Description

Rano Raraku (Raraku is the name of a local ancestor spirit) is a caldera located near the island's southeastern corner volcano, Poike, and it served as the primary quarry for the rock carvers of Rapa Nui from the early years of this art. Rano Raraku's superior yellowish volcanic tuff, possessed of a hard surface and an ashlike interior, proved to be sturdy and excellent for carving large statues - the moai. 164 of the statues carved from Rano Raraku stand on the island's Ahus; the quarry provided the only type of stone used for these particular Moai. Out of 887 total moai inventoried on the island, 397 were carved from Rano Raraku tuff. Of these, 40.3% are found on both the exterior and interior slopes of Rano Raraku, and the majority of these are erect or nearly erect. The interior moai face west or northwest, and are largely complete except that they lack eye sockets or carving on their backs. The exterior Moai face south or southwest and are generally of a great size; these were probably not meant for removal to ahus away from the quarry. Currently, Rano Raraku's recognized quarry area is 800 meters long, but was likely much larger in the past.

Moai represent respected ancestors and chiefs, often serving as funerary monuments. With their great size and stately form, they likely served as a type of sacred border between the terrestrial world and the heavens; between life and death. Most Moai are in the form of kneeling, adult male figures with arms tightly to their sides and their hands resting upon their stomachs. Moai height, width, and weight vary widely, averaging around 4 meters (13 feet) tall and weighing 11.33 metric tonnes (12.5 U.S. tons). Though stylistic convention seems to have dictated their basic form so that almost all were dominated by an enormous human head with a prominent, overhanging brow, a long nose, defined and pointed chin, and perforated, distended earlobes. Collectively, these statues were known as Aringa Ora, or "living faces". Many are massive; the largest Moai ever erected on the island (Paro) weighs approximately 74.39 metric tones (82 U.S. tons) and is 9.8 meters (32 feet) tall.

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