Newly Unearthed Documents Propose That the Easter Island Head Was Not Stolen

A British archaeologist has proposed a revised account of the excavation of Hoa Hakananaiʻa, the moai better known as the Easter Island Head, arguing that its removal was not a unilateral act of imperial extraction but a collaborative effort between British explorers and Indigenous Rapa Nui islanders that ultimately led to its voyage to England.Hoa Hakananaiʻa was one of roughly 1,000 basalt statues scattered across Easter Island, a subtropical landmass about the size of Manhattan loca