Easter Island.
The name evokes an image of the exotic and mysterious. One of the most isolated places on Earth, Easter Island is all alone in the southeastern Pacific, some 2200 miles west of the South American coast and 1100 miles east of the nearest populated place, tiny Pitcairn Island. Europeans didn't discover Easter Island until 1722, but Polynesians found and colonized the island around 300 A.D., which in itself is an incredible achievement.
Many people have heard of the famous statues on Easter Island, which are called "moai" (pronounced "MOE-eye"). They were placed upon large stone platforms, called "ahu" (pronounced "AW-hoo"), which sometimes contained burial sites. The moai (statues) are believed to have represented important ancestors of a given clan, and their purpose was to watch over the clan's village. They do not look out to the sea; they always look inward, over the village site. (The example above, Ahu Akivi, is sometimes cited as an example of moai that look seaward, but the site is over a mile from the coast and clearly overlooks a village site.)
The period of moai building was believed to be from about 800 A.D. to around 1500 A.D., when the society began to deteriorate. As we will discuss later, every single one of the moai on Easter Island was toppled during clan warfare between the islanders as their environment and society began to collapse. All the moai currently standing today have been restored during the 20th century.
The size of the statues varies greatly. As you might expect, the bigger and more finely crafted the statue was, the more deference it and the clan received. To give you an idea of the size of the statues at Ahu Akivi, see below, where Dave is standing about 15 feet behind the platform (you can't actually stand on the platform, because this damages it).
Almost all of the statues are done in the same style, and look a lot alike (although they are each a little different). The moai below, 3rd from the left in the pictures above, shows some traits which nearly all moai share. Its body ends at the waist, it has clearly discernible arms, and it has long, thin fingers holding its belly. If you look at the face, the lips stick out a little ways in a dignified expression. You can also see eyeholes where the islanders put eyes. Interestingly, eyeholes only exist on standing moai, but the statues in the quarry do not, suggesting that they were carved only when the statue was at or near its destination.
Let's move on to a more fully restored example that shows more of what the moai would have looked like. The moai below is from the Ahu Tahai complex near the town of Hanga Roa. In this example, replica eyes have been inserted, showing what they would have looked like. Another feature shown here is the red topknot (called "pukao", pronounced "POO-cow"). Many ahu (but not all) had topknots. This is believed to have represented a hairstyle that was common for male islanders during the later phase of moai construction, but no one knows for sure.
These moai at Ahu Nau Nau, near Anakena Beach, show a variety of topknots.
For me, one of the most impressive sites was Ahu Tongariki, which featured no less than 15 restored moai. Walking toward Tongariki, there is one lonely moai guarding the entrance.
Once down the path, you get a full view of this incredible site.
To give you a better idea of the size of the statues, here's me in front of them.
Here's a better look at the four on the right. More originally had topknots, but only one's was restored.
The Tongariki site contains some interesting petroglyphs (rock carvings). This is an example of a sea tortoise.
Below you can see the patterned rock that surrounds the actual platform. As you can see, the statues look over the village, not out to the sea. In the background you can see the cliffs of the Poike Peninsula, battered for millenia by the open Pacific. Note also the gorgeous blue shades of the sunlit Pacific.
We've now looked at some of Easter Island's impressive moai, restored to show how they might have looked long ago. Now let's look at how the moai were constructed!
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cflaat@msn.com.
All content copyright 2003 by Christopher A. Flaat.