The Stone Heads That Have Bodies

Travel Onion · 1:57

Far out in the Pacific, more than 3,500 km off the coast of Chile, there's an island covered in giant stone figures — and they aren't just heads. Rapa Nui has close to a thousand moai, almost all carved from one volcano, Rano Raraku. The famous heads on its slopes are buried to the shoulders: dig down and there are bodies underneath, with long arms and hands resting on the belly. An unfinished giant about 21 metres long still lies in the quarry. Most moai stood near the coast with their backs to the sea, facing the villages — thought to be ancestors. How did they get there? Rapa Nui tradition says they walked, and in 2012 researchers showed it: 18 people with three ropes rocked a replica of more than four tonnes about 100 metres, upright, in under an hour. In 1960 a tsunami threw the fifteen moai of Ahu Tongariki inland; in the 1990s they were stood back up. Since 2017 the national park has been run by the Rapa Nui people themselves. Save this one for the trip you actually take. Follow for more places worth the trip. 📍 PLAN YOUR VISIT — RAPA NUI ✈️ Getting there: fly from Santiago, about five hours 📅 Best time: any season; summer (December–March) is warmest and busiest 🎯 Don't miss: sunrise at Ahu Tongariki · the Rano Raraku quarry · Orongo and the Rano Kau crater · Anakena beach