The Easter Island Heads Mystery
Pretty sure everyone knows what the HUGE head sculptures on Easter Island look like, but how much do you really know about them? Who made them and why? How were they made and moved?? Do they have bodies? What are some other fun facts about them? Some of these things will be revealed, read on!
Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
This island, also called Rapa Nui, sits in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile. It is one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world with the closest inhabited land 2,075km away and continental Chile being 3,512km away. That is a hiiiike. BUT it is worth it to visit (not that I have been but ya know, goals) because of it’s nearly 1,000 giant statues, called moai (which is how I will refer to them from now on). I’ll give you a little background on the island and it’s inhabitants before diving in.
As far as we know, Easter Island’s Polynesian inhabitants, called the Rapa Nui, arrived on the island around 1200. They created a thriving and industrious culture which can be seen through the sculptures that are left as well as other artifacts that have been found there. However, they started clearing land rapidly for cultivation and farming so of course this cased major problems and lead to the deforestation of the island which was also not helped by the introduction of the Polynesian rat (it’s so cute though).
The Europeans arrived to Easter Island in 1722 and at that time the Rapa Nui population was 2000-3000. BUT because of European diseases, the slave trade, and emigration to other islands the population quickly declined and in 1877 the Rapa Nui population was estimated to be 111. Colonizers ruin everything.
Then in 1888 Chile annexed the island and in 1966 the Rapa Nui were granted Chilean citizenship. In 2017 the Chilean government reported that from their census findings, Easter Island had a population of 7,750 people and of that 3,512 identified as Rapa Nui. So we can see this Indigenous population starting to come back a little bit. In 1995, UNESCO named the island a world heritage site, because of the moai, and now much of the island is protected within the Rapa Nui National Park.
Now let’s move onto the questions, some will actually be answered which is exciting but of course I have to leave some strings hanging to give us all something to think about.
Who Made the Moai and Why?
At this point it’s clear who made them, kind of scooped myself there, the Rapa Nui people built the moai. To give you a sense of scale they can measure up to 10m in height and weigh up to 86 tonnes (TONNES), though the average is about half that. They are carved out of the volcanic rock that is found on the island and this was chosen because it is easy to carve, this is a necessary consideration since they Rapa Nui sculptures were only using stone tools called toki.
Why they made these moai is a trickier question, there are a few answers I have seen. The first, and most prevalent from my research, is that they were each built to honour a chieftain or important person upon their death. It is said that each maoi rests on top of that person’s tomb, kind of like an Egyptian pyramid. This might also be the answer to why some of the faces look different, they are supposed to resemble the person they were built for.
This theory was corroborated, in my research, by a first hand account from a Rapa Nui man. He said that yes the moai were representative of important figures in the community throughout history, and he added that the direction that the faces were looking also had significance. The majority of the faces have their backs to the ocean and are looking towards the villages to watch over the inhabitants. There are a few which face out into the ocean to look back at where they came from and help others find the island.
However, a study I came across said that they were placed near sources of fresh water. Researchers analyzed the placement of the moai and noted that there was a significant correlation between their placement and places where fresh water is accessible. I’m honestly not sold on this because they also found a ton of other resources around some of the moai and also why would they go to the trouble of sculpting something so elaborate for it to have no spiritual or cultural meaning, just a marker for where to grab a drink.
How Were They Made and Moved?
So I scooped myself again but they were carved out of volcanic rock by skilled artists in the community using stone tools. There is a quarry where it is clear that the Rapa Nui sourced the rock and sculpted the moai, there are still over 300 unfinished statues there.
The process was fairly straightforward, although time consuming and labour intensive. The moai were carved at this quarry-like area. Once this was finished they would be detached from the main sheet of rock and moved downhill to their destinations, would definitely be a drag to carve the whole thing and realize you wanted to put it up hill from you, they were thinking ahead with this.
There is even a road network around the island which was used to move the moai to their prepared platforms. Looking at the pictures, it is not as downhill as I was picturing, this would have been a real slog. The largest moved moai is over 33 feet tall and weighs 81.5 tonnes and it was moved over 3 miles (yes MILES) from the quarry to it’s platform, and the longest journey undertaken with a moai was 11 miles.
In terms of actually moving them, this is the subject of debate but the most likely scenario is that the statues were transported upright using ropes. Basically rocking them or wiggling them down the roads an inch at a time making sure they didn’t fall over. This is corroborated by a legend of the Rapa Nui which says the moai walked from the quarry.
Do They Have Bodies?
Yes, in fact they do have bodies! Even though only their heads and sometimes shoulders are visible above the ground, it has been recently discovered that each sculpture is of an entire body. When they were first built the body and the platform it stood on were entirely above the ground but as a result of landslides, weathering, and other causes the moai were slowly buried up to their necks.
What are Some Other Fun Facts About Them?
There is SO much fascinating information I came across while researching this one but I’ll just talk about a few of my favourites.
The moai had eyes. Yes, that is correct, we know them now to have stone faces with empty eye sockets but when they were first built each face had eyes inserted made of shell and coral. The eye sockets were not carved and the eyes were not inserted until the moai had reached it’s platform and had been installed. Nowadays these eyes are pretty rare to see as most have been removed or have fallen out.
The moai had hats. This is another fun one even though we are unsure what these hats signify. They are called pukao and can measure 8.2 feet in all directions. There was a second quarry where the rock for these pukao came from as they are made out of a different kind which is red.
Some of the moai have tattoos. Ok not real tattoos but some of them were found to have symbols etched into their backs. These are thought to be connections to the family of the person who the moai was built for. Eg. a canoe symbol would be carved into a moai constructed for a carver and this provides some clues as to the familial links on the island.
I am truly fascinated by these moai and I hope to one day have the chance to visit and see them for myself as there is still so much mystery surrounding them and much to learn.
Works Cited
Dixon, Emily. “One Mystery of Easter Island’s Statues Finally Solved, Researchers Say”. CNN. 2019. https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/easter-island-statues-location-scli-intl/index.html
Hirst, K. Kris. “How the Moai of Easter Island Were Made and Moved”. ThoughtCo. 2019. https://www.thoughtco.com/making-the-moai-of-easter-island-170750
“Moai Statues”. Easter Island Travel. https://www.easterisland.travel/easter-island-facts-and-info/moai-statues/
Nace, Trevor. “The Famous Easter Island Heads Have Hidden Bodies”. Forbes. 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/07/26/famous-easter-island-heads-have-hidden-bodies/?sh=6d26e8d4f804
Trachtman, Paul. “The Secrets of Easter Island”. Smithsonian Magazine. 2002. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-secrets-of-easter-island-59989046/