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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Easter Island is home to approximately 1,000 large stone heads, known as Moai, scattered across the island. Hancock argues that the island was settled, and the statues were built about 12,000 ...

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 ...