THE MOAI OF EASTER ISLAND

Moai are statues carved of compressed volcanic ash on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The statues are all monolithic, that is, carved in one piece. They may weigh more than 20 tons and be more than 20 feet tall. One unfinished sculpture has been found that would have been 69 feet tall and would have weighed about 270 tons.

Less than about one-fifth of the statues that were moved to ceremonial sites and then erected once had red stone cylinders pukau placed on their heads. These "topknots," as they are often called, were carved in a single quarry known as Puna Pau. About 95% of the 887 moai known to date were carved out of compressed volcanic ash at Rano Raraku, where 394 moai still remain visible today. Recent GPS mapping in the interior will certainly add additional moai to that count.

The quarries in Rano Raraku appear to have been abandoned abruptly, with many incomplete statues still in situ. However, the pattern of work is very complex and is still being studied. Practically all of the completed moai that were moved from Rano Raraku and erected upright on ceremonial platforms were subsequently toppled by native islanders in the period after construction ceased.

Although usually identified as "heads" only, the moai are actually one piece figures with heads and truncated torsos.

In recent years, toppled moai have been found untouched and face-down. This led to the discovery that the famous deep eye sockets of the moai were designed to hold coral eyes. Replica eyes have been constructed and placed in some statues for photographs.

The most widely-accepted theory is that the statues were carved by the Polynesian colonizers of the island beginning by about A.D. 1000-1100. In addition to representing deceased ancestors, the moai, once they were erect on ceremonial sites, may also have been regarded as the embodiment of powerful living chiefs. They were also important lineage status symbols. The moai were carved by a distinguished class of professional carvers who were comparable in status to high-ranking members of other Polynesian craft guilds.

The statues must have been extremely expensive to craft; not only would the actual carving of each statue require effort and resources, but the finished product was then hauled to its final location and erected. It is not known exactly how the moai were moved but the process almost certainly required human energy, ropes, wooden sledges and/or rollers. Another theory is that the moai may have been "walked" by rocking them forward. By the mid-1800s, all the moai outside of Rano Raraku and many within the quarry itself had been knocked over. Today, about 50 moai have been re-erected on their ceremonial sites.

Ancient island legends speak of a clan chief called Hotu Matu'a, who left his original home in search of a new one. The place he chose is now known to us as Easter Island. When he died, the island was divided between his six sons and then, later, sub-divided among their descendants.

The islanders may have believed that their statues would capture the chiefs' "mana" (supernatural powers). They may have believed that by concentrating mana on the island good things would result, rain would fall and crops would grow. The settlement legend is a fragment of what was surely a much more complicated and many-faceted, mythic sketch, and it has changed over time.


RANO RARUKA

Rano Raraku is a volcanic crater formed of consolidated ash, or tuff, and located on Easter Island, Chile. It is the quarry in which about 95% of the island's known monolithic sculpture (Moai) were carved. The sides of the crater are high and steep except on the north and northwest, where they are much lower and gently sloping.

The interior contains a freshwater lake bordered by reeds called tortora. The reeds, once believed to have been carried to the island by explorers from the South American mainland, are now known to have been naturally introduced some 30,000 years ago.

Rano Raraku is divided into 5 archaeological zones, and as of 1981 a total of 397 statues were inventoried on the interior and exterior slopes and in the exterior quarries. The interior quarries, which have been more recently mapped, will increase this statue count substantially when work is completed.

Use of Rano Raraku spanned 500-1000 years, and probably extended into the post-contact time period after European discovery of the island in 1722. Rano Raraku is a visual record of statue design vocabulary and technological innovation, and is a precious and important part of the Rapanui patrimony.

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