The mystery of the Easter island heads – 7 interesting facts

12/9/2019

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Geography Story: The mystery of the Easter island heads – 7 interesting facts

The production and transportation of these large figures is one of the most unbelievable feats of humanity – and one of the greatest mysteries. Here are 7 little-known facts about the legendary Moai.

#1

Geography Story: The statues were build by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500 — shutterstock

Rapa Nui are the aboriginal Polynesian inhabitants of Easter Island, who settled there between 300 and 1200 CE.

#2

Geography Story: Each figure took about a year to complete — shutterstock

The craftsmen used basalt stone hand chisels. About 5-6 people worked on each sculpture.

#3

Geography Story: No one knows exactly how the statues were moved — shutterstock

The Rapa Nui people didn't have cranes, wheels, or even strong animals to help them. At the same time, they were able to move these enormous statues 11 miles (17 km) across the island, given that the heaviest ones weigh more than 70 tons. They may have used wooden sleds, but the exact answer remains unknown.

#4

Geography Story: Almost all statues face away form the ocean — shutterstock

Most archaeologists agree that the figures symbolize Polynesians’ ancestors, who are watching over the villages.

#5

Geography Story: They actually have hidden bodies — shutterstock

For many years, most scientists believed the Moai were only heads, but later the archaeologists excavated several statues to find the underlying torso.

#6

Geography Story: There are 887 known statues on the island — shutterstock

Many figures are still to be discovered, so there may actually be more than 1,000 of them.

#7

Geography Story: Some statues have been transported to museums in different parts of the world — wikimedia CC BY-SA

They can be seen in the museums of Chile, France, Belgium, UK, New Zealand and United States.

Was this information new for you? Would you like to see these statues with your own eyes? Or have you already seen them?

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What are your thoughts on this subject?

31 Comments

Ian Swindale

The ancients who "built" these statues were remarkable just as those who built the Pyramids through Egypt (not just the 2 Giza ones) and Stonehenge were. These structures are all mind-boggling when you think of what must have been involved in their construction.

Scott

Transportation of these guys from their creation site to their current locations ultimately resulted in cannilbalism and tribal warfare- cutting the trees undermined the entire islands habitats and destroyed their ECO systems -

gbluemoon

John New, Common Era.BCE Befoe Common Era.The replacement of BC and A D.

Lynn Spalding Jr.

John New, Common Era for the politically correct instead of AD

Sally Onyett

Up until now I had believed that they faced out to see to perhaps ward off approaching invaders. Fascinating to read they face inland to perhaps guard the islanders. Hopefully one day I’ll see for myself. 😜

John Dommerman

Thank you for the information, but IMO, the statues can remain on the island, undisturbed as much as possible.

June Dutt

Very interesting

Richard Perkins

How do they know how long it took to carve each one much less how many people worked on each one?

Violetta Ewa Boguslawski

Amazing good to know

Lydia Coutts

John New, BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini, meaning ‘In the year of the Lord’) are Christian terms. CE and BCE are considered more inclusive, though I’m not entirely sure why as Christ’s birth is still the determiner.

Chriss Crockford

Incredible. Thank you for sharing

John New

What happened to bc and ad?Charles Graham,

John New

What does ce mean?

Carol Butler

Amazing! I personally think it disrespectful to remove them to museums to be put on display. We do not know their meaning for the people who labored so incredibly to produce them.