Moai Tukuturi

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The legendary statue here is unique because it's one of a kind, featuring legs unlike any other. According to local lore, at the top of volcano Rano Raraku, you'll find massive holes called pū makari, which translate to "zip-line holes." Oral tradition tells us that tree trunks were placed in these holes and a rope was pulled all the way to Ahu Tongariki. The island's ancient inhabitants used this rope for zip-lining, or canopy riding, as one of their favorite pastimes. One brave soul named Vai Ko Veka took a tumble and lost his life while doing this activity. When he lay on the ground, his friends noticed that his legs were folded together, giving him an appearance of being in prayer. This inspired them to create a statue in his likeness, with legs folded in prayer. The true name for this extraordinary statue would be Moai Vai Ko Veka. The moai statues are incredibly massive, carved from rock and characterized by their minimalist design, which is reminiscent of Polynesian art forms. These monolithic figures feature proud yet enigmatic expressions on their faces. Before chipping away at the rock to reveal the image, the ancient islanders would carefully outline the human form onto the wall. The moai's over-large heads are a hallmark of their unique design, with heavy brows and elongated noses featuring a distinctive fish-hook-shaped curl at the nostrils. Their lips protrude in a thin pout, much like their noses. The ears are equally impressive, elongated and oblong in shape. The jawlines stand out against the truncated necks, while the torsos are robust and heavy. Sometimes, subtle outlines of clavicles can be seen on the statues' backs. The arms are carved in bas-relief and rest against the body in various positions, with hands and long fingers curled around the hips, meeting at the loincloth. Occasionally, the thumbs point towards the navel. Generally speaking, the backside features aren't detailed, but some of these figures bear a ring and girdle motif on their buttocks and lower back. The one exception is this kneeling statue with clearly visible legs. Despite being whole-body statues, they're often mistakenly referred to as "Easter Island heads" in popular literature due to the disproportionate size of most moai heads and the fact that many iconic images show them standing upright, but buried up to their shoulders on the slopes of Rano Raraku. Some of these "heads" have been excavated, revealing bodies with markings protected from erosion by burial. The average height of a moai is approximately 4 meters (13 feet 1 inch), while the width at the base averages around 1.6 meters (5 feet 3 inches). Each massive creation weighs about 12.5 tonnes (13.8 tons) on average. All but 53 of the over 900 known moai were carved from tuff, a compressed volcanic ash found at Rano Raraku, where an astonishing 394 moai and incomplete figures can still be seen today. There are also 13 moai made from basalt, 22 from trachyte, and 17 from fragile red scoria. After carving was complete, the builders would rub the statues with pumice. The island's moai are renowned for their large noses, strong chins, rectangle-shaped ears, and deep eye slits. Their bodies are normally squatting, with arms resting in different positions and without legs. The hemispherical or deep elliptical eye sockets were designed to hold coral eyes featuring black obsidian or red scoria pupils. Archaeologists discovered this by collecting and reassembling broken fragments of white coral found at various sites. Many archaeologists believe that the statues represented authority, power, both religious and political, but they were more than just symbols. To those who created them, they held actual spiritual significance. These carved objects in ancient Polynesian religions were believed to be charged with a magical essence called mana when properly fashioned and ritually prepared. The moai statues face away from the ocean towards the villages as if watching over the people. The exception is Ahu Akivi's seven statues, which face out to sea to help travelers find their way. There's a legend that says there were seven men waiting for their king to arrive.