Once Upon A Time in Latin America (18-1) Easter Island. History of the MOAI

Where did the around 1,000 MOAIs on Easter Island come from? Most of them came from Rano Raraku, a volcanic quarry. According to research, most of the stone statues on the island were carved and manufactured here, and then shipped to all corners of the coast of the island. As for the transportation method, it is still a mystery.

Until now, there were still 397 MOAI standing or lying here. The largest one was more than 20 meters high. It was twice the height of the MOAI erected, and the weight was 270 tons. No wonder it had not been shipped out.

The culture of Easter Island was similar to French Polynesia. Friends who have been to Tahiti know that this place is very similar to the social islands and the same style can be seen in Papeete. The civilizations of Easter Island and the Marquesas have always been the halls of archeology, ancient civilization, and geography lovers.

The quarry was located on a hillside at the foot of the volcano. If you walk along the path, you can see many large stone statues standing on the hillsides on both sides of the road. Some were naked, some were buried under the soil, only the upper body and head were exposed, and the other side fell to the ground. Climbing up the hillside, I saw an uncarved stone statue in a stone trough under the rock wall. The stone statue was facing up to the sky. The scene was like that a stonemason carved halfway but never returned. Standing here watching these completed or unfinished stone statues, you would be impressed. Here, you could also overlook the row of MOAI on the seaside of Tongariki, backed by the vastness of the blue sea and blue sky.

When I got out of the ticket office, I looked at the map carefully again. It looked as if there was a volcanic lake on the left. So I said sorry to the ticket seller and rushed in again. Sure enough, Rano Raraku was an extinct volcano. There was indeed a crater lake on the top of the left side. I came to the crater across the steep slope and stood on the top of the mountain overlooking the crater lake. There was almost no water, and reed-like plants filled in the remaining water.

I went back to the ticket office and had my lunch here. In fact, it was just cola + biscuits. I wanted to return in a hurry to thank the sisters who helped me last night.