Easter Island

Easter Island Latest News

New research reveals Easter Island’s moai statues were “walked” upright using ingenious engineering, not dragged or rolled.

About Easter Island

• It is a Polynesian island located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. 
• Named Rapa Nui by its earliest residents, it is one of the most isolated inhabited islands in the world. 
• It is a special Chilean territory situated about 3,540 km to the west of Chile and about 1,900 km to the east of Pitcairn Island.
• It covers a total area of 163.6 sq.km.
• It is a small, triangular-shaped volcanic island. It is about 24 km in length and has a maximum width of about 12 km at its widest point. 
• The island comprises three extinct volcanoes, namely Terevaka, Poike, and Rano Kau.
• It faces a tropical rainforest climate.
• UNESCO named Easter Island a World Heritage Site on March 22, 1996, and major parts of the island have been protected under the Rapa Nui National Park.

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What are Moai Statues?

• Rapa Nui is famous for its large megalithic statues called moai.
• They are shaped like large human heads and erected on stone pedestals.
• They are famous for their carved heads and “Pukao,” a hat-like covering made from a soft red stone.
• Some moai stand 40 feet tall and weigh 75 tonnes.
• They were carved in volcanic stone at quarries and then moved to their current locations across the island.
• Scholars believe the Rapa Nui people built the moai between the 13th and the 16th centuries and represented their revered ancestors.
• Over 900 moai have been found on the island to date.
• What do Moais represent?
  • They were built to honor chieftains or other important people who had passed away.
  • They were placed on rectangular stone platforms called ahu, which are tombs for the people that the statues represented.
  • The moais were intentionally made with different characteristics since they were intended to keep the appearance of the person they represented.

Source: ARCH