Map scanned from "Chile, A Remote Corner of the Earth" Travel Guide.
Numbers correspond to pictures in the guide.

From
"Chile, A Remote Corner of the Earth"
Travel Guide

Easter Island (Isla de Pascua, Rapa Nui) is a scientific enigma. During the island's heyday, the life and deeds of its 15,000 inhabitants were recorded on rongo rongo "speaking" tablets (they were practically the only people native to the New World possessing a written language).

When Chile took possession of the island late last century, there were little over one hundred islanders left; none of them capable of interpreting the ancient writings, nor of relating anything regarding the real culture of his forbears.

But the gigantic, gaunt statues they left behind still pepper the island, bearing witness to a great culture. There are few parallels elsewhere to Easter Island culture. Its ancient inhabitants called it Te Pito o Te Henua.