Who found Easter Island?
Who found Easter Island? Between AD 400 and 600, settlers from the Marquesas Islands (or Mangareva) found Easter Island. They proceeded to inhabit the land, using its rich resources to build homes, start agriculture, and build their famous statues. The islanders dubbed this spot in the South Pacific Ocean as the center of the world, or Te Pito o Te Henua. As the generations consumed the islands trees in order to transport the statues, the materials used for building new canoes gradually were depleted. Eventually this led to a generation of inhabitants who were unable to travel from the island. They were essentially landlocked. On Easter day in 1722, a Dutch explorer by the name of Jacob Roggeveen happened upon the island as he sailed through the Pacific. He thus renamed the island Easter Island and sailed away. The next recorded visitor — Spanish Captain Don Felipe Gonzales — arrived in 1770. Then came the famous Captain James Cook in 1774. The French landed in 1786 with Captain le C
