Roam around tiny, remote Easter Island and you"ll find almost 900 of the stern stone faces called moai. They seem ancient as the pyramids, even a little alien, but they were actually sculpted between 500 and 800 years ago from compacted volcanic ash that"s as terrestrial as it comes. You"re seeing six of the 15 moai that stand on Ahu Tongariki, the largest ahu (stone platform) on the island. These statues were toppled in the 18th or 19th century along with other moai island-wide for reasons not fully known to scholars, though earthquakes or possible tribal infighting are postulated. The statues were later buried by a tidal wave and lay in ruins until the 1990s, when they were excavated and placed back on the ahu.
The moai you know
Today in History
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Ludwig’s palace
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It s Computer Science Education Week
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International Mountain Day
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New beginnings
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The Crown of the Continent
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Quilts as high art
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Happy Holi!
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Lake Pehoé, Torres del Paine National Park, Chile
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Blue linckia sea stars in Papua New Guinea
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Walruses in Svalbard, Norway
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This grizzly has Napping Day down
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An improbable tribute for Towel Day
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A valley view at 9,000 feet
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National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
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Lavender field, Hertfordshire, England
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Yi Peng lantern festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand