When we talk about Easter Island, what immediately comes to mind is the giant stone heads. These Moai are the biggest attraction of the island, attracting curious visitors from all around the world for centuries! Just how popular are these stone giants? Let’s take a look at some interesting facts and figures that will make you fall in love with them even more!
Easter Island is one of Earth’s most isolated inhabited islands; its nearest neighbors (Tokelau and Tuvalu) are 3,200 km (2,000 mi) away. Despite this isolation, it was first settled by Polynesian peoples around 300–400 CE. The original settlers had voyaged here from other Polynesian islands.
Europeans first discovered Easter Island on Easter Sunday (5 April) 1722, when Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen visited it. He named the island “Paasch-Eyland” (18th century Dutch for “Easter Island”). The Rapa Nui name is “Isla de Pascua.”
Easter Island Rocks are famous for many reasons. First of all, they are massive, and not just a handful of them, but over 900! They were made around 1200 CE from an extinct volcano that rises above the South Pacific Ocean. The tallest stone head reaches 10 m (33 ft) in height, while the average is 2-3 meters. These heads have enigmatic expressions with handkerchief-like tops and long ears similar to African tribal masks.
Easter Island is composed primarily of three extinct volcanoes. Terevaka dominates the island, rising to 377 m (1,237 ft) above sea level with its large volcanic crater almost perfectly circular. The highest point on the island at Mataveri is the remnant of a small 472-m (1,548 ft) volcano; two other volcanic craters are found on the east and south sides of Rano Kau at 450 m (1,480 ft) above level. Geologically speaking, Easter Island rocks are quite young in age as they have formed within the last million years!
How were these Moai created? This seems like an easy question, but many theories are surrounding them, which makes it less known. There are many interesting facts about what tools were used and how they were transported without wheeled vehicles or beasts of burden. We know how heavy these rock giants are, but what is more surprising is the fact that any human bones leave no evidence behind! The Easter Islanders who built them must have been a great civilization with a large workforce and thousands of years to spare.
The biggest questions that remain unanswered about the Moai are when exactly they arrived on Easter Island, where they come from, why they carved them, and how they managed to transport them from their homeland? Visitors come to this site to understand the mystery that lies in front of them.
