Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
takes you past the small Plaza Policarpo
Toro before ending at the Iglesia Hanga
Roa, a Catholic
church
decorated with
elaborate woodcarvings.
Museo Antropológico
Padre Sebastían Englert
Of the coastal road just north of Ahu
Tahai, this excellent
museum
(Tues-Fri
9.30am-5.30pm, Sat & Sun
9.30am-12.30pm; CH$1000) students
free;
T
32 5512032,
W
museorapanui.cl,
Spanish labels only, with English-
language handouts available) is not to
be missed, as it gives a thorough and
informative introduction to the island's
geography, history, society, Birdman
cult (see box, p.481) and the origins
and significance of the
moai
. he
displays include a rare female
moai
, a
wooden carving of a
moai kavakava
- a
gaunt figure, believed to represent the
spirits of dead ancestors - and replica
rongorongo
tablets (no original examples
remain on the island).
Rongorongo
script
is one of only four written languages in
the world that developed independently
of outside influence; the tablets were
first mentioned in the nineteenth-
century accounts of French missionary
Eugene Eyraud, and their purpose
remains unclear. It seems that only a
WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Just south of the pier and opposite the
tourist office lies tiny
Playa Pea
, a rock
pool safe for swimming, cordoned off
from the stretch of ocean popular with
surfers and bodyboarders. Avenida
Policarpo Toro heads north, past the
Hanga Roa
cemetery
with its colourful
crosses, to three main sites, particularly
spectacular at sunset. First is
Ahu Tahai
,
with a single large
moai
, then
Ahu Vai Uri
,
with five standing
moai
in various states
of repair, and finally the much-
photographed
Ahu Ko Te Riku
, a single
moai
with a
pukao
(topknot) and intact,
pensive-looking coral eyes. Also in this
direction, amid gentle hills dotted with
numerous
hare paenga
(boat-shaped
foundations of traditional houses), lies
the
anthropological
museum
. To the
south, Policarpo Toro heads towards the
extinct Rano Kau volcano.
4
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE MOAI OF EASTER ISLAND
The giant stone statues, around 887 of which litter the island, are a unique symbol of
a lost civilization, whose existence raises many questions. Why were they made? By whom?
How were they transported around the island and erected without the benefit of machinery?
Why was their construction suddenly abandoned?
Believed to be representations of
ancestors
, the statues range from 2m to 10m in height,
with an average weight of 12 tonnes. The majority of the
moai
share a similar appearance:
elongated features and limbs, prominent noses, heavy brows and rounded bellies. Most are
male, and some wear
pukao
, topknots carved of red stone in a separate quarry. Most
moai
once had coral-and-rock eyes, though now the only intact example is Ahu Ko Te Riku.
Carved from the slopes of the
Rano Raraku quarry
, the
moai
were buried upright in
earthen pits so that their sculptors could shape their facial features with basalt
toki
(chisels),
and then lowered down the volcano's slopes, presumably using ropes. Most archeologists
believe that to transport them to the coastal
ahu
(platforms) the islanders used wooden rollers
or sledges - a practice which resulted in complete deforestation - and that once at the foot of
the
ahu
, the
moai
were lifted into place using wooden levers. All
moai
, apart from those at Ahu
Akivi, were positioned around the coast facing inland, so as to direct their
mana
(life energy)
towards their creators and to bless them with plentiful food and other bounties.
It is known that at the height of Easter Island's civilization (800-1500 AD), the tiny island
supported a large and complex multi-tiered society, with a ruling class who worshipped
Make-Make
, the creator, and oversaw the construction of these statues. A phenomenal
amount of energy must have gone into their creation and transportation, fatally depleting
the island's resources and causing acute food shortages. Full-scale warfare erupted when
farmers and fishermen couldn't or wouldn't support the
moai-
carving workforce any longer.
The carving ceased and the
moai
were toppled from their pedestals. That which gave the
civilization purpose was ultimately also its undoing.
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