Ahu Tongariki Moais
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Ahu_Tongariki.jpg, used used GNU Free Documentation License
Easter Island is an island in the south Pacific Ocean. It got its name because the first European to record it, Dutch Admiral Jacob Roggeveen, arrived on Easter Sunday, 1722. Its name is Isla de Pascua in Spanich, which translates directly as Easter Island. To the islanders, Easter Island is called Rapa Nui.
Easter Island is most famous for the stone statues, called moai, which dot its coastline. These statues have earned Easter Island recognition as a World Heritage Site. The moais were carved from compressed volcanic ash. All are monolithic, that is to say, carved from a single piece of stone. The largest standing moai is Paro. It is almost 10 metres (33feet) high, and weighs 75 imperial tonnes (83 American tons). Archaeologists have also discovered an even larger, but unfinished moai in the quarry - it is 21 metres (69 ft) and would have weighed 270 tons if completed.
95% of the moai came from the quarry of Rano Raraku, a volcanic crater on Easter Island. 397 moai statues have been counted to have been quarried from the interior and exterior slopes as well as in the exterior quarries. Work is still being conductged to inventory the statues quarried from the interior quarries. The use of Rano Raraku to sculpture the moais is believed to have lasted 500 to 1000 years, right till after the European discovery of Easter Island in 1722.
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Fast Facts about Easter Island
Official Name: Easter island
Main Town: Hanga Roa
Population of Easter Island: 3,010
Languages: Rapa Nui, Spanish
Currency: Chilean Peso
Religions: not available
Size: 166 sq km (64 sq miles)
Region: Oceania
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Hind view of two moais at Anakena Coast showing petroglyphs and tattoo design
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Ahu_Naunau.jpg, used under GNU Free Documentation License
The moais were carved by the Polynesians who inhabited Easter Island. These statues represent dead ancestors, and are erected at ceremonial sites. These moais may have been lineage status symbols, especially for the chieftains. They are likely to have been carved by professional carvers who are respected members of their society. Scientists have not conclusively agreed how the moais were moved, possible options include pulling them with ropes, wooden sledges and rollers, or walking them by rocking them left and right forward. By the mid 1800's, all the moai on Easter Island had been toppled. Today about fifty of these moais have been re-erected on their ceremonial sites. They sit on stone platforms called "ahu". Many of the moais are topped with red-coloured cylindrical stones, forming topknots called "pukau". The pukaus came from a single quarry called Puna Pau. Archaeologists have also recovered stone walls built without mortar, stone houses and petroglyphs. In addition, the islanders used to have their own form of writing, called Rongorongo. 26 specimens of this script still exists today - scattered in museums across the world and none remaining on Easter Island. Alas, there is nobody alive who could read the script.
According to legend, the island was first settled by a Polynesian chieftain named Hotu Matu'a, who arrived with his family on one or two large canoes, landing at a place called Anakena. No scientific verification has been able to accurately pinpoint when it actually took place. Different schools of thought have placed the settlement of Easter Island as beginning around 300-400 AD, based on many published works, 700-800 AD based on radiocarbon dating of charcoal that were produced during forest clearing, and as late as 1200 AD, based on radiocarbon dating of very early material.
Not much is known about the inhabitants of Easter Island between 1722 and 1860, when missionaries began recording native legends. They learned that there was only a clear class system, with the king, called Ariki, at the top, yielding god-like authority. The moais were sculptured during this age. Eventually, however, a group of warriors staged a coup. They overthrew the king, and made him a figurehead. They then set up a new cult, called tangata manu, or birdman, and worshipping a previously unexceptional deity, make-make. Under this new system, a competition is carried out every year to choose a leader. The first person to swim across the choppy, shark-infested ocean to the island of Motu Nui, and successfully bring back the eggs of the sooty tern, manutera, was declared "Birdman of the Year", and given control of the island's resources. This birdman cult is largely to blame for the destruction of the island ecology; the excessiveness of the winner in pillaging the island's resources ultimately led to famine and starvation.
According to historians, the population of Easter Island peaked at 15,000 people. The scarcity of food reduced the number. When the first Europeans reached the island, the population had dwindled to 2000-3000. The arrival of outsiders introduced diseases unknown to the island population, and this put a lid to any further rise in numbers. Then, in December 1862, ships arrived from the Peruvian mines began abducting the population to work as slaves on the mines. 1500 islanders, men as well as women, were enslaved, including the island king. The activity brought international condemnation, particularly from Bishop Florentin Jaussen of Tahiti. Although the slaves were freed the following autumn, stress as well as diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox and dysentery had taken their toll; only a dozen came back alive.
The remaining population was further decimated by a tuberculosis epidemic which swept the island in 1867, claiming the lives of many, including the last member of the royal family, 13-year-old Manu Rangi. By 1871, there was only about 500 people left. Half of these emigrated to nearby Mangareva in the French Polynesia, never to return. Those who stay back are mostly the elderly. The number hit an all-time low of 111 people around 1877 before staging a slow rebound.
This perfectly round stone at Ahu Te Pito Kura is considered the navel of the world by the locals
by Bjarte Sorensen, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:AhuTePitoKura.jpg, used under GNU Free Documentation License
The island was annexed by Chile in 1888, in the Tratado de Anexión de la isla (Treaty of the Annexation of the Island), signed by Policarpo Toro on behalf of the Chilean government, and the native inhabitants of the island. Between then and the 1960s, the islanders were forced to live in a settlement outside the main town of Hanga Roa.
Today, Easter Island, inscribed as the Rapa Nui National Park, is a Unesco World Heritage Site.
When to visit Easter Island
In order to witness the Tapati festival, The best time to go to Easter Island is between late January and early February. This is so that you can witness Tapati, the biggest festival and party on Easter Island. The next Tapati will take place from 1st to 17th February, 2008. Tapati Rapa Nui was first organised in 1975 to boost tourism to Easter Island. The festival celebrates the 1963 passing of Ley Pascua, allowing the Easter Islanders to vote in the Chilean presidential elections.
Among the events are native dance and song competition as well as horse racing, wood carving, and spear fishing, among others. Also included are competitions based on ancient sports events. These include haka pei, a competition where the participants slide down a steep hillside sitting on a banana tree trunk. There is also a triathlon event that includes swimming, followed by paddling totora reed bundles across the lake at Rano Raraku, and ends with a race with big clusters of bananas slung on a pole across the shoulder. The participants have to compete barefooted, and wear only hami loincloth and body paint.
There are also dance dramas, like the reenactment of the first landing of Hotu Matu'a at Anakena or Ovahe beach, by torchlight. The most important contest in the festival is for the festival queen. Contestants from the other events win points for the festival queen. The queen of the competition is announced on the last Saturday night of the festival. The following night, she is officially crowned at a ceremony at the Tahai archaeological site, by moonlight and torchlight, and accompanied by singing and chanting. Tapati is regarded as a party time for the people of Easter Island.
What to wear in Easter Island
Lightweight clothing is sufficient any time of the year.
Getting into Easter Island
Tourism is the main industry on Easter Island. Commercial flights are available, landing at Mataveri International Airport, on the south side of the island. LAN Chile Airlines, www.lan.com, flies to Easter Island several times a week from Tahiti and Santiago de Chile, the Chilean capital. Take note that when leaving Easter Island, you also have to pay a departure tax in cash.
Easter Island Entry Requirements
Same as for Chile. Nationals of Britain and the EU do not need a visa to enter Chile, for up to 90 days (except the nationals of Greece, who enjoy up to 60 days visa-free visit). Nationals of US, Canada and Australia needs to pay a "reciprocal processing fee" of USD100 for American citizens, USD132 for Canadian citizens, and USD56 for Australian citizens; this is equivalent to the visa fee meted out by those countries on Chilean citizens. It is illegal to import fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs, honey and other farm produce into Chile.
Where to stay on Easter island
Click on the name of the towns listed below to view hostels and budget accommodation available for booking there.
Click here for Budget Hostel Listing with Price and Room Availability
Easter Island
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Getting around in Easter Island
Where to go in Easter Island
Moai Ko te Riku near Tahai, has a topknot called pukau on its head, and eyes that were painted on
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Ahu_Ko_te_Riku.jpg, used under GNU Free Documentation License
Things to see and do in Easter Island
Explore the island to view the moais. These are archeological monuments and should be treated with care. The moais often sit on ceremonial platforms called ahu. Do not walk on the ahu, and definitely, do not leave graffiti of any type anywhere.
Visit Rano Raraku, a the quarry that provided the stones for the moais. You will be able to view some of the unfinished moais here.
Explore some of the caves on the island.
Go diving or snorkelling near the isles of Motu Nui and Moto Iti. These are the islands south of the main Easter Island, and it was from here that the "Bird Man Culture" developed
Sightseeing Tours of Easter Island
The following are local tours that are available for you to book:
EASTER ISLAND Sightseeing Tours Events & Attractions from Viator
Money matters in Easter Island
The currency is the Chilean peso (CLP, symbol CH$) Banknotes come in denominations of CH$500, CH$1,000, CH$2,000, CH$5,000, CH$10,000 and CH$20,000 while coins are available in denominations of CH$1, CH$5, CH$10, CH$50, CH$100 and CH$500.
Rano Kao volcanic crater preseves much of Easter Island's original flora
Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Pano_Rano_Kao.jpg, used under GNU Free Documentation License
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Easter Island Travel Guide, 
