The Mysteries of the Moai on Easter Island | National Geographic

less than 1m read

·Nov 11, 2024

[Music] Imposing stone sentinels stand guard on Rapanui, a volcanic island that anchors the western point of the Polynesian triangle in the South Pacific. You might know it as Easter Island.

[Music] About 42% of the island is Rapa Nui National Park, a world heritage property established in 1995 to preserve the natural and cultural wonders of this Chilean territory. This Polynesian outpost blossomed in isolation, developing a distinct architectural and artistic culture. Moai, the enormous heads that dot the landscape, are the lasting legacy of this ancient society. The effort to construct these monuments and move them around the island must have been considerable, but no one knows exactly why the Rapa Nui people undertook such a task.

The hundreds of moai standing on Easter Island today were restored by historians, anthropologists, and archeologists in the 20th century. To get the best view of the moai, trek to Rano Raraku, where the volcanic rock used in their construction was quarried. Of the 887 remaining statues on the island, roughly 400 are strewn in and around the volcanic crater.

While most people visit Rapa Nui to explore its cultural history, the island is also home to some excellent diving, surfing, and enticing beaches. It's miraculous that Polynesian people ever reached Rapa Nui in the first place. Getting there today is much easier, but the island is still very far afield. Long flights service Rapa Nui from Chile and Tahiti.

[Music]

Profit maximization | APⓇ Microeconomics | Khan Academy

Why Happiness Is Like Water (animated)

View All

Setting Up Camp in a Tree | The Great Human Race

2.4 million years ago, before humans had weapons or fire, Homo habilis retreated into the safety of trees to escape predators at night. Sounds almost like a hyena. “We have like minutes left really. I think it’s high enough.” “I mean, are you stable tho…

Differentiating related functions intro | Advanced derivatives | AP Calculus AB | Khan Academy

We are told the differentiable functions x and y are related by the following equation: y is equal to the square root of x. It’s interesting, they’re telling us that they’re both differentiable functions. Even x is a function must be a function of somethi…

5 Things to Know About the Warming Arctic | Before the Flood

If you look at it from space, the top of the world, the white ice acts like a reflector, like a mirror that sends back sunlight and energy and heat back to space. That’s what made the Arctic the cooling system of the planet. I was walking with Leo on the…

David Deutsch: Knowledge Creation and The Human Race, Part 2

One of the things that is counter-intuitive and one of the misconceptions that I see crop up out there in academia and intellectual circles is that people think that there’s a final theory. That what we’re trying to achieve is a bucket full of theories th…

Climate Change and the Migrant Crisis | Years of Living Dangerously

Nice to meet you. How big is this European migration crisis? Down, it’s big, and it’s getting bigger. We’re doing a story on the impacts of climate change on migration. Many of the people are fleeing conflicts; we just couldn’t believe that some weren’t …

Properties of the equilibrium constant | Equilibrium | AP Chemistry | Khan Academy

An equilibrium constant has one value for a particular reaction at a certain temperature. For example, for this reaction, we have oxalic acid turning into two H plus ions and the oxalate anion. The equilibrium constant Kc for this reaction is equal to 3.8…

The Mysteries of the Moai on Easter Island | National Geographic

More Articles