What are Easter Island statues called?
moai
What are the giant heads on Easter Island called?
On average, they stand 13 feet high and weigh 14 tons, human heads-on-torsos carved in the male form from rough hardened volcanic ash. The islanders call them “moai,” and they have puzzled ethnographers, archaeologists, and visitors to the island since the first European explorers arrived here in 1722.
What is Easter Island called in Chile?
Rapa Nui
Why are there giant heads on Easter Island?
Moai statues were built to honor chieftain or other important people who had passed away. They were placed on rectangular stone platforms called ahu, which are tombs for the people that the statues represented.
Is Easter Island safe to visit?
According to the U.S. State Department, crime rates throughout Chile are fairly low. Most visitors to Easter Island travel through the capital city of Santiago which, like any big city, has a higher crime rate. Crime on Easter Island is infrequent, but it is always wise to keep an eye on your money.
How long should you stay on Easter Island?
Most visitors to the island spend between four and five days here, which is plenty of time to see its highlights and really dig beneath the surface of Rapa Nui culture. The amount of money that you will spend during that period can vary significantly.
Can you swim on Easter Island?
The Easter Island beaches are ideal for swimming all year round. The sea in this part of the Pacific Ocean is quiet with a fascinating turquoise color and the perfect temperature.
Do they speak English on Easter Island?
It is spoken on the island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. Rapa Nui is a minority language and many of its adult speakers also speak Spanish. Most Rapa Nui children now grow up speaking Spanish and those who do learn Rapa Nui begin learning it later in life.
What is underneath Easter Island?
Easter Island’s monumental stone heads are well-known, but there’s more to the story: all along, the sculptures have secretly had torsos, buried beneath the earth. Archaeologists have documented 887 of the massive statues, known as moai, but there may up as many as 1,000 of them on the island.
What is the most famous moai?
When dawn breaks on Easter Island, it is the moai that first feel the sun. These 15 moai at a site called Tongariki are perhaps the most famous. Carved out of volcanic rock, they’re placed on a stone platform called an ahu. The tallest is nearly 30 feet.
Where are the giant stone heads?
Easter Island
Why did Olmecs carve stone heads?
The Olmec are probably best known for the statues they carved: 20 ton stone heads, quarried and carved to commemorate their rulers.
What are giant stone heads?
The Olmec colossal heads are stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. They range in height from 1.17 to 3.4 metres (3.8 to 11.2 ft). The heads date from at least 900 BC and are a distinctive feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica.