Why were the moai statues built 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.

How did the statues get on Easter Island?

Easter Island – The Statues and Rock Art of Rapa Nui. Using basalt stone picks, the Easter Island Moai were carved from the solidified volcanic ash of Rano Raraku volcano. Once completed, the statues were then moved from the quarry to their intended site and erected on an ‘ahu’.

Where did the Easter Island Moai come from and what was their purpose?

Archaeologists believe that the statues were a representation of the ancient Polynesians’ ancestors. The moai statues face away from the ocean and towards the villages as if to watch over the people. The exception is the seven Ahu Akivi which face out to sea to help travelers find the island.

Where is the Moai of Easter Island located 1 point?

It is famous for its giant stone statues. The island stands in isolation 1,200 miles (1,900 km) east of Pitcairn Island and 2,200 miles (3,540 km) west of Chile.

What is the purpose of Moai?

Here, we share a few… In the Rapa Nui language, the Easter Island statues are called Moai Aringa Ora, which means “the living face of our ancestors”. The most common interpretation is that these statues were created in order to preserve the energy of the natives after death.

What does moai stand for?

MOAI

Is Easter Island sinking?

Rising ocean levels are causing waves to break on the statues and platforms built a thousand years ago. The island risks losing its cultural heritage.

Why do they call it Easter Island?

The first known European visitor to Easter Island was the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who arrived in 1722. The Dutch named the island Paaseiland (Easter Island) to commemorate the day they arrived.

What is the purpose of moai?

Why are there no trees on Easter Island?

When it rains on the island, also known as Rapa Nui, the water rapidly drains through the porous volcanic soil, leaving the grass dry again. That’s one reason why the island at the end of the world has stayed almost entirely bare, with no trees or shrubs.

What did the moai symbolize?

What do moais represent? Moai statues were built to honor chieftain or other important people who had passed away. They were placed on rectangular stone platforms called ahu, which are tombs for the people that the statues represented.

Why is Easter Island so important?

Easter Island is one of the most unique places to visit because of its remoteness, concentration of archeological sites, geography, sightseeing and cultural heritage.

What is found on Easter Island?

Traditional Easter Island food is based mainly on sea products like fish, among them tuna, mahi mahi, swordfish or kana kana, and seafood like lobster, shrimp and rape rape, a type of small lobster native to the island.

How old are the statues of Easter Island?

The Moai statues are also known as ‘moai’, ‘Easter Island heads’ and ‘Easter Island statues’, are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people between the years 1250 and 1500 CE.

How were Easter Island statues made?

The statues are made from volcanic tuff, which is partially fused and cemented volcanic ash, which means it’s fairly easy to shape, but also extremely heavy. Moai statues on Easter Island. It was quarried up the slope of the extinct volcano on the island.