Today we"re looking at something you may have heard about before—the famous Moai statues on Chile"s remote Easter Island. These big-headed statues were carved out of solidified volcanic ash by the Rapa Nui people between 1250 and 1500, and there are nearly 1,000 of them on the island. Archaeologists believe they were meant to honor Rapa Nui ancestors and were revered as symbols of power and authority. All but seven of the statues face away from the surrounding Pacific Ocean, and instead look inward toward the villages, as if positioned to watch protectively over the Rapa Nui.
Moai statues on Easter Island, Chile
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Seceda, Dolomites, South Tyrol, Italy
-
A sizzling summit hides in the clouds
-
Embracing the cold
-
World Lion Day
-
Baddest of the badlands
-
An historic forest
-
Spring awakens
-
Seventeen arches at sunset
-
Museum Night in Berlin
-
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
-
Przewalskis horses, Hustai National Park, Mongolia
-
Replica of a Viking home in Dublin National Botanic Gardens, Ireland
-
International Museum Day
-
Life carries on, rising from a ship s skeleton
-
Is that a buzzing sound?
-
Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch on the institution s 175th anniversary
-
Endangered Species Day
-
Seville, Spain
-
National Gardening Week
-
International Beaver Day
-
Happy Boxing Day!
-
It s leap day!
-
Northern gannets, Shetland Islands, Scotland
-
A rest stop for the birds
-
Fallow deer, Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, England
-
World-class art comes to Arkansas
-
Point Reyes National Seashore
-
Winter solstice
-
Squirrel Appreciation Day
-
Kirkilai lakes, Biržai Regional Park, Lithuania