The rapidly changing face of modern Rapa Nui means the chances of getting that are diminishing. In 2000, the Chilean government handed back about 4000 acres of land to local people, without provisions for its preservation. There is now talk of a new casino, a golf course, hotels and resorts. Land is already being bulldozed and archaeologists don’t know what they are losing. One hope is that landowners could be paid a few hundred dollars to look after their plots, instead of earning a few hundred from growing cabbages. “If that land goes, so too could the chance to really understand what happened on Easter Island,” Lipo says.