Moai, Archaeological site in Easter Island, Chile

Moai are monolithic human figures carved from volcanic tuff by the Rapa Nui people on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) between 1250 and 1500. Almost all have overly large heads, heavy brows, long rectangular noses and no legs. Nearly half remain at Rano Raraku, the main quarry, where 394 moai in varying states of completion are still visible.

Carving began in the 13th century when the Rapa Nui people started shaping these figures at the quarry and moving them across the island with ropes and wooden sledges. Production stopped around 1600 as resources became scarce and social changes disrupted the island's traditional systems.

Rapa Nui call the statues aringa ora, "living faces" of deified ancestors, and the full name aringa ora o te tupuna means "living faces of the ancestors". Coral eyes with obsidian or red scoria pupils were set into the sockets, giving each figure its mana, or sacred power.

Travelers can walk among the statues at several sites around the island, including Ahu Tongariki where fifteen restored figures stand in a single row along the coast. Early morning or late afternoon offers softer light and calmer conditions for exploring the outdoor sites comfortably.

A study by Lipo, Becker and Bronson of California State University, Long Beach, found that moai stand where drinking water was available: no moai means no fresh water, and where there are moai, even inland, there are nearby sources of potable water. The Czech engineer Pavel Pavel proposed in 1982 that the statues were moved upright by rocking them to make them "walk", a theory tested with a concrete model in Strakonice and later on the island in 1985 with Thor Heyerdahl and Sergio Rapu.