Easter Island and Peru day 3

                We had some hope of seeing our baggage on this third day, when we stopped by the airport and were told that there was a noon flight coming in from someplace, with our bags supposedly on board.  We were directed to check back around 2 o’clock.  But we were distracted by an incredible tour of the island, and weren’t back until 6.  Unfortunately, the international airport here had closed for the day.

                When you think about it, though, why would you want to keep a half-dozen employees at work when there is no work to be done?  We’ll have to hope there is a flight on Tuesday so the airport will open again.  Meantime, the odor is worsening.

 Roger with relocated moai at Ahu Tongariki

Toppled moai and top hats

                But it was a great tour of the southeastern half of the island.  We stopped along the shore in several places to inspect and admire the amazing work of the Rapa Nui.  For a stretch of more than 10 miles, the moai stood here and there, all facing inward.  Except for the ones that had been broken too badly when they were toppled.  In a couple of places, complete moai were left on the ground, as they appeared to the Europeans after the Dutch first saw them in 1722.  The writers mostly agree that they were pushed over as the result of clan rivalry and battles.  I have my doubts.  The claim is made that the moai were built to protect the islanders, which is why they all faced inward, looking over their domain—certainly a logical explanation.  But why not face outward, to watch for evil or danger approaching the island?  The eyes, only one or two of which were ever discovered, are missing, except for a few moai near town, where the eyes have been recreated.  We haven’t read much speculation about why the eyes were removed, except for the fact that without eyes, the statues could no longer see.  Nor has much attention been directed to the fact that all the eyes are gone, from around a thousand statues placed all around the island.  Or the fact that not only were the eyes removed; they were also destroyed, or perhaps thrown into the sea.  Why would they want to be sure the moai could never see again?  What was it that they wanted to hide from the gaze of the moai?

 The great stone quarry

 Moai at the quarry

                We finally arrived at the massive main quarry, where a numbers of the moai stand, perhaps in the positions they occupied when being moved downhill.  Some of the largest images are here, where abandoned works in progress can be observed along a system of trails.  It appears from the partially carved moai that the very largest ones were being created when the work stopped, since the ones still lying in the ground on their backs exceed thirty feet in length.

 Largest of all the moai, lying unfinished the quarry

 Moai in the distance at Rano Raraku crater

                Nearby was the Rano Raraku crater, partially filled with rainwater (or water from a spring, perhaps).   On one wall of the crater, facing the small lake, stand a half dozen or so moai, looking down on the waters.  What an eerie sight, with absolute quiet and the only creatures moving the local wild horses and the two intruders with their cameras and curiosity.

 Beach at Anakena

                We finished the day with a swim at Anakena, where several moai are perched with their backs to the only significant beach on the island. 

              And we speculated about what it all really meant.

             The descriptions of what the early European visitors found here are all over the place. A fellow named Philip Coppens quotes the log of Admiral Roggeveen and describes in great detail what others reading the log book apparently have missed:  " When Roggeveen arrived, there were two tribes on the island. The first was the Ha-nau-aa-epe, which was distinct because of their long ears. They were tall, white-skinned with red hair and ca. two metres tall. The other tribe was the Ha-nau-mo-moko, which had short ears. Though it is assumed that the statues were created by the short-eared tribe, under the command of the long-eared people, portraying the latter, there was also a massacre of the long-eared people in 1760; apparently only three of them survived. The massacre is normally interpreted as a revolt of the short-eared people against their oppressive elite of the long ears."

            Now, how would Coppens know all this?  It seems an incredible stretch that a 1760 massacre could be reported so accurately, when no system of writing from the island has been preserved, except for one wooden tablet now on display in the British Museum.  Out of curiosity, I Googled Roggeveen 1722 log, and found a translation of the Admiral's writing, none of which conforms to description in the paragraph above.  Two tribes are not mentioned, although the stretched earlobes are described.  The visit was short, with 134 crewmen brought ashore among the thousands of islanders, and perhaps because of the thievery of the natives  who surrounded the men, a dozen or two of them were shot.

      What the log reports about the statues is limited to this portion:  "What the form of worship of these people comprises we were not able to gather any full knowledge of, owing to the shortness of our stay among them; we noticed only that they kindle fire in front of certain remarkably tall stone figures they set up; and, thereafter squatting on their heels with heads bowed down, they bring the palms of their hands together and alternately raise and lower them. At first, these stone figures caused us to be filled with wonder, for we could not understand how it was possible that people who are destitute of heavy or thick timber, and also of stout cordage, out of which to construct gear, had been able to erect them; nevertheless some of these statues were a good 30 feet in height and broad in proportion.  This perplexity ceased, however, with the discovery, on removing a piece of the stone, that they were formed out of clay or some kind of rich earth, and that small smooth flints had been stuck over afterwards, which are fitted very closely and neatly to each other, so as to make up the semblance of a human figure. Moreover, one saw reaching downwards from the shoulders a slight elevation or prominence which represented the arms, for all the statues seem to convey the idea that they were hung about with a long robe from the neck right down to the soles of the feet. They have on the head a basket heaped up with flints painted white deposited in it."

            We will have to make our own conclusions.  But for those, you, dear reader, will have to wait.

Charlie and Roger

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