Easter Island's moai statues are the island's best-known artifacts. The moai are present throughout the island, with statues all along the perimeter and spaced no more than half a mile apart. Early Easter Islanders also carved and painted thousands of depictions of animals on the island's rocks and caves. Easter Island has become known as an open-air museum. It's a place to see archeological artifacts in their original form and habitat.

Moai
Easter Island's moai statues are the best-known artifacts. On account of the moai's presence throughout the island, with statues all along the perimeter and spaced no more than half a mile apart, Easter Island is known as an open-air museum. It's a place to see archeological artifacts in their natural habitat.

The moai statues stand at ahus, a word meaning both the ceremonial sites and the platforms that support the colossal stone masses. The ahus are concentrated on the southern side of the island, but can be found around the perimeter of the entire island. The moai are massive stone heads on torsos, carved from the island's hardened volcanic ash. They average 14 tons in weight, and 13 feet in height.

The statues stand with their backs to the sea, and are believed to have been built out of reverence for the islanders' ancestors. Though the statues do not take on different looks, they are each believed to represent a different chief, elder, or high-ranking official.

Easter Island is home to 887 moai, 288 of which were successfully moved from the quarry where they were carved to their homes around the island. Three hundred and ninety seven of them remain in the quarry in various states of being carved, and 92 were abandoned on their way to their final destinations.

The largest moai remains at the Rano Raraku Quarry. Known affectionately as "El Gigante," the statue measures almost 72 feet in height and weighs roughly 150 tons. The largest moai that stands outside the quarry is called Paro. Paro is over 32 feet tall and weights about 82 tons. Some estimates say that it took up to 500 people to move Paro into his position, though he has now been toppled over and lays face-down. Researchers believe it fell while being erected, as the finishing touches were never made to its eye sockets.

The moai can be found throughout the island at ceremonial sites that contain up to 15 statues. For the greatest concentration of ahus, head along the island's southern coast.

Petroglyphs and Cave Paintings
Early Easter Islanders carved and painted thousands of depictions of animals on the island's rocks and caves. Most paintings and carvings represent anthropomorphic birds.

Legend has it that the creator god Makemake was represented on earth by the bird-man, and the art work was created in his honor. In 1860, the Peruvian slave trade claimed the lives of all but 100 islanders, both by capture and by the introduction of disease. But until that time, an annual bird-man ceremony took place in the village of Orongo. One representative from each clan would swim just under a mile to nearby Moto Nui islet, search for the egg of the nesting Sooty Tern, and swim back. The first person to return with an egg unbroken was named Tangata Manu, or bird-man. The winner was led to the Rano Raraku crater where he remained in isolation for the entire year. This was among the greatest honors one could attain in the name of his clan.

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 Easter Island Overview

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   Tapati Rapa Nui Festival
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