The ethnohistory of freshwater use on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile)

Hixon, Sean; DiNapoli, Robert J.; Lipo, Carl P.; Hunt, Terry L.

doi:10.15286/jps.128.2.163-189

Cited by 10 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…Ethnohistoric accounts identify a diversity of freshwater sources and describe various Rapanui freshwater management strategies. Our findings highlight the importance of coastal freshwater seeps and provide much-needed insight into how Rapanui procured this vital and necessary resource (Hixon et al, 2019).…”

Section: Selecting Abstracts and Codingmentioning

confidence: 73%

The Relation Between the Structure of Abstracts in LIS and Anthropology Journals and Their Rank

Pulikowski

2020

ZIN

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Purpose/Thesis: The study determines: (1) which of the commonly expected elements of abstracts feature in library and information science (LIS) and anthropology journals; (2) whether there is a relationship between the journal rank as measured by the Impact Factor and the number of components present in the journal’s abstracts.Approach/Methods: The research had two main stages. Firstly, the scope of research was determined by selecting specific disciplines and journals. Secondly, randomly selected abstracts were analyzed to see if the key components were present. Results and conclusions: The key abstract components (background, purposes, methods, results) do not vary across the journals from both disciplines. In general, the abstracts from journals of higher rank are longer than those from journals of lower rank and have more components present. The results were proven for LIS and anthropology but the pattern may hold true for journals from other disciplines. This requires further research.Originality/Value: The study extends prior research by correlating the completeness of information included in abstracts with journal rank measured by Impact Factor.

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Section: Selecting Abstracts and Codingmentioning

confidence: 73%

The Relation Between the Structure of Abstracts in LIS and Anthropology Journals and Their Rank

Pulikowski

2020

ZIN

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“…This, together with the absence in the archeological record of large water containers and intense habitation near lakes and marshes, led to the conclusion by these authors that coastal seeps would have been crucial for prehistoric Rapanui subsistence. Hixon et al (2019) extended this conclusion to postcontact times and argued that coastal seeps were of fundamental importance until the mid-20th century. In addition to the difficulty of accessing the crater lakes, these authors emphasize the unpalatability of their waters, on the basis of historical accounts.…”

Section: Coastal Groundwater Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 95%

Drought, freshwater availability and cultural resilience on Easter Island (SE Pacific) during the Little Ice Age

Rull

2020

The Holocene

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After decades of human-deterministic explanations for the collapse of the ancient Rapanui culture that inhabited Easter Island (Rapa Nui) before European contact (1722 CE), paleoecological studies developed over the last decade have provided sound evidence of climate changes and their potential socioecological impacts. Especially significant is the occurrence of a century-scale drought (1570–1720 CE) during the Little Ice Age (LIA). Freshwater is a critical resource on Easter Island that heavily depends on rain, which maintains the only three permanent surficial freshwater sources on the island: two lakes (Rano Kao and Rano Raraku) and a marsh (Rano Aroi). Under these conditions, the LIA drought could have significantly affected human life; however, the Rapanui society remained healthy, showing remarkable resilience. There are two main hypotheses on how the ancient Rapanui could have obtained freshwater to guarantee their continuity. One of these hypotheses proposes that Lake Kao was a permanent source of freshwater, even during the LIA drought, which led to some intraisland cultural and population reorganizations. The coastal groundwater hypothesis dismisses the use of lakes and other surficial freshwater sources to maintain the water-stressed Rapanui population and contends that the only routine freshwater sources during the LIA drought were the abundant and widespread coastal seeps fed by fresh/brackish groundwater. The pros and cons of these two hypotheses are discussed on the basis of the available archeological and paleoecological evidence, and it is concluded that given the present state of knowledge, neither can be rejected. Therefore, these two proposals could be complementary rather than mutually exclusive.

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“…studies show that freshwater sources available in groundwater discharge (springs) predict the locations of ahu and point to community activities centered on this shared critical resource [88][89][90]. Given the diminutive size of Rapa Nui and its relatively marginal environment, the island never supported a particularly large population.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…[e.g., 87,89], that individual and their community would be better off than those without such knowledge. The effects of drift on this small and isolated population would thus prove challenging for retaining cultural knowledge shared in oral traditions by individual-to-individual social learning mechanisms.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on an analysis of soil, historic rainfall data, topography, and substrate age, Morrison [ 11 ] (p.184) shows that “between one time and two times a decade many of the areas of the island are only marginally suitable for agriculture or not suitable at all.” With such unpredictability in conditions necessary for survival (i.e., food and water), past knowledge about problems and solutions would have selective value. For example, if an individual knew how to survive an extended drought using particular cultivation or water management strategies, such as many unique strategies used by Rapanui people [e.g., 87 , 89 ], that individual and their community would be better off than those without such knowledge. The effects of drift on this small and isolated population would thus prove challenging for retaining cultural knowledge shared in oral traditions by individual-to-individual social learning mechanisms.…”

Section: A Model For Population Structure On Rapa Nuimentioning

confidence: 99%

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Population structure drives cultural diversity in finite populations: A hypothesis for localized community patterns on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile)

et al. 2021

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Understanding how and why cultural diversity changes in human populations remains a central topic of debate in cultural evolutionary studies. Due to the effects of drift, small and isolated populations face evolutionary challenges in the retention of richness and diversity of cultural information. Such variation, however, can have significant fitness consequences, particularly when environmental conditions change unpredictably, such that knowledge about past environments may be key to long-term persistence. Factors that can shape the outcomes of drift within a population include the semantics of the traits as well as spatially structured social networks. Here, we use cultural transmission simulations to explore how social network structure and interaction affect the rate of trait retention and extinction. Using Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) as an example, we develop a model-based hypothesis for how the structural constraints of communities living in small, isolated populations had dramatic effects and likely led to preventing the loss of cultural information in both community patterning and technology.

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The ethnohistory of freshwater use on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile)

Cited by 10 publications

References 19 publications

The Relation Between the Structure of Abstracts in LIS and Anthropology Journals and Their Rank

The Relation Between the Structure of Abstracts in LIS and Anthropology Journals and Their Rank

Drought, freshwater availability and cultural resilience on Easter Island (SE Pacific) during the Little Ice Age

Population structure drives cultural diversity in finite populations: A hypothesis for localized community patterns on Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile)

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