The most recent discovery surrounding the Moai was that the stone heads actually had bodies that were buried deep into the earth. Oftentimes, only their massive heads popped out from the ground which is why nobody would have imagined prior to the discovery that they, in fact, have bodies complete with arms and legs. The discovery also led many to believe that there might be plenty more secrets hidden beneath the ground waiting to be uncovered.
And as it happened, the Moai still had plenty of secrets to share and they were later revealed following a major excavation project led by top archaeologists who discovered that their bodies also featured highly detailed tattoos. If there is one thing that we can learn from this discovery that is there is truth to the saying: “there is more to something than meets the eye.”
The First Settlers
In contemporary times, a well-known theory about Easter Island suggested that Indians hailing from the coastal regions of South America were the first to populate the secluded island. Following a careful study from renowned archaeologists and linguists though, the theory was eventually discredited by the rest of the academic world.
These days, the widely recognized notion is that the original people that discovered Easter Island came from Polynesian ancestry. It’s highly possible that the Islanders came from the Marquesas or the Society Islands which is an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Historians believe that they arrived in Rapa Nui as early as 318 AD.
"The Center of the World”
Before the Dutch explorer, Jacob Roggeveen discovered the isolated island in the Pacific and gave it the name that the rest of the world would come to know today, Easter Island had numerous other names way back. The oldest name on record is Te Pito o Te Henua, which directly translates to “The Center of the World” in English.
Besides that, settlers of the island also called it Mata-Ki-Te-Rani, which in English means “Eyes Looking at Heaven.” In the end, sailors from Tahiti named the volcanic island Rapa Nui during the 1860s and the rest, as they say, was history.
The Head Director
The Easter Island Statue Project (EISP) which excavated the Moai bodies was headed by Jo Anne Van Tilburg. Following the determination and hard work of the Van Tilburg team to uncover the hidden secrets of the Moai, she then made an announcement on the company’s website. She revealed, “Our EISP excavations recently exposed the torsos of two 7m tall statues."
After their groundbreaking discovery, countless travelers and advocates of the mysterious Easter Island across the world were shocked to hear that the island’s long-fabled statues actually had bodies! But perhaps what’s even more important is that we have learned a whole lot about the Rapa Nui and their knowledge of ancient engineering.
Potential Eruption
There are also three dead volcanoes fixed on top of Easter Island and the highest one stands at an astounding 1674 feet. Specifically speaking though, Easter Island is, in principle, a whole massive volcano sitting in a remote region in the Pacific Ocean.
The major volcano in Easter Island is called Rano Kau and it is currently situated inside the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Rapa Nui National Park. Additionally, the Rano Kau volcano is, in fact, the actual site of the ruins of Orongo, the ritualistic community in which the early islanders journeyed and venerated as a sacred ground of worship.