High Middle Ages · Oceania · Culture

1250

Easter Island moai production peaks

1250

On the remote volcanic island of Rapa Nui, Polynesian carvers in the Rano Raraku quarry produced hundreds of colossal moai statues for clan ahu platforms along the coast. Each figure, up to ten meters tall, was somehow transported miles across the treeless grassland. Recent experiments suggest the statues were rocked forward in an upright position, literally walked to their final resting places by teams of laborers.