Moai facing inland at Ahu Tongariki, restored by Chilean archaeologist Claudio Cristino in the 1990s. Moai or moʻai (/ ˈ m oʊ. aɪ / ⓘ MOH-eye; Spanish: moái; Rapa Nui: moʻai, lit. 'statue') are monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in eastern Polynesia between the years 1250 and 1500.

A moai, one of the famed, giant stone statues of human figures on Easter Island. Depicted as a gray stone carving of a stylized human head with a prominent brow and nose, most often facing left.

Moai are megalithic statues often placed upon ahu (ceremonial platforms). They are said to be the aringa ora , the living faces of the ancestors. Hoa Hakananai'a (meaning 'lost, hidden, or stolen friend') is carved from basalt and dates from about 1000–1200.

Mar 6, 2024 · What Are the Moai? Three Moai heads; two with necks/bodies, one without. Source: Field Museum, Chicago The moai are massive stone statues of human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island. Over 1,000 Moai have been discovered, and the Rapa Nui National Park, which includes the moai, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in ...

Moai statues are massive megaliths at Easter Island, and these are what this island is famous for. The moais were built in approximately 1400 - 1650 A.D. by the natives of this island also known as Rapa Nui. Many know them as the Easter Island heads.

Oct 19, 2022 · One of the most remote inhabited locations on Earth, Easter Island is famous for the thousand or so enigmatic, towering statues that dot its landscape, called moai.

Moai, or mo‘ai, are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Chilean Polynesian island of Easter Island between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the island's perimeter. Almost all moai have overly ...

The moai of Rapa Nui Easter Island is famous for its stone statues of human figures, known as moai (meaning “statue”). The island is known to its inhabitants as Rapa Nui.

Feb 6, 2025 · The Moai statues of Easter Island are enduring symbols of the ingenuity and resilience of the Rapa Nui people. While much about their construction and purpose remains shrouded in mystery, recent archaeological findings have shed new …

Feb 9, 2024 · All the moai are of great historical and ancestral value, with strong links to modern Rapa Nui cultural identity. Safeguarding this is paramount to the islanders. The most iconic sites with the most famous moai are the Ahu.