Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Polynesian

Moai, or mo‘ai are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Polynesian island of Easter Island, Chile between the years 1250 and 1500. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called ahu around the island's perimeter. Almost all moai have overly large heads three-fifths the size of their bodies. The moai are chiefly the living faces (aringa ora) of deified ancestors. Though moai are whole-body statues, they are commonly referred to as "Easter Island heads".

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