TQ 2010 Memory Book - The Moai of Rapa Nui

Seaward facing Maoi of Ahu Akivi

Nearly all of the Moai of Rapa Nui face inland. The 7 Moai of Ahu Akivi are a notable exception. They gaze out to sea, facing the sunset of the spring and autumn Equinoxes. Moreover, while most Ahu are located on the coast, the Ahu Akivi is located inland. Legend suggests that these 7 Moai represent the 7 Polynesian leaders who, led by chief Hotu Matu'a, were the first Polynesians to land on Rapa Nui probably around 700-800 CE. Some believe that these seaward facing Moai are looking back towards the center of Polynesia from whence the Rapa Nui came. William Mulloy and Gonzalo Figueroa García-Huidobro restored Ahu Akivi in 1960. TQ 2010 memory book image 5 of 11

Moai pedestals of Ahu Tongariki

The Moai of an Ahu stood on square pedestals. Their gaze was upward, overlooking the Poro resting on the sloping platforms before them. TQ 2010 memory book image 4 of 11

Ahu Tongariki

Ahu Tongariki is the largest Ahu (stone platform) on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) supporting fifteen Moai (monolithic human figures carved from rock) including an 86 tonne Moai: the heaviest ever erected on the island. All the Moai here face sunset during Summer Solstice. The Poike volcano can be seen in the far background beyond the Moai. On the far left rises the Rano Raraku volcano whose stone quarry supplied Tuff (stone from compressed volcanic ash) for 834 of the 887 known Moai. Several red Pukao topknots can be seen in the left foreground. The Pukao are believed to represent dressed hair or headdresses of red feathers worn by chiefs. The Pukao is carved from a very light red volcanic stone called Scoria. The Scoria stone was quarried from a single source at Puna Pau. In the days before Ahu Tongariki was destroyed in civil war, Ahu Tongariki was the main center or capital of the Hotu Iti: the eastern confederation of the Rapa Nui. What remained of the Ahu was swept inland by a Tsunami in the 20th century. Ahu Tongariki was substantially restored in the 1990s by a team of archaeologists let by Claudio Cristino and Patricia Vargas. TQ 2010 memory book image 1 of 11

Ahu Tongariki Ahu

The Ahu (stone platforms) of Rapa Nui were often more than just a place on which the Moai rested. Many Ahu became ossuaries containing human skeletal remains. While the Ahu of Rapa Nui varied across the island, they often adhered to several design elements. The front wall was made from rectangular basalt slabs called Paenga. Platforms built after 1300 CE used red Scoria façade over the front wall. The taller rear wall of the Ahu faced the sea. The Ahu had an inland facing sloping ramp, extended sideways and outward like wings. Many even-sized round water-warn stones called Poro were placed on these ramps. These Poro served as a kind of census with each stone representing an extended family tree. TQ 2010 memory book image 3 of 11

Are we next?

Lets us hope not. Let us work to ensure that the religious and political factions of today do not lead us to a similar fate! TQ 2010 memory book image 11 of 11

Partially buried Moai near the Rano Raraku quarry

A number of the Moai just outside of the Rano Raraku quarry are partially buried to their shoulders. These Moai are distinctive in that their eye sockets were not hollowed out to receive the coral eyes, nor do they have the Pukao topknot stones. These Moai were not cast down during the Huri Moai (statue toppling) of the island's civil wars. TQ 2010 memory book image 8 of 11

Commemoration of the smallpox plague the 1860s

Starting in December 1862, slave traders from Peru conducted a series of violent abductions capturing or killing around 1500 of the 3000 remaining inhabitants of Rapa Nui over the course of several months. International protests led by Bishop Florentin-Etienne Jaussen of Tahiti forced the slave traders to give up their slaves in the autumn of 1863. Unfortunately most of the captured Rapa Nui had died of Dysentery, Tuberculosis, and Smallpox. Only about a dozen Rapa Nui returned from Peru. The dozen who returned brought with them a smallpox plague. Some claim the island’s population was so devastated by smallpox that the dead were buried in mass graves. To commerate the suffering of the Rapa Nui during the 1860s, several Moai on the slopes of Rano Raraku were marked with pock-like holes. TQ 2010 memory book image 9 of 11

Huri Moai

Civil wars on Rapa Nui broke out sometime between 1770 and 1774. The pre-civil war population of the Rapa Nui was estimated to be 60 000. European explorers estimated the population to be less than 10 000 after the wars. One result of these wars was Huri Moai (statue toppling). The Dutch in 1722 and the Spanish in 1770 reported seeing only standing Moai. When James Cook arrived in 1774, he found that many of the Moai had been toppled. Huri Moai continued into the 1830s. By 1838 only a few statues were reported remaining upright. By 1868, the only Moai remaining upright were found on the slopes of the Rano Raraku quarry, possibly in incomplete construction. The Moai were usually toppled forwards to have their faces hidden. Many were toppled onto another stone in such a way that their necks broke. The Moai of Ahu Akahanga shown here fell intact. Today, only about 50 of the more than 850 toppled Moai have been re-erected. Many of the Rapa Nui people prefer that the fallen Moai not be raised, that they may serve as a reminder of the horrors that befell Rapa Nui many years ago. TQ 2010 memory book image 7 of 11

Ahu Tahai Moai with restored eyes

All of the Moai lost their eyes during the Rapa Nui civil wars and Huri Moai (statue toppling). A team of archaeologists led by Sergio Rapu Haoa (in 1979) discovered that the Moai elliptical eye sockets were designed to hold coral eyes with a pupil made of black Obsidian or Red Scoria. This Ahu Tahai Moai had its Pukao topknot and coral eyes restored by the archaeologist William Mullo. TQ 2010 memory book image 2 of 11

Shadows of the past

Be they standing or toppled, the Moai give us a hint of past events on Rapa Nui. Much of that past was lost due to war, plague, or burning of written records by missionaries. Oral traditions combined with modern archaeology allow us to glimpse into the mysteries of Rapa Nui and to speculate about the root causes of such destruction. TQ 2010 memory book image 10 of 11

The restored Moai of Anakena

Anakena has two Ahus, one with a single Moai and other shown here with six. Oral traditions state that Anakena was the landing place where Hotu Matu'a, the Polynesian chief first settled on Rapa Nui. Anakena served as one of the locations of the 1994 Kevin Reynolds film, Rapa Nui. TQ 2010 memory book image 6 of 11