On Easter Island found a strange stone statue in the crater of a volcano

Scientists have new questions about moai statues

New mysterious moai statue of Easter Island discovered in the crater of a volcano. The statue, 1.6 meters high, is described as “full-bodied, with recognizable features, but without a clear definition.”

A new moai statue – one of Easter Island’s iconic monolithic statues – has been found at the bottom of a dried-up lake in the crater of a volcano, the local community that runs the site on the Chilean island said.

Moai are characteristic monolithic carved stone figures with elongated faces and no legs, which were mostly quarried from tuff, a type of volcanic ash, from the Rano Raraku volcano. These monuments are believed to represent the Polynesian ancestors of the Easter Islanders and were once associated with ritual activities, forming a hub for local communities.

According to The Guardian, the statue was found on February 21 by a team of scientific volunteers from three Chilean universities who were collaborating on a project to restore the marshland in the crater of the Rano Raraku volcano.

“This moai sculpture has great potential for scientific and natural research – it is truly a unique discovery as it is the first time a moai has been found inside the lagoon of a lake in the Rano Raraku crater,” the Mau Henua indigenous community said in a statement Tuesday.

Several moai in the area were charred by an October wildfire on the island, also known as Rapa Nui, located 3,500 kilometers west of Chile.

“This moai statue is in the middle of a lagoon that started to dry up in 2018,” said community director Mau Henua, who manages the Rapa Nui National Park, where the volcano is located. “The interesting thing is that for at least the last 200 or 300 years, the lagoon has been three meters deep, which means that no human being could have left the moai there during that time.”

The new moai, 1.60 meters high, was found lying on its side and looking up at the sky.

The statue was “full-height, with recognizable features but no clear definition,” Mau Henua said in a statement, adding that the group was seeking funding to conduct a more extensive study of the find.

However, “there were no plans to move the moai from where it is.”

The Rano Raraku Volcano and its Moai are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Easter Island was inhabited by Polynesians for a long time before Chile annexed it in 1888.

Last October, a fire on Easter Island caused “irreparable” damage, according to experts, damage to the famous moai statues. The forest fire engulfed more than 100 hectares of the national park, while some monolithic figures were “completely burned.”

“The damage caused by the fire cannot be repaired,” said Mayor Edmunds Paoa. “A cracked original and symbolic stone cannot be restored, no matter how many millions of euros or dollars are invested in it.”