“A truly unique discovery.” The Chilean island of 163 square kilometers still keeps secrets. A new moai, these characteristic statues of Easter Island, has been discovered in a dry lagoon of the crater of a volcano in this territory of the Pacific Ocean. The news was announced by the indigenous community in charge of the administration of the national park of the island.
“This is the first time that a moai has been discovered inside the Rano Raraku crater lake”, assures in a press release the Ma’u Henua community, which manages the Rapa Nui national park where the volcano is located, believing that this discovery could open new perspectives on the history of the island. The moai was discovered on February 21 by a team of scientists from three Chilean universities who are collaborating with the National Forestry Corporation (Conaf) to recover a wetland located in the Rano Raraku crater, affected by a fire last October. .
A dry lagoon
“This moai sits in the center of a lagoon that began to dry up in 2018”, explained Ninoska Avareipua Huki Cuadros, director of the Ma’u Henua indigenous community. But the mystery of the find persists: “What’s interesting is that, at least for the past 200 or 300 years, the lagoon has been three meters deep, so no human being could have left that moai there.”
The moai, which measures 1.60 meters, was discovered lying on its side, “with a full body and recognizable but not clearly defined features,” indicates the Ma’u Henua community, which says to be “seeking funding to conduct an in-depth study of this discovery”.
Isolated in the middle of the Pacific, 3,500 km from the Chilean coast, Easter Island, of Polynesian culture, is world famous for its impressive megaliths of mysterious origin, listed as World Heritage by Unesco. Some statues can reach 20 meters in height and weigh up to 80 tons.