Easter Island #2

We started the next day by visiting platforms (Ahus) where the Moai (pronounced "Moe-Eye") had been toppled. 

The following photo might help put all the overlapping elements in context.

The Horses:

There are huge numbers of apparently semi wild (although branded) horses wandering Easter Island.  The number of young foals indicates a very fertile fauna

The Sea:

Easter Island is characterized by very rugged basalt coasts.  There are few beaches or harbours.  Even today, all goods are off loaded from larger ships onto lighters and brought ashore to a tiny harbour

The Pile of stones in the upper left:

The largest stones are toppled moai (stone heads, face down).  The smaller stones are pieces of the Ahu (the platform on which the Moai stood) - there are ruined Ahu everywhere

The Stones by the man in the green shirt (lower left quadrant)

This is a Moai statue that never made it on its trip from the quarry to the Ahu (platform)

The following shot is a close up - why it was left unerected is unknown, but there are moai "in transit" all over the island:

The Quarry:

All the moai were carved from a single quarry on the island - a mountain of volcanic tuft.  They were carved in two stages:

One - fronts shaped and removed from the mountain and taken down hill

Two - stood upright on the mountain's lower slope - because the moais were carved face up their backs had to be finished after release from the mountain.

The dots on the mountain slope are unfinished Moai.  When the Rapa Nui stopped believing, they stopped carving and moving statues.

The Rapa Nui had a production line for Moai on their mountain quarry.  Following are some photos of statues in varying stages of excavation - the first being the largest ever attempted....and uncompleted (it's 21 metres high and likely weighs over 200 tons).

It touches you to stand beside them unfinished in their stone sarcophagi, still part of the mountain, doomed never to be released - weeds and lichen are creeping in.  There is a lovely inevitability to it all.  Almost Gods....forgotten.....rediscovered.....dissolving back into the mountain that almost gave them birth.

The following photo gives you a sense of the size of the Moai.

We were so haunted by the quarry that we went back the next morning at sunrise, when we could be alone with the Moai.  If you ever make it to Easter Island - get up early, see the Moai alone.  If nothing else, the light is better for photographs and your soul....as shown below, including Moai where the keel has just been removed and is about to be removed

The Moai on the downslope have appeared on a 1,000 science fiction book covers.  Trust us, they are as enigmatic in real life as they are in print.  We took hundreds of photos - following are some we particularly liked.....remember most of the Moai are half buried:

And here's a really original shot - no one has ever done this before!

Comments

[Ann McMaster]

Always thought you could do just about anything, Liz. That last shot is so YOU.