Easter Island
Easter Island statues
Easter Island statues, called moai, are one of the most puzzling mysteries in history. The large and very heavy statues were made in the quarry of Rano Raraku, the volcanic crater and later transported to parameters around the island and set facing the ocean.
The moai are monolithic statues that resemble the art from Polynesia. Moai are carved in relatively flat planes, the faces bearing proud but enigmatic expressions. The over-large heads have heavy brows and elongated noses with a distinctive fish-hook-shaped curl of the nostrils. The lips protrude in a thin pout. Like the nose, the ears are elongated and oblong in form. The jaw lines stand out against the truncated neck. The torsos are heavy, and, sometimes, the clavicles are subtly outlined in stone.
The arms are carved in bas relief and rest against the body in various positions, hands and long slender fingers resting along the crests of the hips with the thumbs sometimes pointing towards the navel. Except for one kneeling moai, the statues do not have clearly visible legs.
It is believed that they represent the ancestors of Polinesian colonizators or leaders of the tribes, but their features are rather far from representing the typical inhabitants of the island. Also their very large mass was puzzling the scientists since they were unable to explain how the statues were moved around the island. There was a theory that, today completely treeless island, was in the past covered with forests, but the heavy use of the wood (vital in the process of statues transportation) had stopped the production of future moai.
Can you solve a mystery like this one?
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