Easter Island is most famous for the 887 large stone statues, or Moai, which were carved from 1100 - 1680 AD. Although the statues seem to be just heads, they do have torsos, but many of these have become buried.
 |
| Moai on the coast of Hanga Roa |
Almost all the Moai were carved out of solidified volcanic ash found at a single site inside the extinct volcano Rano Raraku. The native islanders who carved them used only stone hand chisels, and it took a team of five or six men about one year to complete a single Moai. Each statue represented the deceased head of a lineage.
 |
| Tongariki Moai: 15 Moai set on the east of the island |
 |
| Almost all the Moai face inland to protect the islanders. |
Only a quarter of the statues were installed around the coast, while the rest were abandoned en route to their final destinations or remain in the quarry.
 |
| Moai abandoned on the slopes of Rano Raruka |
 |
| A Moai still attached to the bedrock in the quarry |
No comments:
Post a Comment