This is Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui ... the amazing skill and hard work of the Rapa Nui people. The mystery of the Moai statues is a big question for archaeologists and historians.

the weight of its history and mystery lingered with us. The rain had cleared, revealing the island in all its rugged beauty, ...

a four-tonne basalt statue from the Chilean Pacific territory of Rapa Nui - named Easter Island by European explorers. The statues, known as moai, were carved by the island's indigenous Rapa Nui ...

Terry Hunt Standing Moai on the South Coast of Rapa Nui The members of the Spanish expedition to Easter Island in 1770 were the first to record their descriptions of the scoria hats. F.

Among the many secrets buried in Easter Island prehistory is the question of how the Rapanui people transported the multi-ton statues, or moai, from their quarries to their final ceremonial ahu ...

I didn’t expect to see its famous moai statues face down in the dirt ... But the most surprising thing about my visit to Easter Island, known locally as Rapa Nui, was watching the moon do ...

The main quarry for Easter Island's statues, this volcanic crater is a virtual moai graveyard. The stone-faced giants lie in various states of production. Some are half carved, many are broken ...

This story appears in the July 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine. On a winter night last June, José Antonio Tuki, a 30-year-old artist on Easter Island, did one of the things he loves ...

People from Chile's Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, also had South American ancestry ... and known for its massive stone figures called moai, was settled some time after the interbreeding 800 years ...

The flights hub is mainly used by tourists visiting Easter Island's famous Moai statues. It expanded when the US modernised the airport during the Cold War and to accommodate space shuttles.