Roggeveen Sights Easter Island

April 5, 1722

The Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, hunting the mythic Southern Continent, made landfall on Easter Sunday at an island ringed by gigantic stone heads. The islanders wore little and offered reed boats. Roggeveen stayed a day and sailed on, mystified. The moai, already ancient, gazed inward from their collapsing platforms. The mystery of who carved them and how they were moved would captivate scholars for centuries.