Did the Easter Island heads have eyes?
The shell and coral eyes of the moai are a rare phenomenon on the island today, as many examples have fallen out or been removed. The whites of the eyes are pieces of seashell, and the irises are inlaid coral. The eye sockets were not carved and filled until after the moai were set in place on the platforms.
Where can one find 887 moai pronounced mo eye?
It sits in the South Pacific, 2,300 miles off the coast of Chile. Hundreds of years ago, it was settled by a group of people who called the island Rapa Nui. Not much is left from their ancient civilization, not much except for the 887 ENORMOUS statues they left behind.
What is the native name for Easter Island?
Rapa Nui
To its original inhabitants the island is known as Rapa Nui (“Great Rapa”) or Te Pito te Henua (“Navel of the World”). The first European visitors, the Dutch, named it Paaseiland (“Easter Island”) in memory of their own day of arrival.
What is Pukao in Easter Island?
Pukao are the hat-like structures or topknots formerly placed on top of some moai statues on Easter Island. They were all carved from a very light-red volcanic scoria, which was quarried from a single source at Puna Pau.
Why were the Easter Island heads built?
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.
Why do some moai wear hats?
The hats line one side of the road. They were placed there deliberately and their density increases as one approaches the quarry. From this the researchers concluded that in addition to the practical function they filled, the red road and the quarry also had ritual functions.
Do the heads at Easter Island have bodies?
As a part of the Easter Island Statue Project, the team excavated two moai and discovered that each one had a body, proving, as the team excitedly explained in a letter, “that the ‘heads’ on the slope here are, in fact, full but incomplete statues.”
What are the mysteries of Easter Island?
Deforestation, slavery and rats were all factors in the Pacific island’s population decline. Most people have heard of the decimation of the population of Easter Island (also called Rapa Nui) and have seen pictures of the massive stone statues (moai) that line the coastline.