Mention Easter Island and most people immediately think of the enigmatic giant stone faces placed along the coastline that stare stoically, either out to sea or inland at the inhabitants. Being part of the Polynesian triangle in the Pacific there are many myths and legends attached to this remote and mysterious island, with many of the ‘facts’ being barely indistinguishable from fanciful conjecture.

However, what is indisputable is that the island has witnessed trauma and tribulation in almos…