Island at the Edge of the World

Where did they come from? How did they get there? Why did they carve the island’s colossal iconic statues – and how? What happened to the civilisation they created?

These are just a few of the questions about Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, that have puzzled generations.

Europeans first encountered the Islanders in the early eighteenth century, bringing back astonishing tales from one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. They told fantastic stories of lost continents, cannibalism, giants and aliens. Thor Heyerdahl claimed that the island was discovered by pale-skinned sailors from South America, ignoring the rightful claims of the greatest explorers the world has ever known. Recently, the idea that Islanders cut down all the trees, causing mass starvation and social collapse, has been espoused by scientists, broadcasters and politicians. Now, in archaeologist Mike Pitts’s superb investigation, Island at the Edge of the World, he provides authoritative new insights into what really happened.

Using the latest scientific and archaeological research, plus a huge range of historical accounts, Pitts builds a fascinating new portrait of the Islanders’ story. In particular, he revives the work of Katherine Routledge, who spent sixteen months on the island in 1914-15, surviving revolution and war, and assembling a priceless but largely ignored archive of excavations and interviews. Many questions still remain, but this is the most compelling and comprehensive account yet published of the extraordinary story of Easter Island.