World’s Greatest Mysteries – Season 2 – Episode 5: Easter Island Monuments: Native Craftsmen Or Other Worldly Creations?

Famous for its 1,000 distinctive monumental statues, called moai, Easter Island is one of the most isolated places on Earth. A special territory of the nation of Chile, the 63 square mile island is a remote volcanic rock in the Pacific Ocean at the southeastern most point of the Polynesian triangle. Almost totally cutoff from the rest of the world, the native Rapanui created the only written Polynesian language and structured a complex society. By far the most unusual feature of the island, though are the moai. Carved by hand out of volcanic rock using only stone chisels, these massive 80 ton monolithic stone statures were somehow transported several miles and arranged in rows on raised platforms. This informative television program looks at how the Rapanui people created the statues, moved them into place, and stood them upright.