moai statues

Moai are restored megalithic sculptures erected on coastal tombs1 around Easter Island, situated over 1000 miles from Eastern Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean. Constructed by Rapa Nui carvers from 1100-1650, Moai commemorated deceased ancestral chiefs (and allegedly descendants of God) who acted as spiritual village protectors.

Modern technology and scientific analysis uncovered that the 900 or more island effigies are made of volcanic tuff. A tribe’s expert stoneworkers chiselled out rough shapes and the master carver added final details before smoothing everything with pumice. Coral eyes and a red scoria topknot or hat were occasionally added to emphasise mana (an omnipresent supernatural energy supposedly harnessed by Moai).

With the average statue weighing 14 tons, it required 40 tribesmen for transportation and hundreds more to produce the necessary rope and food. Oral tradition insists the Moai harnessed their divine power to walk to their destination. A recent literal interpretation of this is that ropes were used for swivelling and rocking the megalith into a walking motion. The difficulty of carving complex forms with primitive hand tools and the effort of transportation demonstrates a pride in creation and loyalty to honouring ancestors. This highlights the theological value of the Moai, epitomising Polynesian religious and animistic art.

The broad noses, inset eyes, rectangular ears, and projecting chin represented the minimalistic Polynesian conception of the human form and how it was conveyed in design. Similar proportional misrepresentation is noticeable throughout the early history of anatomical design ever since Egyptian carvings and the geometric, sticklike figures of Greek pottery paintings.

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Furthermore, Rapa Nui design is somewhat comparable to African Terra Cotta sculpturing, a design style combining naturalism and geometry to form a recognisable, but often intentionally distorted, human figure. Both art forms enlarged the heads of their human figures, believing it was the centre of character and emotion.

The Moai were constructed alongside the 15th-16th Century European ‘High Renaissance’. This initiated scrutinous studying of the human body from various angles. Superior European technological capabilities became evident in the more authentic anatomical artwork by Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti.

These vast effigies also possess cultural significance. Moai are occasionally painted in tribal colours like white and maroon. Others have back engravings comparable to traditional Rapa Nui tattooing. The grandeur of these towering totems combined with the immense shadow forms they create generates an image of power to inspire awe and pride within the Rapa Nui people. Standing over the villages, they were considered supernatural protectors of the culture and land.

However, they lost cultural value when the competition to build larger Moai for resource trading and growing famine led to internecine, cannibalistic tribal warfare, initiating the neglection of the Moai until all were toppled by the mid-19th Century.

The Moai were restored by archaeologists due to their cultural historic value, despite being incomparable to the ethno-religious value they possessed for indigenous people before the conflict. These prodigious monuments commemorate fallen chieftains, providing a valuable cultural insight into Rapa Nui conventions and the religious importance of their design.