About this episode

This episode explores the mysterious moai statues of Easter Island, their origins, and the ecological implications of their construction.

In 1722, Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen discovered a remote island in the Pacific on Easter Sunday, which he named "Easter Island," where he was astonished by the hundreds of towering, stern-faced moai statues. These impressive sculptures, which can be over 30 feet tall and weigh up to 86 tonnes, have inspired curiosity and speculation for centuries. To this day, questions remain about how the Rapa Nui people managed to transport the statues without modern technology, why they were uniformly knocked down by the end of the 19th century, and whether their creation caused an ecological disaster. https://allthatsinteresting.com/why-were-easter-island-statues-built Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Topics covered

• Easter Island
• moai statues
• Rapa Nui culture
• exploration
• ecological disaster
• history

Keywords

• Easter Island
• moai
• Jacob Roggeveen
• Rapa Nui
• statues
• history
• ecological disaster

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Easter Island, Pacific, Rapa Nui

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