The monolithic stone statues ofEaster Islandhave mystified us for centuries . More recently , confusion about these postal card - favorable monuments has been fueled byviral imagesthat appear to show these stone heads with gargantuan organic structure beneath them . So , what ’s really beneath the shoulder of these ancient Titan ?
The figures , know as the “ Moai , ” were carved by the Rapa Nui citizenry on a removed Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean . estimate variegate for when these stone monoliths were carve , but most experts agree it go on somewhere between 1100 and 1500 CE .
The tallest ever erected , known as “ Paro , ” is estimated to be almost 10 meters ( 33 foot ) high-pitched . Remarkably , there are over 887 Moai on the island . While the archaeological community have been aware that these stone heads have body since 1914 duringthe Mana Expeditionwith Katherine Scoresby Routledge , this fact seems to have ask some of the world by surprise .
Much of the confusion seems to add up from the most popular images , and probably the earliest trope , of the statues buried up to the neck . In fact , the vast legal age of the statues remain unburied and are disclose in their entirety .
The ' giant head ' moai statues on Easter Island in reality have soundbox as well
Posted byArteideonMonday , 14 April 2025
Sadly , none of the statue look as impressive as the " arms crossed " representative above .
Van Tilburg , from the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California , Los Angeles , explained toLive skill : " The rationality people think they are [ only ] head is there are about 150 statue buried up to the shoulders on the slope of a vent , and these are the most notable , most beautiful and most photographed of all the Easter Island statues . This hint to people who had not seen exposure of [ the other unearthed statue on the island ] that they are drumhead only . "
Image credit : kovgabor / Shutterstock
