Easter Island Civilization Collapse

"The history of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) has been presented as a cautionary tale of human society that destroyed its renewable resources and in the process was reduced to a fragmented of the population and a shadow of the culture that had marked its zenith . . . Along with deforestation came soil depletion and erosion, water contamination, and loss of bird habitat. The resources that has supported the early expansion of the Easter Islanders began to disappear . . . One day the last palm tree was cut down . . . The population reached the limit of environmental support, with food shortage as a result. It was not possible for out-migration to relieve population pressure, because no materials remained for the construction of canoes large enough for inter-island voyages. Conflict increased as groups attempted to seize resources from others. The population crashed." However, there is a recent hypothesis that challenges the long-held ideas about the collapse of the Easter Island civilization. Some researchers posit that it was European contact and exploitation, rather than self-destruction, that ultimately led to the demise of this Rapa Nui society.