Its comforting to imagine that aliens placed those inscrutable statues on easter island. The mysterious stone statues carved and erected by the rapa nui people have enthralled people since their discovery. The island stands in isolation 1,200 miles 1,900 kilometres east of pitcairn island and 2,200 miles west of chile. This book avoids being another cliched entry on easter island replete with the overdramatizations of the mysteries of the islands infamous giant stone statues. Located on the remote chilean territory of easter island, they tell a mysterious story of the islands early people and their obsession with rock carvings. Easter islands monoliths made the crops grow gastro obscura. The rano raraku tuff is a sedimentary rock made from layers of airlain, partially fused and partially cemented volcanic ash, fairly easy to carve but very heavy to transport. Jennifer vanderbes, in her first novel, easter island, plays loosely with. The moai were probably carved to commemorate important ancestors and were made from around c. Modem archaeological scientists and engineers try and recreate and decipher the mystery of easter islands moai statues by experimenting with.
The mysterious moai statues of easter island class. Theories abound on the origin of the famous moai statues of easter island. Rapa nui, also known as easter island a name given to it by europeans, is located in the southeast pacific and is famous for its approximately 1,000 carvings of moai, humanfaced statues. Nov 24, 2019 the main bodies of most of the moai statues at easter island were sculpted out of the volcanic tuff from the rano raraku quarry, the remains of an extinct volcano. Moai statues are massive megaliths at easter island, and these are what this island is famous for. It is estimated that there are 900 statues and more than 300 ahu ceremonial platforms on the island. Rapa nui legends say the moai walked with the help of a chief or priest who. Jan 17, 2019 the goal of the project has been to survey, map, excavate, and ultimately save and preserve the statues, with an eye toward better preserving rapa nui culture. The main bodies of most of the moai statues at easter island were sculpted out of the volcanic tuff from the rano raraku quarry, the remains of an extinct volcano. Easter island has four extinct volcanoes, but its largest is rano kau, located on the southwestern headland. One of the things the island is most famous for are their stone statues.
Oct 15, 2019 the moai are monolithic stone statues on rapa nui easter island and they portray the ancestors of the rapa nui people, built to protect the island tribes. The moai, like the elaborate carved wooden images from the hawaiian. Scientists claim island civilisation didnt collapse the giant easter island stone heads may very well be. Easter island is most famous for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early rapa nui people.
Sep 07, 2011 easter island, accidentally discovered by europeans on easter sunday in 1722, is the most remote island in the world. Discover delightful childrens books with prime book box, a subscription that delivers new books every 1, 2, or 3 months new customers receive 15% off your. The figures, thought to be representations of ancestors who live on in the form of skeletons, are of two types, moai kavakava male and moai paepae female. Oct 16, 2019 despite the many mysteries surrounding easter islands history, there is one fact that historians unanimously agree on. Although their appearance is fairly uniform, the moai range in height from 6 foot tall to an impressive 65 feet tall. Polynesian expansion easter island, previously named rapa nui, is mostly famous for its 10 metre tall moai statues dotting the island. Jan, 2010 fishing vessels fed the people, and islanders erected large statues called moai around the coast. Easter island tourism easter island culture religion and beliefs rapa nui religion the type of religion that has characterized easter island from the beginning states a series of prohibitions and precepts, all of them related to what they consider sacred, and which receives the name of tapu. Moai statues at dusk, tahai archaeological site, rano raraku, easter island, chile. As a title, it certainly catches the eye, but the facts will speak for themselves, as they always do.
Dec 15, 2019 new archaeology finds tell us that the mysterious easter island moai statues were built to boost soil fertility. The mystery of easter island is the title of untold books and modern film documentaries. Oct 16, 2012 rapa nui, also known as easter island a name given to it by europeans, is located in the southeast pacific and is famous for its approximately 1,000 carvings of moai, humanfaced statues. Book depository books with free delivery worldwide. Pictures of moai statues, easter island, rapa nui, chile. Every year thousands of tourists travel to the most remote inhabited place on earth to marvel at the moai. Easter island facts and the history of moai statues. By may of 1995, islanders had utilized the crane to stand 15 of the moai statues which had fallen in tongariki ahu. Sep 01, 2014 modem archaeological scientists and engineers try and recreate and decipher the mystery of easter island s moai statues by experimenting with archaic engineering methods and mysterious practices. Editorial assistant krista ehrentraut gives readers insight into the lost tribes and pins her love for the novel to this board. Almost everyone has seen the iconic images of the easter island statues staring silently out from the hillsides. Moai statues of easter island with pukao cc by nc nd 2.
Archaeologists and historians have debated the islands history, but it is believed that polynesians landed on the island around a. Theories about the moai abound, but little has been proved beyond the. Sep 14, 2017 we visited easter island in sept 2017 and have compiled this list of best easter island books for the curious traveler. In this extraordinary fiction debutrich with love and betrayal, history and intellectual passiontwo. They probably came from the marquesas or society islands, and they arrived as early as 318ad. The image of tongariki, together with that of the statues of the nearby rano raraku volcano, is the one that has most spread in books, magazines and documentaries of easter island. Easter island project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. In this extraordinary fiction debutrich with love and betrayal, history and intellectual passiontwo remarkable narratives converge on easter island. Ahu tongariki, the 15 moai statues imagina easter island. New archaeology finds tell us that the mysterious easter island moai statues were built to boost soil fertility. We visited easter island in sept 2017 and have compiled this list of best easter island books for the curious traveler. It is the easternmost outpost of the polynesian island world.
Now known as rapa nui, this tiny speck in the pacific ocean is famous for its. The island is planted with monstrous great statues, the work of i dont know what. Where did the moai statues on easter island come from. Giant stone statues are littered throughout rapa nui easter island, a chilean island located in the south pacific ocean. The mystery statues of easter island in one of the most remote spots on earth, separated by more than two thousand miles of ocean from the nearest centers of civilization, is a lone, triangularshaped island that occupies about 64 square miles of the pacific ocean, which spans 70 million square miles. The easter island heads are known as moai by the rapa nui people who carved the. At one point in history, easter island faced extreme deforestation. Oct 2, 2014 move books new series ages 11 and up a pictorial look into the lost tribes mg scifi adventure novel, available on shelves march 2015. Centuries later the islands statues were famous throughout the world. Truck driver destroys famous easter island moai statue. Easter island moai statues with heads visible in quarry rano raraku moai statues are massive megaliths at easter island, and these are what this island is famous for. Each of the completed headandtorso figures was carved from.
Is easter island a warning about unrestrained environmental. The existence of fresh water seeps near coastal ahu is wellknown. At some point in the islands history, when both the art and the population were increasing, the islands resources were overtaxed. The largest finished statue reaches more than 30 feet or 9. See the cover, trailers and more goodies on the lost tribes board. List of books and articles about easter island online research. Jan 10, 2019 the huge stone figures of easter island have beguiled explorers, researchers and the wider world for centuries, but now experts say they have cracked one of the biggest mysteries. Fishing vessels fed the people, and islanders erected large statues called moai around the coast. A brief history of easter islands incredible moai statues. But not everyone agrees about the location of the statues. The moai are perhaps the most iconic feature of easter island today. The moai are some of the worlds most fascinating and widelyrecognised monolithic statues. Their odd shape large heads with disproportionately small bodies and seemingly random placement throughout the island has always been a mystery to historians and archaeologists alike.
Go ahead then, declare that aliens built the statues on easter island. The mystery surrounds how so few people on a remote, treeless, and impoverished island could have made and transported hundreds of the eerie, gargantuan statuescalled moaifor which the island is so famous. Easter island, also known as rapa nui, is famous for the megalithic statues called moai. History, traditions, texts by steven roger fischer. Easter island and about the moai, theories on how they were made, why they were made and how they were transported around the island. The hidden underground bodies of the easter island head statues. Though moai are wholebody statues, they are often referred to as easter island heads in some popular literature. Easter island, more appropriately called rapa nui, is a remote polynesian island that hosts nearly 900 megalithic statues called moai. It has been suggested that islanders burned most of the trees in order to make way for clear land and also to make canoes out of the wood. Jan 08, 2020 easter islands monoliths made the crops grow. Archeologists found something on easter island that leaves. The statues of easter island travel smithsonian magazine. A brief period of prosperity was followed by a long period of chaos due to the misuse of natural resources to transport the spectacular moai.
Apr 11, 2018 rapa nui, otherwise known as easter island, is the home of the mysterious and majestic statues known as the moai. Easter island is located on the eastern point of the polynesian triangle. This gave important information on the moai statues of easter island, including their history, sizes, and impact on easter island. Easter island statues, history and art at manchester museum written by james wiener easter island or rapa nui is among the most remote islands in the world, located some 3541 kilometers 2,200 miles off the coast of chile in the pacific ocean. Although there are stone figures in other polynesian islands none of them are of the size of the easter island statues. Souvenir moai statues easter island chile high quality resin fridge 3d magnet. Easter island is an island and special territory of chile in the southeastern pacific ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the polynesian triangle in oceania. The massive 887 stone statues or moai built in easter island by the rapa nui are unique. According to diamond and heyerdahls version of the islands history, the huri. These have taken up residence in pop culture, showing up everywhere from. Moai figure, small wooden statue of uncertain religious significance, carved on easter island. For years i thought these were the only moai on the island. Rapa nui, otherwise known as easter island, is the home of the mysterious and majestic statues known as the moai. The easter island palm was used by settlers for means of constructing agricultural tools for their society and aiding in the transport of the island s statues.
Lovewe easter island head statue, 5 7 9 tall sandstone easter island moai monolith sculpture 9 sune 4. Jul 26, 2017 the famous easter island heads have hidden bodies. The goal of the project has been to survey, map, excavate, and ultimately save and preserve the statues, with an eye toward better preserving rapa nui culture. The gigantic moai or the stone statues at easter island have fascinated everyone since they were discovered. Apr 02, 2019 it was not only moai taken from easter island that were resurrected, after the tadano company volunteered a crane to easter island, a number of the statues were resurrected. The island is known to its inhabitants as rapa nui. This is partly because of the disproportionate size of most moai heads, and partly because many of the iconic images for the island showing upright moai are the statues on the slopes of rano raraku, many of which are buried to their shoulders. Easter island is famous for its stone statues of human figures, known as moai meaning statue. I knew nothing of the statues erected on ahu or the fallen moai at the other sites. The moai are monolithic stone statues on rapa nui easter island and they portray the ancestors of the rapa nui people, built to protect the island tribes. Rapa nui or easter island, as it is commonly known is home to the enigmatic moai, stone monoliths that have stood watch over the island landscape for hundreds of years.
A brief period of prosperity was followed by a long period of chaos due to the misuse of natural resources to. Such devastating events that contributed to the downfall and collapse of the easter island society can be attributed to the rapid deforestation during the time of moai construction. Scientists claim island civilisation didnt collapse the giant easter island stone heads may very well be a mystery lost to time but a team of scientists. The famous moais easter island heads are gigantic rock statues scattered across easter island that make up the main focus of the rapa nui national park. This book presents a comprehensive history of easter island told by a writer who is. According to trevor nace, a geologist writing for forbes, the moai, which are carved from native stone found on the island, were created between 1100 and 1500 ad. The huge stone figures of easter island have beguiled explorers, researchers and the wider world for centuries, but now experts say they have cracked one. The secrets of easter island history smithsonian magazine. The contemplation of the imposing ahu tongariki with the pacific ocean on its back is the fulfilled dream of most travelers who cross the planet to reach easter island. Despite the many mysteries surrounding easter islands history, there is one fact that historians unanimously agree on. It is assumed that deforestation of the island by the rapa nui led to a cultural collapse.