. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  16. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  17. Government of Chile (CONAF) · Propuesta de Declaracion Retrospectiva de Valor Universal Excepcional, Parque Nacional Rapa Nui (PDF) ↩
  18. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  19. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Arqueologia (Rapa Nui) ↩
  20. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Excursions on Easter Island: what you can do ↩
  21. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  22. Government of Chile (CONAF) · Propuesta de Declaracion Retrospectiva de Valor Universal Excepcional, Parque Nacional Rapa Nui (PDF) ↩
  23. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  24. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  25. Museo Antropologico Padre Sebastian Englert, Rapa Nui (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Historia ↩
  26. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (Chile) · El moai mas antiguo que resguardaba el MNHN vuelve a Rapa Nui ↩
  27. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  28. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  29. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  30. Centro Nacional de Conservacion y Restauracion (CNCR, Chile) · Isla de Pascua, conservacion de su estatuaria (Conserva 4, 2000, PDF) ↩
  31. Centro Nacional de Conservacion y Restauracion (CNCR, Chile) · Isla de Pascua, conservacion de su estatuaria (Conserva 4, 2000, PDF) ↩
  32. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park ↩
  33. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Excursions on Easter Island: what you can do ↩
  34. Government of Chile (CONAF) · Propuesta de Declaracion Retrospectiva de Valor Universal Excepcional, Parque Nacional Rapa Nui (PDF) ↩
  35. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Arqueologia (Rapa Nui) ↩
  36. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Arqueologia (Rapa Nui) ↩
  37. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Hanga Roa
  38. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park
  39. Museo Antropologico Padre Sebastian Englert, Rapa Nui (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Historia
  40. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Rano Raraku
  41. Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage of Chile · Ya esta de vuelta en Rapa Nui el Moai Tau ↩
  42. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Discover the magic of the island of Rapa Nui
  43. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park
  44. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park
  45. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park
  46. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park
  47. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park
  48. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park
  49. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park
  50. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park
  51. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · A trip to the Pacific: the best activities to do on Rapa Nui
  52. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park
  53. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Anakena
  54. Centro Nacional de Conservacion y Restauracion (CNCR, Chile) · Ahu Tongariki: trabajos de conservacion de sus 15 moai (Conserva 11, 2007, PDF) ↩
  55. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Rano Raraku
  56. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Orongo
  57. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park ↩
  58. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park ↩
  59. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Preguntas frecuentes ↩
  60. CONAF, Corporacion Nacional Forestal (Chile) · Parque Nacional Rapa Nui ↩
  61. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Guia del visitante ↩
  62. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Rapa Nui (Easter Island) ↩
  63. Government of Chile (CONAF) · Propuesta de Declaracion Retrospectiva de Valor Universal Excepcional, Parque Nacional Rapa Nui (PDF) ↩
  64. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  65. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  66. Government of Chile (CONAF) · Propuesta de Declaracion Retrospectiva de Valor Universal Excepcional, Parque Nacional Rapa Nui (PDF) ↩
  67. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (Chile) · El moai mas antiguo que resguardaba el MNHN vuelve a Rapa Nui ↩
  68. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  69. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  70. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  71. CONAF, Corporacion Nacional Forestal (Chile) · Parque Nacional Rapa Nui ↩
  72. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  73. Memoria Chilena, National Library of Chile (Servicio Nacional del Patrimonio Cultural) · Rapa Nui ↩
  74. CONAF, Corporacion Nacional Forestal (Chile) · Parque Nacional Rapa Nui ↩
  75. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park ↩
  76. Ma'u Henua Indigenous Community (Rapa Nui National Park administration) · Rapa Nui National Park ↩
  77. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (Chile) · El moai mas antiguo que resguardaba el MNHN vuelve a Rapa Nui ↩
  78. Chile Travel (Sernatur, Chile National Tourism Service) · Excursions on Easter Island: what you can do ↩

More to read

More to read before you fly to Rapa Nui

GuideEaster Island tour pricesGuideRapa Nui tours comparedGuidePrivate, group or family tourGuidePackages and flights from Santiago

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