Chile - Travel - A look at Easter Island

View on the "traveller" moai in front of Rano Raraku. Moai are statues carved of compressed volcanic ash on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The statues are all monolithic, that is, carved in one piece. However, less than about one-fifth of the statues that were moved to ceremonial sites and then erected once had red stone cylinder pukau placed on their heads. These "topknots", as they are often called, were carved in a single quarry known as Puna Pau. About 95% of the 887 moai known to date were carved out of compressed volcanic ash at Rano Raraku, where 394 moai still remain visible today. Although usually identified as "heads" only, the moai are actually one-piece figures with heads and truncated torsos. Moai sit on platforms or ceremonial shrines called ahu. (Photo by Micheline Pelletier/Corbis via Getty Images)