Stone giants of Easter Island
Easter Island, the small island of volcanic origin, asked the archaeological world a lot of mysteries, which still do not find any more or less clear answer. First of all, the issues relating to culture once lived there the people and to the world-famous famous stone sculpture – the moai.
The island is located at a great distance from the continent in the South Pacific and is a territory of Chile, to which 3703 km. The name of the skeleton is required Dutchman Jacob Roggevenu, opened it in 1722 it was in the Easter holiday. The only city Hanga Roa is the capital of the island. It is home to about 5,000 people.
Everywhere there are traces here on a long-gone past: in the long corridors of the caves, studded with shards of obsidian; in their sockets stone giants; on the slopes of volcanoes has long frozen, covered with the remains of a long-vanished culture. Interest in the tiny volcanic formations, including ocean bezbrezhya constantly increasing. A growing number of publications and, as a consequence, increases every year by tourists visiting the island and archaeological expeditions.
Tireless thrust of the ancient inhabitants of Easter Island to hacking stone huge stone figures brought to fruition. Archaeologists have found hundreds of stone sculptures MAOI (local name), the largest of which, weighing 88 tons and a height of a seven-storey building. Each regular expedition opens new statue.
The largest number of statues, about 300, are concentrated at the foot of the volcano Rano Raku. Stone sculptures are of different heights and different degrees of processing. Not far from the harbor, available on the island, there is a large ritual area, where there are another 15 statues. Many unfinished statues is in the quarries. Their unfinished suggests a sudden cessation of work on them. Among researchers there is an version of the appointment of the stone giants. According to it, the tribes once living on the island were constantly at war, and the statues were made as the prestige and self-affirmation of the people who fought