<P> Polynesian people most likely settled on Easter Island sometime between 700 and 1100 AD and created a thriving and industrious culture as evidenced by the island 's numerous enormous stone moai and other artifacts . However , human activity , the introduction of the Polynesian rat and overpopulation led to gradual deforestation and extinction of natural resources which severely weakened the Rapa Nui civilization . By the time of European arrival in 1722 , the island 's population had dropped to 2,000 -- 3,000 from an estimated high of approximately 15,000 just a century earlier . European diseases and Peruvian slave raiding in the 1860s further reduced the Rapa Nui population , to a low of only 111 inhabitants in 1877 . </P>
<P> Polynesian people most likely settled on Easter Island sometime between 700 and 1100 AD and created a thriving and industrious culture as evidenced by the island 's numerous enormous stone moai and other artifacts . However , human activity , the introduction of the Polynesian rat and overpopulation led to gradual deforestation and extinction of natural resources which severely weakened the Rapa Nui civilization . By the time of European arrival in 1722 , the island 's population had dropped to 2,000 -- 3,000 from an estimated high of approximately 15,000 just a century earlier . European diseases and Peruvian slave raiding in the 1860s further reduced the Rapa Nui population , to a low of only 111 inhabitants in 1877 . </P>
the history and culture of easter island is most closely tied to
the history and culture of easter island is most closely tied to
Polynesian people
Polynesian people