Do the moai statues have names?
The statues, whose traditional name is “moai,” were carved from volcanic rock between A.D. 1100 and 1500 by ancient Polynesians.
What is another name for moai?
Although moai are whole-body statues, they are commonly referred to as “Easter Island heads.” This is partly because of the disproportionate size of their heads and partly because for many years the only moai standing on the island were the statues on the slopes of Rano Raraku, most of which are buried to their …
How many moais are on Easter Island?
Archaeologists have documented 887 of the massive statues, known as moai, but there may up as many as 1,000 of them on the island. Most were carved from volcanic rock between 1100 and 1680.
What is the name of the statues that can be found on Easter Island?
Easter Island is famous for its stone statues of human figures, known as moai (meaning “statue”). The island is known to its inhabitants as Rapa Nui. The moai were probably carved to commemorate important ancestors and were made from around 1000 C.E. until the second half of the seventeenth century.
Who put the Easter Island heads there?
Rapa Nui people
The island is most famous for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, called moai, which were created by the early Rapa Nui people.
Who built the moai statues on Easter Island?
the Rapa Nui people
The Easter Island heads are known as Moai by the Rapa Nui people who carved the figures in the tropical South Pacific directly west of Chile. The Moai monoliths, carved from stone found on the island, are between 1,100 and 1,500 CE.
What happened to the Rapa Nui?
The island was victimized by blackbirding from 1862 to 1863, resulting in the abduction or killing of about 1,500, with 1,408 working as indentured servants in Peru. Only about a dozen eventually returned to Easter Island, but they brought smallpox, which decimated the remaining population of 1,500.
What happened to the figures from Easter Island in 1978?
What happened to the figures from Easter Island in 1978? They were restored to their original condition.
Who are the researchers of the Easter Island Moai?
The moai have been mapped by a number of groups over the years including efforts by Father Sebastian Englert and Chilean researchers. The EISP (Easter Island Statue Project) conducted research and documentation on many of the moai on Rapa Nui and the artifacts held in museums overseas.
How tall are the Easter Island Moai statues?
A completed moai is made of three parts: a large yellow body, a red hat or topknot (called pukao), and white inset eyes with a coral iris. Approximately 1,000 of these sculptures, shaped with humanoid faces and torsos, were created, most of which range between 6 and 33 feet tall and weighing several tons.
Who are the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island?
Moai /ˈmoʊ.aɪ/ ( listen), or mo‘ai, are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500.
How many MAOI are still on Easter Island?
Total number of moai on Easter Island: 887. Total number of maoi that were successfully transported to their final ahu locations: 288 (32% of 887) Total number of moai still in the Rano Raraku quarry: 397 (45%)