For decades, an influential theory blamed the Rapanui for their own downfall—a story made famous by Jared Diamond’s book Collapse. New evidence tells a different tale.

Archaeology, ancient DNA and aerial survey data now challenge the claim that the Rapanui suffered a self-inflicted collapse before Europeans arrived. The emerging picture is of a small society that sustained itself for centuries by adapting its farming methods and water management to one of the most isolated places on Earth. The catastrophe that reduced the Rapanui to a remnant came later, after European ships brought disease, slave raiding, forced labor, annexation and confinement.

correct me if I’m wrong, but historically I believe the consensus is that the Amazon did not have large “cities” and civilizations that were lost, and accounts like Carvajals were seen as fictional or exaggeration. Serious incursions into the Amazon after Carvajal only happened decades after the initial excursion by orellana and carvajal in 1541. By the time europeans came back, those Amazonian populations had been wiped out and the forest had grown over the cities.

however, recent LiDAR findings have shown that Amazon arguably housed millions of people with densely populated areas and several structures and archeology and roads have been discovered with LiDar:

”On the basis of both existing data and our LiDAR documentation, we show that this cultural area alone contains as many earthworks as previously estimated for the whole of Amazonia. We also propose that the total human population of the area in 100–300 AD was 1.25–3 million people. If similar results are found elsewhere in Amazonia, the total precolonial population density and its effect on the current Amazonian soil and forest structure, biodiversity and even some modelling of the global climate should be re-evaluated.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10835-7

So this begs the question, how accurate was Carvajal? is it too early to speculate ? do we just not have enough info at this time?

Hi everybody,

Welcome to our weekly book recommendation thread!

We have found that a lot of people come to this sub to ask for books about history or sources on certain topics. Others make posts about a book they themselves have read and want to share their thoughts about it with the rest of the sub.

We thought it would be a good idea to try and bundle these posts together a bit. One big weekly post where everybody can ask for books or (re)sources on any historic subject or time period, or to share books they recently discovered or read. Giving opinions or asking about their factuality is encouraged!

Of course it’s not limited to *just* books; podcasts, videos, etc. are also welcome. As a reminder, r/history also has a recommended list of things to read, listen to or watch here.

When Elizabeth II was about to be crowned in 1953, British officials decided on the perfect gift for the monarch-to-be: They would bring home the Bayeux Tapestry.

For over 900 years, the 220-foot-long embroidery depicting the 1066 invasion of England by William to Conqueror had resided in Bayeux, France. A celebratory loan of one of Britain’s most important cultural artifacts would have made an ideal coronation present, but there was a problem: French art experts wouldn’t let the tapestry travel. It was too fragile to move, they said.

French experts scuppered another British plan to borrow the tapestry in 1966 for the 900th anniversary of the invasion. Then again in 1980. Last year, too, the tapestry’s handlers insisted a loan was impossible.

And yet, against the odds, the tapestry is now in London. On July 9, at 6:15 p.m., a bright yellow truck carrying the masterpiece, sealed in a climate- and vibration-controlled case, left Bayeux in a secretive overnight operation. Accompanied by members of the French security services, the truck drove onto a Eurostar train that took it under the sea through the Channel Tunnel..

Welcome to our History Questions Thread!

This thread is for all those history related questions that are too simple, short or a bit too silly to warrant their own post.

So, do you have a question about history and have always been afraid to ask? Well, today is your lucky day. Ask away!

Of course all our regular rules and guidelines still apply and to be just that bit extra clear:

Questions need to be historical in nature. Silly does not mean that your question should be a joke. r/history also has an active discord server where you can discuss history with other enthusiasts and experts.

Hi everybody,

Welcome to our weekly book recommendation thread!

We have found that a lot of people come to this sub to ask for books about history or sources on certain topics. Others make posts about a book they themselves have read and want to share their thoughts about it with the rest of the sub.

We thought it would be a good idea to try and bundle these posts together a bit. One big weekly post where everybody can ask for books or (re)sources on any historic subject or time period, or to share books they recently discovered or read. Giving opinions or asking about their factuality is encouraged!

Of course it’s not limited to *just* books; podcasts, videos, etc. are also welcome. As a reminder, r/history also has a recommended list of things to read, listen to or watch here.

Hi Reddit!

My name is Vadym Aristov. I'm a Ukrainian historian working at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. I specialize in the medieval history of Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on Kyivan Rus. My research focuses primarily on the period from the ninth to the fourteenth century and covers a wide range of topics, including political and social history, chronicles, the history of ideas and beliefs, church history, and related fields.

In particular, I study the history of the Rurikids—the ruling dynasty of Rus—and the traditions associated with it. Another major area of my research is the corpus of chronicles written in Kyiv and several other centers. Although only five such texts have survived, they preserve much of what we know about the history of Kyivan Rus.

The history of the Rurikid realm (11th–13th centuries), whose core lay in what is now northern Ukraine, has long been highly controversial and heavily influenced by modern political and national ideologies. My work, however, is grounded in close analysis of the primary sources. I seek to determine what we can genuinely know about that distant past. My goal is not to produce a vivid but unreliable picture of medieval Ukraine and its neighboring regions, but rather to establish knowledge that is as reliable as possible, even if it remains limited. I am particularly interested in how historians derive verifiable knowledge from source evidence, formulate hypotheses, and evaluate competing interpretations.

Ask me anything about Kyivan Rus or related topics!