Raraku - Origins in Easter Island?

Apologies if this has been put in the wrong forum - or if this has already been raised and long discussed into oblivion.

I was wondering if anyone knows whether or not the Holy Desert Raraku is in any way related to Ranu Raraku on Easter Island? The similarities between the two go beyond just the shared name, and I would be prepared to bet an enormous sum of money that Steven Erikson in his role as an anthropologist is very familiar with the Rapa Nui (Easter Island) history (given that it is one of the most famous academic case studies).

Ranu Raraku is the name of the basalt quarry in the centre of the island from which all the monuments (the Moai) were originally mined. In anthropological and socio-geographic terms it is significant because of the way that the mining effectively destroyed the Rapa Nui civilisation. Basically, a resource shortage problem prompted the people to reject their god-worship, believing instead that the ancestors needed to be worshipped in order to solve their problems. To honour their ancestors they built the huge monolithic stone heads that are so famous, which became gradually more grand and elaborate as time went on. In order to transport the stone statues around the island they had to chop down trees, which in turn worsened their resource problem, which in turn made them believe the ancestors were angry. In the end they ended up chopping down all woodland, effectively preventing them from either fishing or sailing to the outside world. Inevitably the tribes/families ended up warring (having been previously peaceful in their constructions of the Moai), and during the fighting the monuments were thrown down.

In terms of the relation to the Holy Desert, there appear to be a number of startling parallels. (I don't think any of the following will constitute a Spoiler, but it does include minor revelations from 'The Bonehunters' so you've been warned). That the Holy Desert is the location of a dead civilisation is pretty obvious, but in 'The Bonehunters' (somewhere before Y'Ghatan) there is a specific reference to the nature of the apocalypse being one of combat that consumes its followers for no reason but their fervent belief that it must. Equally a conversation with a certain Trell involved, about the nature of Gods and Powers/Ascendants suggests that Gods cannot control their worshippers once they descend into fanaticism, and that ultimately such behaviour leads to a complete destruction of faith. On Easter Island, the religion of ancestor worship eventually crumbled - the ancestors (assuming they were watching) are very much like those gods: unable to prevent the actions done by their followers in their name, despite the fact that they know such action will ultimately harm the population.

I don't mean to suggest the ties are too strong - you can read too much into any situation - but it just made me wonder how much else of Erikson's world has links to ours. Obviously his anthropological background has influenced his work - he's said so himself - so it might be worth doing a bit of 'rooting about' in the Malazan Books of the Fallen, not least because clues might be discovered that suggest the future of the series.

Malazan Empire: Raraku - Origins in Easter Island? - Malazan Empire