Island-wide characterization of agricultural production challenges the demographic collapse hypothesis for Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Communities in resource-poor areas face health, food production, sustainability, and overall survival challenges. Consequently, they are commonly featured in global debates surrounding societal collapse. Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is often used as an example of how over-exploitation of limited resources resulted in a catastrophic population collapse. A vital component of this narrative is that the rapid rise and fall of pre-contact Rapanui population growth rates was driven by the construction and overexploitation of once extensive rock gardens. However, the extent of island-wide rock gardening, while key for understanding food systems and demography, must be better understood. Here, we use shortwave infrared (SWIR) satellite imagery and machine learning to generate an islandwide estimate of rock gardening and re-evaluate prior population size models for Rapa Nui. We show that the extent of this agricultural infrastructure is substantially less than previously claimed and likely could not..., , , # Data from: Island-wide characterization of agricultural production challenges the demographic collapse hypothesis for Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

### Author Information:

* Principal Investigators: Dylan S. Davis
* Co-Investigators: Robert J. DiNapoli, Gina Pakarati, Terry L. Hunt, and Carl P. Lipo

### Date of data collection/creation:

2023 January

### Geographic location of data collection:

Rapa Nui, Chile

### Funders and sponsors of data collection:

National Science Foundation (BCS-1841420, BCS-2218602), National Geographic Society’s Enduring Impacts: Archaeology of Sustainability Program (NGS-85450R-21)
DSD is supported by a National Science Foundation SBE Fellowship (SMA-2203789).

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### Recommended citation for the data:

suggested: Davis, D. S., R. J. DiNapoli, G. Pakarati, T. L. Hunt, and C. P. Lipo (2023). Island-wide characterization of agricultural production challenges the demographic coll...