Five hundred years ago, on the southern slopes of Easter Island's Rano Raraku volcano, the Rapa Nui people skillfully carved ...

Archaeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg, who has studied the moai for many years, believes the statues may have been created in the image of various paramount chiefs. They were not individualized ...

Researching which moai statues to visit on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) in Chile can be overwhelming. I speak from experience, having spent many hours planning to make the most of a week on this ...

Among the many secrets buried in Easter Island prehistory is the question of how the Rapanui people transported the multi-ton statues, or moai, from their quarries to their final ceremonial ahu ...

Under the same moon and stars Tuki sat on the sand and gazed directly before him at the colossal human statues—the moai. Carved centuries ago from volcanic tuff, they’re believed to embody the ...

Travelers have long been fascinated by the hundreds of massive moai, monolithic statues carved from volcanic rocks that are found across the island. These monoliths are just pieces of the Rapa Nui ...

Standing on the South Pacific island of Rapa Nui are around 900 carved statues. European explorers renamed Rapa Nui as Easter Island, and the monolithic figures - called Moai - became known around ...

From the 10th to the 16th century this society built shrines and erected enormous stone figures known as moai, which created an unrivalled cultural landscape that continues to fascinate people ...

Easter Island, in the southeastern Pacific, is renowned for its moai statues created by the Rapa Nui and became a UNESCO site in 1995. Founded in 1350 C.E., Ayutthaya was the capital of the ...