Easter Island is famous for its 887 giant statues, also called mo‘ai. But how did ancient people move these multi-ton sculptures from where they were built to their present locations? Well, according to legend, they didn’t do anything. Instead, the statues “walked.” Background on Easter Island’s Moai The heaviest statue on Easter Island weighs 86 tons. It…
A couple of weeks ago, we talked about a photo from Thor Heyerdahl’s excavation of the tallest mo’ai on Easter Island (37 feet tall). Recently, it came to our attention that the Easter Island Statue Project (EISP) is excavating two other mo’ai. They might not be as tall as Heyerdahl’s statue, but they more than make up for it…
Probably all of you have seen pictures of Easter Island’s famous mo‘ai. But the statues are much larger than those pictures suggest. Back in 1987, Thor Heyerdahl received permission to temporarily excavate the tallest statue on Easter Island (37 feet tall). Easter Island’s Mo’ai: The Full Picture Check out this photograph of a giant Mo’ai…