Moai

Moai facing inland at Ahu Tongariki, restored by Chilean archaeologist Claudio Cristino in the 1990s

Moai or moʻai (/ˈm./ MOH-eye; Spanish: moái; Rapa Nui: moʻai, lit.'statue') are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500.[1][2] Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the island's perimeter. Almost all moai have overly large heads, which account for three-eighths of the size of the whole statue. They also have no legs. The moai are chiefly the living faces (aringa ora) of deified ancestors (aringa ora ata tepuna).[3]

The statues still gazed inland across their clan lands when Europeans first visited the island in 1722, but all of them had fallen by the latter part of the 19th century.[4] The moai were toppled in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, possibly as a result of European contact or internecine tribal wars.[5]

The production and transportation of the more than 900 statues[6][7] is considered a remarkable creative and physical feat.[8] The tallest moai erected, called Paro, was almost 10 metres (33 ft) high and weighed 82 tonnes (81 long tons; 90 short tons).[9][10] The heaviest moai erected was a shorter but squatter moai at Ahu Tongariki, weighing 86 tonnes (85 long tons; 95 short tons). One unfinished sculpture, if completed, would be approximately 21 m (69 ft) tall, with a weight of about 145–165 tonnes (143–162 long tons; 160–182 short tons).[11] Statues are still being discovered as of 2023.[12]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference fischer was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ The island at the end of the world. Reaktion Books 2005 ISBN 1-86189-282-9
  3. ^ Van Tilburg, Jo Anne. "Easter Island Statue Project". Eisp.org. Archived from the original on 7 July 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference The Statues That Walked was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
  6. ^ "Easter Island Statue Project". Archived from the original on 9 January 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ UNESCO World Heritage Centre (29 May 2009). "Rapa Nui National Park". Whc.unesco.org. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  9. ^ Young, Emma (26 July 2006). "Easter Island: A monumental collapse?". Newscientist.com. pp. 30–34. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  10. ^ Van Tilburg, Jo Anne (5 May 2009). "Moai Paro digital reconstruction". Easter Island Statue Project (eisp.org). Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  11. ^ "NOVA Online | Secrets of Easter Island | Stone Giants". Pbs.org. Archived from the original on 23 May 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  12. ^ "New Easter Island moai statue discovered in volcano crater". The Guardian. 1 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.