Moai

Monolithic stone figures carved by the Rapa Nui people to honour their ancestors.

The statues are thought to represent important ancestors. Many were placed on stone platforms called ahu, facing inland toward the villages, as if watching over the people. How the islanders moved such heavy statues across the island is a question scientists are still studying. Today the statues are protected inside Rapa Nui National Park, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.

How they were made

Most moai were carved from tuff, a rock made of squashed volcanic ash, at a quarry on the side of the volcano Rano Raraku. Nearly half of all known moai are still at the quarry, some buried up to their shoulders, which is why so many photos show only giant heads. The average moai is about 4 metres tall and weighs around 12.5 tonnes. The tallest one ever set up is almost 10 metres high, and an unfinished statue still lying in the quarry would have been about 21 metres tall.

The mystery of how they moved

How did people move such heavy statues across the island without wheels or large animals? Older ideas suggested sledges or log rollers. Rapa Nui stories say the statues walked. In 2025 researchers Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt published a study of nearly 1,000 moai that supports this idea. They tied ropes to a 4.35-tonne copy of a moai, and a team of only 18 people rocked it from side to side so it "walked" upright about 100 metres in 40 minutes.

Eyes, hats and fallen giants

Some moai once had eyes made of white coral with dark pupils of obsidian or red stone, discovered in 1979. Some also wore pukao, big cylinders of red volcanic stone set on their heads like topknots. When Europeans first arrived in 1722, many statues were standing, but by 1868 every one had been knocked over. Since then, groups of moai have been raised again on their platforms.

On the globe

The model shows the monolithic stone figures carved by the Rapa Nui people to honour their ancestors. Look for their oversized heads and long noses.