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Easter Island, Chile 2003

The 19 metre Moai (El Gigante) at Rano Raraku

2003-12-02

As the years progressed, you can see that the Moai were getting larger and larger.  Size did matter to some of the islanders.  I was told the largest one that had been sitting on an Ahu was 15 metres high and weighted many tonnes.

If you look on the left half of the photo, you should be able to see the largest Moai (unfinished) ever found, head up on the left and body down on the right.  Called El Gigante (the giant), this Moai is 19 metres tall, and is estimated to weigh close to two hundred tonnes.  Imagine having to move this guy anywhere.  It's no wonder the short-ears revolted, being faced with moving this Moai.

The carving is mostly complete, and would have been split from the rock face soon, if it had been intended for an Ahu.  But that's something we will probably never know.