How and why the moai were carved, transported to their sites, and stood up has long been the subject of enormous archaeological debate and energy. There have been many crackpot theories about this (e.g. alien visits), but having visited the island I can say that it's pretty obvious where and how the statues were carved, and that they were transported in some low-tech way to their destination.
Let's start at the moai quarry, Rano Raraku. Rano Raraku is a giant volcanic crater, out of which all the moai on Easter Island were carved. Because moai exist all over the island, especially on the coast, this means significant effort was expended in transporting the statues from here.
Walking up to Rano Raraku, you see a giant hillside littered with moai:
As you get closer, you can see the proliferation of statues all over the hillside, as shown below. Excavations have found that the moai here are not simply heads; they are full figures (that is, going down to the waist) but have been partially buried in rubble over the centuries.
As you can see clearly below, these moai do not have eyeholes cut into them. It is thus inferred that the eyeholes were cut into the figures once they were at or near their destination. It is speculated that the figures did not gain their power until the eyes were placed in them.
Clearly visible all over the quarry area are incomplete statues. The ones below are still resting in the rock from which they were carved. Most likely these were abandoned as the society began to collapse and moai construction stopped; however, one could imagine that construction on any one statue could have stopped for other reasons.
The figure below is known as "El Gigante", the largest moai ever carved. Had it been completed and erected, it would have been no less than 65 feet high!
Interestingly, some moai have carvings on them which don't seem to fit and are believed to be "graffiti" by islanders at a much later point in time. In the example below, the statue has a carving on its torso which is believed to represent a three-masted European sailing ship (and therefore carved after first European contact in 1722, long after moai construction had ceased).
Rano Raraku is a haunting, mysterious place. The energy expended here over the centuries of moai construction is incomprehensible. In the figures below, note the finely carved ears.
The figures above are all from the outside of the crater. If you climb up over the rim, there are even more figures, as shown below.
Looking inward to the crater itself, at its bottom is a giant crater lake. Many reeds grow inside it. The ocean is visible in the distance.
Looking at a partially buried moai head from behind, note the fine detail, especially in the ears. The carvings at the bottom of the head probably date from a later time. The crater lake is in the background.
In the figure below, still embedded in its stone, note the detail, especially the top of the ear.
Peeking through a crack in the crater rim, Ahu Tongariki is visible on the coast.
Looking down from the crater, you can see many moai that appear to have been in the midst of transportation when everything suddenly stopped. Moving the moai was obviously not magic, although it was undoubtedly very hard work.
Dave reflects on what he's seen at Rano Raraku.
Less dramatic, but still interesting and very important, is the topknot quarry at Puna Pao. This is where all the red topknots were carved. As Many still litter the landscape, never having been transported to their destination.
As for exactly how the moai were moved and erected, theories abound. All the key archeologists who studied the island (Mulloy, Heyerdahl, Routledge, etc.) had their own pet theories. More importantly, many have tried and worked. While we will probably never know exactly how they were moved, it's clear that hundreds of determined people working together, using tried and tested methods, could have moved and erected the moai with the technology available to them.
Less clear is exactly what drove the islanders to expend such an overwhelming amount of their time and energy building hundreds of ahu and moai across the whole island over many centuries. Although the precise reasons are no doubt lost to history, I don't think any elaborate theories are needed to explain it. The Easter Islanders were utterly alone in the world, with no outside visitors for centuries. It's not hard to imagine that their attention and energy would be directed inward to their own society, and backward to their ancestors.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the period of moai construction could not continue forever. Soon, the islanders' energy would be directed not toward building moai, but destroying them. Let's move on to take a look at the destruction of the moai.
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All content copyright 2003 by Christopher A. Flaat.