Historical Archaeology and Easter Island: Cultural Destruction and the Aborted Formation of National Identity

Abstract

This is a chapter that—intentionally—sharply contrasts with the earlier chapters in this book. Whereas the earlier chapters are primarily about the construction and manipulation of national and cultural identities in the post-medieval period, this chapter is about the destruction of identity in the same period, and the negative impact of European colonialism on the development of national identities in an indigenous community. Yet past colonialism is not the only factor; an archaeological focus on pre-history at the expense of the historical past has also had ramifications for how external scholars have approached the issue of identity.