Easter Islanders raising a Moai into place (from Aku-Aku) - General Tiki

KM Kilty McTiki Member Columbus, OH Joined: Feb 05, 2007 Posts: 11	KM Kilty McTiki Posted posted on Thu, Feb 8, 2007 10:09 AM I don't know how many of you watch the History Channel's excellent show "Digging For The Truth," but in the first season they did an episode on the Giants of Easter Island. History Channel does a lot of reruns so you can keep an eye out for them showing this again, or you can buy the video of the episode on their website. The take they had on the moving of the Moai was a bit different than this one. Here's the host's take on it from his podcast (which was shown during the show): http://www.history.com/minisites/diggingforthetruth/viewPage?pageId=652 Making and Moving the Moai: "JosÃ© shows me how to carve the soft volcanic tuff into a Moai, and it's fascinating. Within hours the face begins to appear, and I can see how an artist would take great pleasure and pride in creating a monument to honor the ancestors. But making the Moai, while time-consuming, isn't much of a mystery. MOVING them is. Sergio Rapu explains that the backs of the Moai were shaped like canoes, enabling them to slide down from the quarry to the flatland below. Once there, the bottoms of the Moai (what we'd consider the feet) were rounded a bit to enable the Moai to 'walk'â€”they'd wobble the statue from side to side much like we move cabinets or refrigerators today. Using long enough ropes and a trained team, a transport specialist would oversee the movement of these megalithic statues across miles of established roads. Walking along these roads, it's very obvious to me that this was a major productionâ€”hundreds of Moai are either at the quarry awaiting completion, at the base of the quarry awaiting transport, or on the roads in the middle of their journey. And having tried to move a mini-Moai using both the horizontal (wooden beams) and vertical (walking) methods, I agree with Sergio that vertical is easier and more likely. It also explains the fallen Moai much more accurately, since they are almost all face-down in the earth with their feet toward the quarry." If you have the opportunity to watch this episode I highly recommend it.

I don't know how many of you watch the History Channel's excellent show "Digging For The Truth," but in the first season they did an episode on the Giants of Easter Island.

History Channel does a lot of reruns so you can keep an eye out for them showing this again, or you can buy the video of the episode on their website.

The take they had on the moving of the Moai was a bit different than this one. Here's the host's take on it from his podcast (which was shown during the show):

http://www.history.com/minisites/diggingforthetruth/viewPage?pageId=652

Making and Moving the Moai: "JosÃ© shows me how to carve the soft volcanic tuff into a Moai, and it's fascinating. Within hours the face begins to appear, and I can see how an artist would take great pleasure and pride in creating a monument to honor the ancestors. But making the Moai, while time-consuming, isn't much of a mystery. MOVING them is. Sergio Rapu explains that the backs of the Moai were shaped like canoes, enabling them to slide down from the quarry to the flatland below. Once there, the bottoms of the Moai (what we'd consider the feet) were rounded a bit to enable the Moai to 'walk'â€”they'd wobble the statue from side to side much like we move cabinets or refrigerators today. Using long enough ropes and a trained team, a transport specialist would oversee the movement of these megalithic statues across miles of established roads. Walking along these roads, it's very obvious to me that this was a major productionâ€”hundreds of Moai are either at the quarry awaiting completion, at the base of the quarry awaiting transport, or on the roads in the middle of their journey. And having tried to move a mini-Moai using both the horizontal (wooden beams) and vertical (walking) methods, I agree with Sergio that vertical is easier and more likely. It also explains the fallen Moai much more accurately, since they are almost all face-down in the earth with their feet toward the quarry."

If you have the opportunity to watch this episode I highly recommend it.

Post #284143 by Kilty McTiki on Thu, Feb 8, 2007 10:09 AM