Mystery Of Easter Island The Big Stone Statues
Easter Island (Polynesian language: Rapa Nui, Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is a Chilean island located in the southern Pacific Ocean and known for its big stone statues. Although the distance is 3,515 km west of Chilean Mainland, administratively, it is included in the Valparaiso Province. Easter Island is shaped like a triangle. The nearest inhabited land is Pitcairn Island which is 2,075 km west. The area of Easter Island is 163.6 km². The island is famous for its many statues (Moai), 400 years old statues that were carved out of stone and now lie along the coastline of the island.
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Dutch navigator, Jakob Roggeveen discovered Easter Island on Easter Day in 1722. For information that the name of "Rapa Nui" is not the original name of the Easter Island that was given by the Rapanui tribe. The name was created by immigrant workers from the original tribe Rapa in the Bass Islands who likened it to his hometown. The name that was given by the Rapanui tribe for this island is “Te Pito o te Henua” because of its remoteness. The large statues of stone or Moai which become the symbol of Easter Island was carved in earlier times than expected.
Now, the archaeologists expect the carving to take place between the 1600s and 1730s and the last sculpture was carved when Jakob Roggeveen discovered the island. There are over 600 large monolithic stone statues (Moai) there. Although the most commonly seen parts are the head, Moai actually have a complete body but many Moai have been buried up to his neck. The bog statues were mostly carved from rocks in Rano Raraku. The mine there seemed to have been left unexpectedly with semi-finished statues left on the rock.
The popular theory states that the Moai were carved by Polynesians (Rapanui). At the time, the island was mostly in the form of trees and the natural resources supported the population of 10,000-15,000 Rapanui natives. The majority of the moai still stood when Roggeveen came in 1722. Captain James Cook also saw many moai that stood when he landed on the island in 1774. Until the 19th century, all the statues have fallen due to internal warfare.