Houses were abandoned and the foundation stones

Used to construct fortified dwellings in caves underground

Some evidence

Even suggests that once everything edible had been consumed

The starving were driven to that most desperate of acts

Cannibalism

Understandably this version of Easter Island's history remains controversial

Because it suggests the Rapa Nui were incredibly shortsighted

As the trees dwindled

Why did they do nothing about it

But a new theory suggests the Rapa Nui were powerless to prevent their downfall

For when they arrived on this island

They were not alone

Rats travelled with people to every corner of the Pacific

On Easter Island

Their impact may have been catastrophic

Multiplying to plague proportions

They would have devoured the wild fruits

The seabirds even the nuts of the giant palms

So that the trees may have stopped reproducing long

Before the last one was felled