15/02/2023
Moai of Easter Island
Often known as the Easter Island Heads the Moai of Easter Island are in fact complete bodies. You’ve seen the pictures, startling monoliths depicting important members of Rapa Nui society.
However, these heads are in fact just the top of a ten-meter megalith. There are around 1,000 statues that can weigh as much as 86 tons. They were carved using tuff, a rock found in Rano Raruku, a local volcano.
Constructed between 1400 and 1650 AD, the Moais were made simply with handheld chisels known as toki. The mystery remains, however, as to how that transported these statues across the island’s hilly terrain.