In fact, it is one of the most remote communities in the world. His next inhabited neighbor is Pitcairn, 2,000 km (1,200 miles) in the west, while the next continental country in Chile is 3,700 km (2,300 miles). In short, it's not a short jump. The question you have to ask yourself is: Are the statues of the Easter Island worth the effort? ..."> In fact, it is one of the most remote communities in the world. His next inhabited neighbor is Pitcairn, 2,000 km (1,200 miles) in the west, while the next continental country in Chile is 3,700 km (2,300 miles). In short, it's not a short jump. The question you have to ask yourself is: Are the statues of the Easter Island worth the effort? ...">

6 interesting facts about the Easter Island

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We examine the history of the island and explain some of the most interesting facts about the Easter Island. This remote Pacific Island is not only beautiful, but also full of secrets

The most important thing first, the Easter island is wide. very, very wide.

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In fact, it is one of the most remote communities in the world. His next inhabited neighbor is Pitcairn, 2,000 km (1,200 miles) in the west, while the next continental country in Chile is 3,700 km (2,300 miles). In short, it's not a short jump.

The question you have to ask yourself is: Are the statues of the Easter Island worth the effort? Are these large boulders worth the cost of a long journey?

After we spent five days on the breathtakingly beautiful island, we can answer with a clear yes.

The statues of the Easter Island are not only great to look at, their fascinating story also makes them one of the lasting travel secrets of humanity. Here are six interesting facts about the Easter Island.

1. Nobody knows how the statues were moved

The transport of the statues of the island ("Moai")) is considered noteworthy of all interesting facts about the Easter Island, since they were moved over the island without the use of wheels, cranes or large animals.

scientists have tested several theories that most often came to the conclusion that the islanders used a combination of wooden rolls, ropes and wooden sledges.

In 2011, Terry Hunt from the University of Hawaii and Carl Lipo from California State University Long Beach worked with National Geographic to prove that only 18 people could move a 3 m (10 foot) long Moai replica with a weight of 5 tons with just a few hundred meters, three strong ropes and some practice.

It is unclear whether this method would have worked at Paro, the highest Moai, which was built with a height of almost 10 m (33 feet) and a weight of 82 tons, or actually the heaviest Moai, which weighs a whopping 86 tons.

2. The huge heads have (larger) body

archaeologists have known since the earliest excavations in 1914 that the statues on the Easter Island have body. However, the public largely referred to them as "Easter island heads" because the most frequently photographed Moai were the ones who were buried up to their shoulders.

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In 2012, photos of an excavation, which was led by the Easter Island Statue Project, began to circulate together with a photo from the 1950s, which shows how big the statues actually are. The sight was so impressive that several national publications brought a story about it.

Take a look at all photographs from the excavation on the website of the Easter Island Statue Project.

3. A Finnish tourist once stolen a Moai ear

In 2008, a Finnish tourist was found on Anakena beach, which chopped an ear from a Moai. An islander saw, like Marko Kulju, 26, fled from the crime scene with a piece of the statue in his hand. She reported the incident of the police, which Kulju identified on his body based on the tattoos.

The Finn was put under house arrest and finished with a fine of almost $ 17,000-a slight punishment because it threatened up to seven years in prison. Kulju publicly apologized in a Chilean newspaper shortly after his arrest.

As a result of the incident, access is controlled for tourists, with a quarry being cordoned off far from the main attraction.

Thank you Marko!

4. The statues could have been an antidote against leprosy

dr. Anneliese Pontius, extraordinary clinical professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School, has the theory that islanders have created the statues to counteract the effects of leprosy.

According to her hypothesis, the shock of seeing malformations of the most important characteristics (face, hand, finger, arms) for social interaction, the islanders have caused the damage to "reverse" the damage by creating Moai with over -corrected characteristics.

These efforts to reverse leprosy may be instead of exile the affected people to other islands, as they were elsewhere (e.g. Hawaii, Molokai).

The symptoms of lepras compared to their over-corrected Moai equivalents are listed below, as in Dr. Pontius' Article Easter Island’s Stone Giants: A Neuro-Psychiatric View described.

  • The destruction of the nose's nose through the leprosy is counteracted by pronounced noses and stylized nostrils.
  • Downturn in the mouth with a hanging lower lip and exposed teeth (due to a facial nerve paralysis) compared to Moai’s upward position of the lips. No teeth visible.
  • lips pulled in and swollen vs. pointed up and thin.
  • "Klauenhand" vs. stretched finger in a straight shape. The elongated fingers lie in a horizontal line above the stomach.
  • fingers and nail disorders compared to Moais well delimited fingertips and nails.

5. There is an ugly duckling that nobody can explain

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This is perhaps the strangest of all interesting facts about the Easter Island. All statues on the Easter Island have characteristic elongated features and consequences of a certain aesthetics. However, Tukuturi looks far more human. He is much smaller than the other Moai and seems to be in a kneeling position with his hands on his legs.

tukuturi's head is round and more human and seems to have a small beard. While the other Moai were carved at the breathtaking site of Rano Raraku, Tukuturi was made from another material (the reddish stone by Puna Pua) and then brought to Rano Raraku. Nobody knows why it's so different.

6. The statues were crashed by angry islanders

Nobody claims that the Easter Island has gone through a devastating deforestation at a certain point in time. The prevailing theory was for a long time that the islanders felled trees (or burned) to carve land to clear and canoe in order to supply the growing population and possibly transport the Moai.

more recent theories indicate that the large -scale deforestation was the work of Polynesian rats that came across with the first canoes. Anthropologists agree that there was a rebellion or an uprising of the islanders at some point in the 17th century.

Tired of dwindling resources, clans began to collide and tore each other down the Moais. It is reported that there were no upright statues on the island until 1868, apart from the partially buried on the outer slopes of Rano Raraku. Many of course have now been rebuilt.

Lonely Planet Chile & Osterinsel contains a comprehensive travel guide for the Easter Island, ideal for those who want to explore the most important sights and take the less busy road.

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