urbpan | Oh, yes, there are more pictures from Easter Island

We leave Tonga Riki and go to a couple other sites.

We visit the site of Te Pito Kura, which, according to McLaughlin 'has the largest moai ever carved and moved, estimated to weigh 82 tons. It's 32 reet long. Its pukao alone weighs just under 12 tons!...Te Pito Kura appears to have been [the] last statue pulled down, probably some time after 1838." (p139)

Here there was (pardon me as I slip back into past tense) another birthing stone, this one with stones on the sides, so the mother giving birth had handholds/armrests/something to grab as she strained. Our tourmate Andrea gamely poses at Dale's suggestion.

Looks cozy, no?

Then we were off to another site. Intermittant pouring rain kept our field visits quick. We had all of Anakena beach to ourselves. The next few shots are slightly marred by water on the lens. Sorry!

This nicely restored ahu again shows how individual each of the moia (and even their pukao!) were. During restoration in 1978, they discovered one of only two moia eyes ever found. The eyes were made of white coral and either red or black stone. The moia are thought to have eyes put in only for special occasions, when they "came to life." There is one that is restored at another site, with modern eyes put in, and the effect is disarming. The sand of Anakena Beach helped preserve these moai, but now it is moving up and covering the ahu.

I love how this guy is glowering.

When you go behind the ahu, you can see how the moai were toppled to deliberately break their heads off, and how the restorers used concrete (and steel bars underneath) to rebuild them.