Stones challenge dating of Easter Island collapse

Despite taking some hits, Polynesian farmers outlasted European contact

rock garden

ROCK ON  Easter Islanders cultivated fields such as this with volcanic rocks that leached nutrients into the soil. New evidence indicates that this practice continued after Europeans reached the island in 1722.

 C. Stevenson 

Easter Island’s farming society reorganized rather than collapsing before Europeans arrived in 1722, a new study suggests.