Easter Island and the Mysterious Moai

Recent archaeological and anthropological efforts to learn more about the Rapa Nui culture have led to many discoveries and along the way pieces of the Rapa Nui history that were once lost have been restored. The outrigger canoe was successfully re-introduced on the island and today enjoys some measure of popularity among the Rapa Nui. Perhaps this is the full circle for the Rapa Nui.

The first image to enter your mind when someone mentions Easter Island is likely the great stone sentinels that punctuate the island's landscape. The island's head-on-torso statues, called moai by the Rapa Nui, number almost 1000 in population. At times, the great moai outnumbered the Rapa Nui.

"It is estimated that there are around 1000 moai on the island," said Lee. "More than 900 have been counted, and so many parts of the island remain unexcavated that we don't know the actual count. Even in the quarry, whenever anyone digs a hole, they find more statues."

At the height of their prosperity, it seems the Rapa Nui became obsessed with making moai. Standing on the pinnacle of their mountain of success, they could look down the other side and see that the island could not support their way of life for very long. With their food and resources dwindling, they turned to religion to save them.

"They made the statues to represent their chiefs, who were descendants of the gods," Lee said.

Many archaeologists believe the moai were created to secure a bond between the heavens and the earth, between the gods and common man. To the ancient Rapa Nui, the moai may have represented an actual connection to the gods, a way to communicate between heaven and earth, but no one knows for certain.

The moai were carved by Rapa Nui artisans. It is believed that only the most skilled carves were engaged in the sacred production of the moai. The figures are exclusively male, in the image of the Rapa Nui chiefs and gods, and some sport a sort of top knot, called a pukao, which may have been a status symbol of some sort.

"They used basalt picks to cut the statues out of the volcanic tuff," said Lee. "They carved the fronts first, then cut down the sides, finally cutting them loose from the rock and sliding them down the slope, standing them in a prepared depression and then finishing the backs."

Most moai began life at Rano Raraku, the main quarry on Easter Island. Looking around the quarry, one can observe moai in various states of completion, from mere faces in the rock walls to finished moai on the slopes of the quarry which were apparently in the process of being moved to their final destinations.