I always wonder how close to South America they actually made it. I went to the Galapagos a couple of years ago and there’s no evidence of human settlement there dating back that far. But Easter Island is not that far west in terms of longitude.
It just doesn’t seem like human nature to get all the way to Easter Island and then stop. Maybe something happened and the entire society was like, “I’m never getting in a fucking boat again.” But if I had to bet, I’d put my money on people reaching the mainland and just not succeeding and creating a permanent presence. Why would Easter Island be the last stop?