Easter Island (Rapa
Nui in the original language), is a Chilean-governed island in the south eastern Pacific Ocean. Rapa Nui is a little,
hilly now treeless island of
volcanic origin. It is been called the most isolated occupied territory on
Earth, but there is one more aspect that sets it apart from any other place on
Earth its hundreds of megalithic human-like statues that face inland from the
shore. These mysterious statues are
called moai.
Almost
all moais were carved out of characteristic, compressed, easily worked volcanic
ash. The biggest one weights up to 165 tons & its height is almost 22
meters. Some upright moai have become covered up to their necks by shifting
soils. This huge production of
megalithic works on an Easter Island that is absolutely barren, with
just grass, right away captures our imagination.
Some
scientists suggest that Easter Island population,
the Rapanui came from Polynesia. However similarities to Indian stone statues
around Lake Titicaca in South America are striking.
