1
Abstracts
(in alphabetic order of the authors)
Keynote address
Stevenson, Christopher M.
Prehistoric ecodynamics on Rapa Nui: declines in productivity and population displacement
Recently completed climatic modelling and the chronometric dating of landscape use have revealed a
fluid pattern of settlement prior to first European contact in AD 1722.
In the region known as Te Niu,
on
the islands northwest coast, the presence of a rain shadow reduced
annual precipitation to
approximately 630cm per year and made successful farming difficult.
At elevations greater than
250m, higher rainfall over the millennia had leached the soil of crop‐sustaining nutrients to the point
that intensive gardening was not feasible. About AD 1650 the population
living in Te Niu left for
other areas and the abandonment of upland elevations soon followed by AD 1710.
This decline in
agricultural productivity and subsequent population displacement is likely to have placed a significant
stress upon the economic and political systems of the eleven regional chiefdoms. This situation may
have led to the emergence of annual revitalization ceremonies such
as the Birdman Cult held at
Orongo whose appearance converges with the declines in regional food yields.
01
Abarca Fariña, Sofia
Riu, el canto primal de Isla de Pascua
Presentation of my book "
Ríu, the Primal Songs of Easter Island", based on the knowledge of Maria
Elena Hotus, Master of Ancestral Songs research.
1) Unpublished analysis of 23 ancestral songs whose lyrics reveal important aspects of their ancient
culture.
2) New classification of songs based on the theme of his lyrics and not in its musical structure.
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