CNN —Hundreds of monumental stone heads dot the coastline of the remote Pacific island of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island. Terry HuntThe rock gardens had covered up to 21.1 square kilometers (8.1 square miles) and could have sustained up to 17,000 people, previous research suggested. Archaeologists have identified the remains of rock gardens on which islanders would have grown sweet potatoes and other crops. “This finding was the result of integrating new remotely sensed data, data not available when we did our original study.” He wasn’t involved in the new research. In fact, when Europeans first make contact with Rapa Nui people, they only report seeing maybe 3,000 or 4,000 people and report that people were in good spirits,” Davis said.

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Persons: Jared Diamond, ”, Dylan Davis, Davis, School’s Lamont, Terry Hunt, ” Davis, Rapa, ” Ladefoged, wasn’t, Christopher Stevenson, ” Stevenson, Carl Lipo, What’s Organizations: CNN, Columbia, Observatory, New Zealand’s University of Auckland, School of, Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University Locations: Rapa Nui, Rapa, Chile, Pitcairn, Washington