What do we call the hat of a moai?

Pukao are the hat-like structures or topknots formerly placed on top of some moai statues on Easter Island. They were all carved from a very light-red volcanic scoria, which was quarried from a single source at Puna Pau.

What do the Easter Island heads mean?

What do the Moai represent? It’s thought that the Moai were symbols of religious and political power and leadership. Carvings and sculptures in the Polynesian world often have strong spiritual meanings, and followers often believe a carving had magical or spiritual powers of the person or deity depicted.

Why are there giant heads on Easter Island?

What purpose do the statues of Easter island Have? Archaeologists suggest that the statues were a representation of the Polynesian people’s ancestors. The Moai statues face away from the sea and towards the villages, by way of watching over the people.

How many heads are on Easter Island?

All but 53 of the more than 900 moai known to date were carved from tuff (a compressed volcanic ash) from Rano Raraku, where 394 moai in varying states of completion are still visible today. There are also 13 moai carved from basalt, 22 from trachyte and 17 from fragile red scoria.

Are moai still standing?

Today, about 50 moai have been re-erected on their ahus or at museums elsewhere. The Rapa Nui people were then devastated by the slave trade that began at the island in 1862. Within a year, the individuals that remained on the island were sick, injured, and lacking leadership.

Who built the Easter Island heads?

the Rapa Nui people
The Easter Island heads are known as Moai by the Rapa Nui people who carved the figures in the tropical South Pacific directly west of Chile. The Moai monoliths, carved from stone found on the island, are between 1,100 and 1,500 CE.

How did the Easter Island heads get buried?

Most production of Moai had ceased in the early 1700s due to western contact. The two statues Van Tilburg’s team excavated had been almost completely buried by soils and rubble.

What does moai mean Japanese?

A Moai (pronounced “Mo-Eye”) is a group of people meeting for a common purpose. The word “Moai” comes from Okinawa, Japan, where neighbors use Moais as support systems. Virtually connect with your friends or family to ensure that everyone is okay and practice a Blue Zones Project Power 9 Principle together.

Why is it called Easter Island?

The first known European visitor to Easter Island was the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who arrived in 1722. The Dutch named the island Paaseiland (Easter Island) to commemorate the day they arrived.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4U5Y7MSAJc