Moai

Yesterday, hiking along the Earthquake Trail in Point Reyes, Bob T and I ran across this human head carved from rock. To say that we were taken aback would be an understatement. I rushed home and,  doing some research on the Internet, was able to figure out the origin of the head. All that remains to be researched is how the head got from the Easter Islands to the San Andreas Fault in Point Reyes. Could the 1906 quake, which measured 7.8 on the Richter Scale, have transported the sculpture half way across the world? Hard to imagine, but if you have a better explanation, let me know.

 

 

 

Moai (or mo'ai) (IPA: /ˈmoʊ.аɪ/) are monolithic human figures carved from rock on the Polynesian island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) between 1250 and 1500 CE. Nearly half are still at Rano Raraku, the main Moai quarry, but hundreds were transported from there and set on stone platforms called Ahu around the island's perimeter. Almost all Moai have overly large heads three-fifths the size of their bodies. The Moai are chiefly the 'living faces' (aringa ora) of deified ancestors.