Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

Smaller Territories (Chile) / Osterinsel / Hangaroa /
 island, tourist attraction
Easter Island (Rapa Nui in Tahitian and today also in Rapa Nui language, Isla de Pascua in Spanish) is an island in the south Pacific Ocean belonging to Chile. The island is famous for its numerous moai, the stone statues located along the coastlines.

The large stone statues, or moai, for which Easter Island is world famous were carved during a relatively short and intense burst of creative and productive megalithic activity. According to recent archaeological research, 887 monolithic stone statues have been inventoried on the island and in museum collections. Although often identified as "Easter Island Heads", the statues actually are heads and complete torsos. Some upright moai, however, have become buried up to their necks by shifting soils.

The period of time when the statues were produced remains disputed, with estimates ranging from 1000/1500 CE to 1500/1700 CE. Almost all (95%) moais were carved out of distinctive, compressed, easily-worked volcanic ash or tuff found at a single site called Rano Raraku. Only a quarter of the statues ever made it to the coastal ahu platforms, with nearly half still remaining in Rano Raraku and the rest elsewhere on the island, probably on their ways to final locations. Moving the huge statues seems to have been laborious and very slow.

All currently standing statues, some 50 in total, have been re-erected in modern times.

www.mysteriousplaces.com/Easter_Island/
www.netaxs.com/~trance/rapanui.html

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p_mb9i-S2w
www.easterislandquest.com/map.htm
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   27°7'33"S   109°20'19"W

Comments

  • wish they had high res shots here
  • wishing to be here
  • watching the moveie Rapa nui at the end says the residents moved to an island 1500 miles to the west...I have found no island within 2000 miles in any direction..I know it's a movie but I guess that theroy is not a good one...so wonder where they went?
  • What is BCE and CE? Is this a U.S. acronym? Not familiar with this in English English.
  • Before Christian Era, and Christian Era. Also commonly called BC and AD
  • Rapa Nui is a wonderful island.
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