Disseminating what is currently known about the skeletal biology of the ancient Rapanui and placing it within the wider context of Polynesian skeletal variation, this volume is the culmination of over thirty years of research into the remotely inhabited Easter Island. Compiling osteological data deriving from Rapanui skeletal remains into one succinct analysis, this book demonstrates how the application of modern skeletal biology research techniques can effectively be employed to address questions of human population origins and microevolution. Craniometrics and DNA analysis are used to provide indications as to Rapanui ancestral lineage. Evidence is presented in a user-friendly manner to allow researchers and graduates to critically analyse the current knowledge of prehistoric Rapanui skeletal variation. An important resource providing valuable evidence from human biology that modifies earlier archaeological and cultural anthropological views, this book will stimulate further research into the Rapanui.

The origin, migration and evolution of the Rapanui (Easter Islanders), has been contested for many years. Archaeological, linguistic and genetic/serological data have played instrumental roles towards resolving these disputes thus far. Several models have been developed which have addressed the origins of the prehistoric population that colonized Rapa Nui (Easter Island), with the results of these craniometric analyses compared to those expected patterns of variation and relatedness. The results indicate that the prehistoric Rapanui had the strongest affinities with the Gambier Islands population. The east Polynesian data exhibited patterns of biological variation indicative of the microevolutionary processes of genetic drift and gene flow. This research illustrated the utility of quantitative traits in population genetic studies and should encourage the implementation of model-bound methods of analysis for all investigations of biological affinity when using skeletal samples to represent prehistoric populations. The techniques used in this investigation will have broad reaching applications in future Polynesian bioanthropological research.