Archaeologists have long debated how the ancient inhabitants of Easter Island managed to balance a separate piece of stone on top of the heads of the famous moai statues that dot the island. Now a team of researchers claim to have the answer.
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as it is known in the Polynesian language, is a small remote island a few thousand miles west of South America. One of the most interesting features of this island is its 887 giant monolithic statues named moai. While the initial name of the island was considered to be “Te Pito O Te Henua,” which means the Navel of the World, it was renamed in 1722 when the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen arrived there and has been known as “Easter Island” since.
The moai statues of huge male figures on average are 13 feet high (3.9624 m) and weigh 14 tons (12,700 kg). They are made of compressed volcanic ash. Many believe the statues held a sacred role in the Rapa Nui people’s lives and may have been ceremonial conduits for contact with the gods.
A number of the moai statues found on the island also have pukao, the name given to the hats or topknots placed on top of the heads, which may have represented dressed hair or headdresses of red feathers worn by chiefs throughout Polynesia. They are cylindrical in shape with a dent on the underside to fit on the head of the moai and a boss or knot on top. The pukao was balanced as a separate piece on top of the head of a moai. For many years it has not been known how they were raised and placed but theories include them being raised with the statue or placed after the statue was erected.
