http://www.islandheritage.org/eihistory.html Easter Island (or Rapa Nui) is one of the world’s great archaeological sites, and also one of the most remote. The nearest inhabited island is tiny Pitcairn, over 1200 miles to the west. Rapa Nui is almost 2500 miles from the coast of South America and, in the other direction; it is 2000 miles to Tahiti. Its isolation is one of the key factors affecting the culture that evolved here.
From what is known of the culture, language, and customs, it seems that the original settlers came from either the Marquesas Islands or from Mangareva around AD 400-600. It is unknown but they may have stopped at other islands along the way. Finding this isolated island is said to be a miracle.
The Polynesians who found Easter Island came prepared to stay. They brought tools and food, and plants and anima
As statue making increased, the supplies of timber and rope gradually became scarce. The lack of trees meant that canoes could no longer be built, restricting offshore fishing. Without canoes, they could not set off for another island. The Rapanui found themselves trapped in a degrading environment.
A powerful warrior class (matato’a) emerged as the mana of the ariki mau declined; land was seized and many villages destroyed. Ceremonial shrines were demolished and the statues toppled. One result of this power shift was the establishment of a new religion by the matato’a: the Birdman Cult. This cult served to alternate leadership between rival groups from year to year, and the selection of a winner (or "birdman") was based upon a contest to acquire the first bird egg of the season. Thus the Rapanui turned from their old religion to a new creator god, Makemake, and to rituals based on f
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