The moai were more than art; they were memorials to important figures. They showed the beliefs and spirit of Rapa Nui society. The effort to carve and erect these statues showed the unity and ...

Archaeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg, who has studied the moai for many years, believes the statues may have been created in the image of various paramount chiefs. They were not individualized ...

To the right of Ahu Nau Nau is Ahu Ature Huki, which consists of a single moai sculpture. Ahu Ature Huki is notable for being ...

Most of its residents live in the main town of Hanga Roa. The island is famous for its enormous stone statues known as moai. The statues, which are carved from volcanic rock, stand at 13 feet high ...

Hancock estimates that the statues on Easter Island, known as Moai heads, are likely much older than the platforms, called Ahu Vinapu, on which many of them sit because the structures exhibit ...

Among the many secrets buried in Easter Island prehistory is the question of how the Rapanui people transported the multi-ton statues, or moai, from their quarries to their final ceremonial ahu ...