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In the midst of the Pacific Ocean, 2000 miles from the nearest
landmass (Chile to the east and Tahiti to the west) lies the
most remote inhabited island in the world - Easter Island,
or Rapa Nui as the locals call it.
Easter Island is a stunning landscape of volcanic craters
& lava formations, beaches and unique archaeological sites.
The famous Moai, or stone sculptures, hewn out of rock
by a now lost civilisation have baffled archaeologists for
centuries.
What's the history here?
Throughout the last few hundred years there's been a great
deal of speculation about the origins of the civilisation
that built the enormous statues with which Easter Island has
become synonymous. Some have noted the similarity between
the Moai statues and Inca stonework, and have
surmised that they were built by people of Peruvian descent.
Others have even gone so far as to suggest that the Moai were
built by extra-terrestrials. The most plausible hypothesis,
however, is that Easter Island was discovered by a small group
of Polynesians in about 400 AD, whose fledgling civilisation
developed in complete isolation for over a thousand years.
These early settlers called the island Te Pito O Te Henua
or 'Navel of The World'.
We also can't be sure of why the inhabitants built the Moai.
It may be that they were representations of deified ancestors,
who where thought to watch over the living. What we do know
is that a few centuries after settlement disaster struck the
Easter Island community. Whether caused by a population explosion,
ecological disaster or cultural revolution, the crisis reached
desperate proportions and the Moai were destroyed by the islanders
themselves.
On Easter Day 1722 the island was 'discovered' by Admiral
Roggeveen, who named it Easter Island. When the
Europeans arrived in 1750 they found a primitive people residing
among the ruins of a once great civilisation. The native population
dwindled further as a result of disease and slavery, which
the westerners brought with them, but since Easter Island
was annexed to Chile in 1888 it has enjoyed a period of recovery.
Archaeologists set about reconstructing the ruined Moai monuments
and trying to learn more about the culture which made them.
More than 900 Moai have been found, and the sites where they
stand are known as known as Ahu.
What's there to see & do?
You can hire a horse for the day from the Hanga Roa,
the only town on the island, and explore the many Moai sites,
beaches and landscapes.
The Moai were carved out of an inactive volcano called Ranu
Araku, dubbed 'the nursery'. There are over 400 statues
here which didn't make it out of the crater, including the
biggest, which is over 60 ft long and is still attached to
the rock face.
The recently restored site at Ahu Tongariki is by far
the most impressive, containing fifteen massive figures.
The restored village of Orongo is another mystery of
Easter island. Located between Rano Kao and a sheer
cliff drop-off, archaeologists have discovered 150 carvings
of a man's body with a bird's head which are believed to have
belonged to a religious cult. |
