The Statues of Easter Island
Background Information
Geography
Discovery of the Island
Civilization
The Statues
Muggle Side of the Story
Who built the Moai?
Why are the Moai there?
Moving the Moai
Wizarding Explanation
Background Information
Geography
Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, is located in the Pacific Ocean, about 4100km (2550 miles) away from Tahiti and 3800km (2360 miles) from Chile. The island is in the shape of an isosceles triangle with an inactive volcano at each corner. The island is incredibly green, but it's also very small. It measures approximately 23km (14.3 miles) long and 12km (7.5 miles) wide. The island contains only one city - Hanga Roa, and one beach - Hanekana.
Discovery of the Island
The island was first discovered in the 1600's by an English navigator, however he didn't go near it. He simply sailed his ship past it, but mentioned the island to a few people when he got home. In 1722, the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen, came to the island and unloaded his ship on Easter Sunday - hence its name. After a thorough search of the island though, Roggeveen discovered that it held no gold and quickly lost interest. He set sail and left the island shortly afterwards.
Civilization
Easter Island natives are known as the Pascuans. Even though they were divided into 10 different clans, they were all ruled by one king. The first of the kings was Hotu Matua. He had come with his wife from another Polynesian island during a time of war. In 1862, Peruvian slave traders came to Easter Island and almost wiped out all of the Pascuans. The inhabitants were sold into slavery or they were murdered, until only 111 survivors were left. Currently, there are only 2700 Pascuans left; all direct descendants of the 111 survivors.
The Statues
On to the main part of the lesson now. On Easter Island stand large statues called Moai. This Pascuan name has two meanings:
Statue of stone
Place of burial/sleep - contains a cult/religious significance
There were at least 1700 of these states that range in size from 1-20 metres tall (3-65 feet), but less than half of the originals remain. The statues represent a silhouette of a human. However, the faces are so enormous that it makes the whole body disproportionate. The Moai were cut from the tender rock from one of the volcanoes on the island named "Rano Raraku," which is located at the east side of the island. Some of the Moai have a cylindrical stone headpiece placed on top of the statues called the Pukao. The pukao was made from a red volcanic material from another volcano on the island called "Puna Pau."
The oldest of the statues were made between the 6th and 9th centuries; but the majority were made in the 12th and 13th centuries. The Moai can be divided into two categories:
The first were drawn up the slopes of the volcano Rano Raraku. Their bodies were then covered with symbols.
The second group were raised on altars called ahu. The walls of the ahu were 5 metres tall and set up parallel to the coast. The Moai all have their backs turned to the beach and many were knocked down during the wars over the centuries. Only a few have been re-erected in the past few decades.
Because there are about 200 unfinished Moai, some that are even still stuck in the sides of Rano Raraku, we can deduce that the statues were cut and sculpted most likely with the help of stone hatchets. It took between 50-300 years of work to complete one whole Moai.
Muggle Side of the Story
Who built the Moai?
Some experts believe that the Moai had been built by the heirs of the Lemurie, a civilized equivalent of Atlantis, but located in the Indian Ocean. Another theory is that the island could have been a checkpoint in the Pacific Ocean for the civilians of Atlantis. Other experts look at the statues and see the remnants of the advanced civilization of the Mu.
Why are the Moai there?
In examining the Moai, some Muggles think that these statues had the role of taking care of the island, but upon closer inspection, all of them are facing towards the interior of the island - not towards the sea looking for intruders. This makes the assumption unlikely. Some creative Muggles think that the statues represented a highly advanced extraterrestrial life form that came to initiate the natives in the past.
However, the current Pascuans on Easter Island, told researchers that the Moai symbolize their powerful ancestors, initiates and holders of Mana - a powerful mental capacity.
Moving the Moai
With the Moai weighing around 20 tons, it was no easy feat to move them. Oral stories tell of the Moai walking form the volcano, across the plains to their resting place on the ahu. One of the stories depicts a king named Tuu Ku Ihu moved them with the help of their god Makemake. Another of the stories tells of a lone woman ordering them about at her will. Muggle researchers think they know best and that there is no way either one of these above theories could possibly be true.
Instead, they believe that 2 ropes were attached to the head of the Moai, and 2 ropes were tied to the base. The men that pulled the ropes attached to the head pulled laterally (from the sides), while the men pulling the ropes at the base pulled forwards. It took a lot of coordination, but the Moai moved about 100 metres a day. To anyone watching the movements, it would've appeared that the Moai were hobbling along.
Wizarding Explanation
If only Muggles knew!
Obviously there was no "hobbling" Moai. All the Pascuans needed was a single wizard. And luckily for them, they had a few! The wizards were able to extract the Moai from the volcanoes, move them the distance to the ahu, and make the pukao with just a few simple spells.
Moai Henua - Henua meaning "earth" or "area," this spell was used to take the statues from the sides of the volcano.
Wingardium Leviosa - Most of you will have learned this spell in your first charms class. This is a simple levitation spell, that even young wizards are taught. Not a lot of magical power is needed to move the statues from the volcano, across the plains to the ahu. The Moai would've levitated just slightly off the ground, giving the appearance that they were walking (hence the Muggles' explanation). Wingardium leviosa was also used to raise the pukao onto the statues.
So as you can see, the moving of the Moai was not a difficult process at all. It didn't even take a full day. However, the Pascuans were a proud people and didn't let the wizards aid in the designing or sculpting of the Moai - all of that was done by hand and lots of hard work. The wizards only moved the heavy rock once it was complete.
In 1275, an epidemic fever took the lives of all the wizards who lived with the Pascuans. With no one to move the Moai, the Pascuans stopped building them, which is why you can still see some in the sides of the volcano, even to this day.
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