HOME Making-Of : Easter Island

Moai lying all around the island, Some are finished with being carved, others are not.

Moai Statues lined up

Introduction

            Some people wonder when they travel to Easter Island, Why are there big stones in random places. How did they get there? These things today are unknown. The people there have a great culture as well as their architecture. The island is to be found in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, in a really isolated area. The religion that exists on Easter Island is called Rapa Nui, Which means “Big Barren Land.” Population there grew first really slowly, and than grew faster (Tyson). Reading about this island and things that happened really opens your mind and might surprise you.

Easter Island

Moai statue

The Moai

History

Behind the great land of Easter Island and the mystical stones that border it, the history of it is what makes the island special. Easter Island is one of the most isolated places on earth. The island lies 2,250 miles northwest of Chile (Tyson). No one knows exactly how the stones and carvings got there but have an idea. Its been said since the Dutchman Jacob Roggeven, the first European known that first discovered the island was in 1722 (clark). People believe that indigenous people from east Polynesia were ones that first inhabited Easter Island. In 1994, DNA from 12 Eastern Island skeletons was found to be Polynesian (clark). Over 1500 years back a chief named Hotu Matua which means “The great parent” canoed with his wife searching for new islands to uncover. They wanted to extend there family and were willing to risk their life’s. After landing on the beach of Easter Island called “te-pito-te-henua” which means “end of the land” or “lands end”, that was what they had called it earlier in time (clark). Hopefully one day there will be enough information uncovered that someone could find out what really happened. 

Moai

Moai

Moai (Headstones)

A great feature about Easter Island is that there are stone heads called Moai. These stones would measure up to 10 meters in height. Once roggeven arrived at Easter Island there were two tribes on Easter Island. It had been concluded that the current people and tribes living there had not created the head stones. These stones lie not far from the ocean. They have a long shaped head with a upper torso, a chin and long ears. The stones border around the island but all of the stones face toward the island. So many people have tried to uncover who made them and how old they are (Clark). Many people who have studied about Easter Island still haven’t come to a solid conclusion on what had happened. Still today they have found enigmatic writing, Petroglyphs and more of the stone head than just the head. There are more mysteries the people had left there so that we can find out and there’s more to discover and explore about Easter Island.

Easter Island woman who has gotten shot with a pellet gun

Problems occurring on Easter Island

In Easter Island life today they have had their ups and downs. After reading a article called “Easter Island land dispute clashes leave dozens injured.” It talks about a group of people stating they want back their land that was their ancestors. Dozens of people were being injured. Some local Chilean police had been shooting people with pellet guns at close range (BBC). From my understanding, some people who are a part of the Rapa Nui area are just now making a land dispute instead of just now come to a decision and take charge. I do think that it was unnecessary for the police to basically make people injured and suffer. They should not have brought violence into this matter. Despite what happened in Rapa Nui there are also great things to come upon this village. 

Body of the statue

People digging under the Moai heads and finding the body, you see carvings all along the back side.

New Discoveries

There are not only the bad things that happen on the islands, there are also some really great discoveries. It has been found that the Moai head statues have actual bodies buried underneath the ground. It’s said 95% of the 1,000 Easter Island stone statues were carved, a massive crater of consolidated ash surrounding an interior. 150 statues stand straight up on the interior and exterior (Tilburg). Seeing the pictures of people digging there way to uncover more of the head stones, you see carvings along there body. It’s really amazing to see such great sculptures that no one has ever seen before. They had found that the ceremonies that the islanders in time were associated with all of the statues. They fount large amounts of red pigment which was used to paint the statues. Under one of the statues was a large stone with a crescent symbol carved in the side and represented a canoe (Tilburg). The people who are digging are on the right track. If people keep digging for new discoveries there’s a possibility that they might finally figure things that went on in Easter Island.

Conclusion

I have found some great things about Easter Island. Not only were they known for their Stone heads “Moai”, but also known for their great mystical discoveries happening on their island. I have always thought before I did my project that it was a island with stone heads in random spots, and no one knew were they came from. Now that I have researched the culture, History and the incredible statues, there’s more to the island than I had thought. One day, I would like to visit this island and see for my own eyes the statues, carvings and culture. I have learned a lot just by a few websites given to me. I could have chosen a lot of other things to write about but writing about Easter Island really caught my eye, and I still plan to keep up to date on what happens there.

Works Cited

Clark, Liesl. "Pioneers of Easter Island." PBS. PBS, 15 Feb. 2000. Web. 03 June 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/pioneers-of-easter-island.html>.                                                        

"Easter Island Land Dispute Clashes Leave Dozens Injured." BBC News. BBC, 12 Apr. 2010. Web. 03 June 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11917511>.

"Easter Island Heads Have Great Bodies!" Easter Island Statue Project. Web. 03 June 2012. <http://www.eisp.org/>.
Tyson, Peter. "The Fate of Easter Island." PBS. PBS, 20 Apr. 2004. Web. 05 June 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/fate-of-easter-island.html>.