Chile Culture » Entries tagged with "Easter Island statues"

Easter Island Statues – moai

Easter Island Statues – moai

The massive 887 stone statues or moai built in Easter Island by the Rapa Nui are unique. Although there are stone figures in other Polynesian islands none of them are of the size of the Easter Island statues. The largest finished statue reaches more than 30 feet or 9.14 meters and the smallest 6 feet or 1.80 meters. Many moai were never finished, in fact the largest one found was unfinished and would have stood … Read entire article »

Filed under: Chile Travel and Places, Featured, Pacific Islands

Easter Island History

Easter Island History

Easter Island was so named by Jacob Roggeveen, a Dutch explorer who on April 5, 1722, Easter Sunday, was the first European to visit the island. First Inhabitants Radio carbon studies estimate that the first inhabitants of  settled between 700 CE and 1200 CE. There is much debate about the origin of the Rapa Nui. Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl suggested that Polynesia was settled by the Incas coming from South America, one of the reasons … Read entire article »

Filed under: Chile History, Chile Travel and Places, Pacific Islands

Easter Island

Easter Island

Where is Easter Island? Easter Island is a tiny piece of land located in the south east of the Pacific Ocean, it is best known for its 887 giant statues called moai created by the Polynesian indigenous Rapa Nui . Its territory covers 64 sq miles or 166 sq kilometers, it is about 24km or 15m long and at its widest point 12 km or 8mi. The island was formed by volcano eruptions 750,000 years ago; today … Read entire article »

Filed under: Chile Travel and Places, Pacific Islands