Thursday 4 September 2014

The Moai of Easter Island

Easter Island

Easter Island is the world's most isolated inhabited island. It is also one of the most mysterious. Eastern Island is roughly midway between Chile and Tahiti. The triangular shaped island (Easter Island) is made mostly of volcanic rock.


The inhabitants of this charming and mysterious place called their land: Te Pito o TeHenua, 'the navel of the world.' It sits in the South Pacific Ocean 2,300 miles west of South America, 2,500 miles southeast of Tahiti, 4,300 miles south of Hawaii, 3,700 miles north of Antarctica.


When we think of Eastern Island we think of of huge stone carved figures -monoliths- that dot the coastline. They are called Moai and are carved from island rock.


The Moai are seen all over the island, and in different shapes, sizes, and stages of completion. Many Moaiare left unfinished at the quarry site. No one is sure yet as to what purposes did the Moai served, but outside scholarly research together with accumulated local knowledge, shows evidence that the Moai were carved by the ancestors of the present inhabitants.


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