A moai statue has been discovered on Easter Island at the bottom of a recently dried crater lake. The statue is the first of the island鈥檚 famous giant-headed figures to be found in the lake.
Easter Island, located more than 3500 kilometres from the South American continent, is dotted with more than 900 of the iconic statues, carved from volcanic rock more than 500 years ago by the Rapa Nui people.
Most of the statues were carved from rock quarried at the Rano Raraku volcano. Some were left at the volcano, which is now a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hundreds of others were transported to other parts of the island.
Advertisement
鈥淲e think we know all the moai, but then a new one turns up,鈥� Terry Hunt at the University of Arizona told the television program Good Morning America, which first the find on 25 February.
The new statue is 1.6 metres tall and is 鈥渇ull-bodied with recognisable features but no clear definition鈥�, according to a statement from Ma鈥檜 Henua, the Rapa Nui organisation that manages the park. It was found lying face down among tall reeds.
鈥淯nder the dry conditions that we have now, we may find more,鈥� said Hunt.
The monolithic statues have long inspired awe and speculation about their role in an apparent collapse of the island鈥檚 population in the 17th century. For indigenous Rapa Nui, Hunt said the statues represent deified ancestors.
鈥淔or the Rapa Nui people, it鈥檚 [a] very, very important discovery,鈥� Salvador Atan Hito, the vice president of Ma鈥檜 Henua, told the TV programme.
Rano Raraku鈥檚 crater is normally filled with water, but the lake has been shrinking since 2018, Ninoska Avareipua Huki Cuadros, director of Ma鈥檜 Henua, Agence France-Presse.
Easter Island has seen a , driven in part by climate change as well as the pattern of below-average temperature in the tropical Pacific known as La Ni帽a. The current La Ni帽a is the third in a rare 鈥渢riple dip鈥� event, which may itself be linked to human-caused climate change.
