Population connectivity has a fundamental role in metapopulation dynamics with important implications for population persistence in space and time. Oceanic islands, such as Easter Island (EI) and the Salas & Gómez Island (SG), are ideal for the study of population connectivity because they are separated by 415 km and isolated from other islands in the Pacific Ocean by >2000 km. Considering that the dispersal process could play a critical role in the persistence of their populations, we evaluated the connectivity pattern of the endemic gastropod Monetaria caputdraconis between EI and SG using population genetics and biophysical modelling. Eleven microsatellite loci did not show differences in the allelic frequency of individuals located in EI and SG, suggesting the presence of one genetic population. Historical reciprocal migration implies that 0.49% of the recruits in EI come from SG and 0.37% in SG come from EI. Considering year-round larval release and a larval development of 2 weeks in the plankton, a Lagrangian experiment based on a regional oceanic simulation indicated a weak population connectivity with a high rate of self-recruitment. Interestingly, self-recruitment showed both monthly and interannual variation ranging from 1 to 45% of returned larvae, with lower values estimated in SG compared to EI. The results suggest that few larvae/individuals arrive at each other's island, possibly due to stochastic events, such as rafting. Overall, our results indicate that both islands maintain population connectivity despite their distance; these findings have implications for designing conservation strategies in this region.

Stratigraphic records from lake sediment cores and slope deposits on Rapa Nui document prehistoric human impacts and natural environmental changes. A hiatus in sedimentation in Rano Raraku suggests that this lake basin dried out sometime after 4090–4410 cal yr BP and refilled only decades to centuries before AD 1180–1290. Widespread ecosystem changes caused by forest clearance by Polynesian farmers began shortly after the end of this drought. Terrestrial sections show a chronology of burning and soil erosion similar to the lake cores. Although changing sediment types and shifts in the pollen rain suggest that droughts occurred earlier in the Holocene, as yet there is no evidence for droughts occurring after AD 1180–1290. The timing of the agricultural colonization of Rapa Nui now seems well established at ca. AD 1200 and it was accompanied by rapid deforestation that was probably exacerbated by the island's small size, its droughty climate, and the rarity of primeval fires. Detailed records of a large interval of Rapa Nui's ecological history remain elusive due to the drought hiatus in the Rano Raraku sediment record. We find no evidence for a "rat outbreak impact" on Rapa Nui's vegetation preceding anthropogenic forest clearance.

Traditional explanations of Rapa Nui history invoke environmental degradation and warfare to explain the ‘collapse’ of the island's social and economic structure. One element in these reconstructions are the stemmed obsidian points known as mata'a, which some have envisaged as spearheads produced in the context of endemic warfare. Morphometric analysis shows, however, that mata'a were not specifically designed for interpersonal violence but were general purpose tools that may have been used for peaceful tasks such as ritual scarification. This discovery provides further evidence against the theory of the violent collapse of Rapa Nui society.

New methods of visualisation offer the potential for a more detailed record of archaeological objects and the ability to create virtual 3D models that can be made widely available online. Here, two different techniques are applied to the impressive Easter Island statue on display in the Wellcome Gallery at the British Museum. Of particular importance are the details revealed of the petroglyphs that decorate its surface.

A long section adjacent to a former obsidian quarry on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) reveals a sequence of agricultural strategies, beginning with the clearing of palm trees in the twelfth century AD, and the making of an open garden growing yams and taro, that continued through the fifteenth century. The later phases between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries include veneer and boulder gardens that reflect the broader strategy employed by the islanders to fight the increasingly arid soil.

High resolution satellite photographs offer a new picture of the tracks along which the Easter Island giant statues were hauled from the central quarry to the exhibition sites. The survey traced 32 km of seven major roads, confirmed by features on the ground, where their current condition gives reasons for concern. The authors suggest that the radial pattern implies social division into small groups.

A new survey and spatial analysis enables the author to argue that inland examples of Easter Island’s famous stone statues were not in transport to the coast but mark out ancient territories proposed by ethnologist Katherine Routledge in 1919.

Direct dating, using the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) 14C method, of a wooden moai kavakava (anthropomorphic woodcarving) in the collection of the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels has given a date of about cal AD 1390–1480. As there are reasons to believe that this age not only regards the raw material but also the carving itself, preserved examples of Easter Island wood sculpture may be much older than previously assumed and possibly contemporaneous with the giant monolithic sculpture of the first half of the 2nd millennium AD.

Evidence that the earliest settlers on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) may have come from Mangareva and its outlying islands in Central East Polynesia is supported by the journey of the experimental voyaging canoe Hōkūle'a from Mangareva to Rapa Nui.

A survey of the Easter Island landscape has resulted in the recognition of numerous lithic mulched household gardens and fields. It is proposed that lithic mulching was a technological innovation introduced to enhance the moisture retention capacity of the excessively drained island soils, and was an innovation incorporated into élite managed field systems which arose in the early 15th century to meet the demands for surplus production.