Rapa Nui is also known as Easter Island and Isla de Pascua. It is actually a territory of Chile. I didn't know that. It is 2,000 miles from its closest neighbors, Chile and Tahiti. "Lorana" is the traditional greeting in the Polynesian language Rapa Nui, though Chilean Spanish is the official language.
The Moai are amazing.
Why do these stone guardians circle the island?
What are they watching for?
What are they waiting for?
Man, that would be one incredible place to go. I've read that one of them is over 60 feet tall! Also, several of them have 'hats' (I forget their real names) that are made from a different kind of stone. It wasn't enough to carve a massive, beautiful statue and move it across an island. Then, they had to go and put a heavy rock on top of it! Were these guys bored or just that religious?
ReplyDeleteHow old are they? I assume that is lava rock that they are carved from - it looks like it. I bet it's not easy to chip a perfect person thing out of lava rock. I think, Michael, that if they were bored they could have done something more interesting - like invent the internet so that they could blog - so I am going to go with religious. Maybe this is one of those "other sheep" type deals. At any rate, thanks for taking me away for a minute, Dev - I NEEDED it today!
ReplyDelete60 feet? I didn't look up measurements, but I do know they're (and please pardon the very bad pun here) larger than life. I also didn't know about the "hats." I read somewhere that several are on platforms (which have a name like the hats, but I can't remember what it is other than it starts with an A) and it's considered very sacreligious to go up on the platforms with the heads. I'm going with religious too, though I don't know much about Oceanic mythicultures.
ReplyDeleteI was just kind of liking the no neighbors for 2,000 miles thing, imagining myself there, looking up at a giant head looking down at me and hearing only the sound of the ocean.