Moai in Chile are the silent idols of Easter Island. Easter Island and its silent idols Stone faces on Easter Island

When did the statues on Easter Island appear and what are they called? Were they created by ordinary people or aliens from outer space? For what purposes were the stone sculptures installed? Many historians dream of giving accurate answers to these questions.

The legend says…

There is no consensus on how the idols appeared on the island either among historians or folklorists. One of the legends says that the leader of the Hotu Matu'a clan arrived on this island in search of a new land. After his death, a piece of land was divided among the children, and then other descendants of the discoverer. The inhabitants of the island are confident that the stone statues contain special energy that belonged to their ancestors. The statues are considered a kind of talisman of the island. They attract well-being and prosperity.

In the 50s of the last century, the Norwegian traveler Thor Heyerdahl presented his version of the appearance of the statues. Their creators were named representatives of the “long-eared” tribe. These people received this nickname because they pulled back their ears with the help of heavy jewelry. The “Long Ears” kept the secrets of constructing and moving stone faces. The main population of the island - the “short-eared” - were not privy to these secrets, which forced people to come up with all sorts of myths.

Mysterious moai

Not everyone knows the names of the statues on Easter Island. Their name is moai (“idol”, “statue”). The stone sculptures did not appear at the same time:

  • Early period. Idols from this period can be divided into 4 types. Among them there are specimens made in full growth, as well as those without bodies. Some moai depict people sitting on their knees.
  • Middle period. The statues erected at this time are considered an improved version of earlier statues. The stone faces are unnaturally elongated. This elongation is due to the desire to create a taller figure. It was once believed that moai reproduced the faces of Europeans. However, if you look at the idols more closely, you will notice that before us are the faces of the inhabitants of Polynesia. This is evidenced by the wide Asian noses of the idols.

An educated person needs to know not only the names of the statues on Easter Island. It is also important to have information about the creators of this unique monument. A well-known proverb states that it is better to see once than to hear a hundred times. A trip to the island will help you get to know the stone idols better.

Location: Chile, Easter Island
Manufactured: between 1250 - 1500
Coordinates: 27°07"33.7"S 109°16"37.2"W

Easter Island is lost in the Pacific Ocean at a distance of 4000 km from Chile. The closest neighbors - the inhabitants of Pitcairn Island - live 2000 km away.

It is no coincidence that Easter Island received its unusual name: it was discovered by a Dutch navigator on Easter Sunday morning, April 5, 1722. The island's landscapes include extinct volcanoes, mountains, hills and meadows. There are no rivers here; the main source of fresh water is rainwater accumulating in the craters of volcanoes. The Easter Islanders call their island the “Navel of the Earth” (Te-Pito-te-henua). This secluded and isolated corner from the rest of the world attracts scientists, mystics, and lovers of secrets and riddles.

First of all, Easter Island is famous for its giant stone statues in the form of a human head, they are called “moai”. Silent idols weighing up to 200 tons and up to 12 meters high stand with their backs to the ocean. A total of 997 statues have been discovered on Easter Island. All moai are monolithic. Craftsmen carved them from soft volcanic tuff (pumice) in a quarry on the slopes of the Rano Roraku volcano. Some of the statues are moved to the ritual platform (ahu) and are complemented by a red stone cap (pukau). According to scientists, moai once had eyes: the whites were made of coral, and the pupils were made of sparkling pieces of volcanic glass.

Obviously, installing the statues required a huge amount of labor. According to legend, the idols walked on their own. However, hypotheses confirmed by scientific experiments prove that the moai were moved by the inhabitants of the island and no one else, but it has not yet been determined exactly how they did it. In 1956, Norwegian traveler Thor Heyerdahl experimented with moving a moai statue, hiring a team of Easter Island natives who successfully reproduced all the stages of making and installing the moai.

Armed with stone axes, the natives carved out a 12-ton statue, and, grabbing the ropes, began to pull it along the ground. And in order not to damage the fragile giant, the islanders made wooden sleds that prevented it from rubbing on the ground. With the help of wooden levers and stones placed under the base of the statue, it was placed on a platform-pedestal.

In 1986, Czech explorer P. Pavel, together with Thor Heyerdahl, organized an additional test in which a group of 17 natives raised a 20-ton statue into a vertical position quite quickly using ropes.

"A petrified world with its petrified inhabitants"

The settlement of Easter Island began in 300-400 by immigrants from Eastern Polynesia. According to another version, proposed by Thor Heyerdahl, the first inhabitants of the island were immigrants from Ancient Peru. Having crossed the Pacific Ocean from the shores of South America to Polynesia on the wooden raft Kon-Tiki, the Norwegian scientist proved that even in the conditions of ancient civilization, the American Indians could overcome large expanses of water.

The indigenous population of Easter Island belonged to two tribes - the “long-eared”, who created the moai, and the “short-eared”. “Long-eared” got their name because they wore heavy jewelry in their ears, sometimes so large that the lobes were pulled down to the shoulders. The Paschals believed that the stone sculptures contained the supernatural power of their clan, called “mana.” At first, the long-eared and short-eared lived in peace and harmony with each other, but their later history was marked by a series of brutal wars caused by food shortages.

Due to the drought, harvests were declining, and there were not enough trees to make boats from which to fish. Now the moai were identified with the image of the enemy, and the statues were destroyed by rival tribes. There are many theories regarding the purpose of the moai. Perhaps these were island gods depicted in stone, or portraits of the leaders who ruled the island. According to Thor Heyerdahl, the statues depict white Indians who arrived on the island from Latin America. During the era of cultural flourishing (XVI-XVII centuries), up to 20 thousand people lived on Easter Island.

After the arrival of Europeans, the population declined and many Paschals were taken to Peru for hard labor. Today the island is inhabited by about 4,000 people. The living conditions of the islanders have improved significantly, an airport has been built, and tourists bring in a small income. But Easter Island still seems deserted, as during the time of Thor Heyerdahl’s explorations, when the Norwegian saw “some kind of petrified world with its petrified inhabitants.”

Our planet is only revealing its secrets to humanity. How many corners of it still remain to be visited and explored? How many amazing discoveries will be made in the foreseeable future? It is very difficult to give a definite answer to all these questions. At almost every step, we all come across amazing phenomena and occurrences, which thousands of scientists around the world are trying in vain to explain. Unusual finds that are scattered across the globe are just waiting for their “finest hour” to reveal their true nature and purpose.

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Read our article on how to get to Easter Island.

Today I propose to go together to one of the most unusual islands - Easter Island, which belongs to the Latin American state of Chile. It was here that amazing giants made of stone - monolithic Moai statues - first appeared before the discoverers of distant lands. They are officially known as the Easter Island idols. It is believed that the statues were created by the Aborigines who inhabited the island. The stone sculptures date back to the 10th-15th centuries. In addition, the island is simply “teeming” with interesting finds in the form of ancient caves, grooved alleys that go somewhere into the ocean. All this indicates that the island was once the center of a nation unknown to archaeologists with unusual traditions and unique customs. Interested? Still would!


Not every one of us knows why the island received such an unusual name. The first impression that the name is tied to a famous holiday turns out to be correct. The island was first visited by Europeans in 1722. It was in this year that a ship from Holland under the command of Jacob Roggeveen dropped anchor off the coast of a distant Pacific island. Since overseas lands were discovered just at the time of Easter celebrations, the island received the appropriate name.

It was here that some of the most impressive man-made phenomena of all civilization were discovered - the Moai stone statues. Thanks to the stone statues, the island has become famous throughout the world and is rightfully considered one of the main tourist centers in the Southern Hemisphere.

Purpose of statues

Since the statues appeared on the island in ancient times, their size and shape evoked thoughts of extraterrestrial origin. Although it was still possible to establish that the statues were created by local tribes that once inhabited the island. Despite the fact that several centuries have passed since the discovery of the island, scientists have still not been able to unravel the true purpose of the stone giants. They were assigned the role of tombstones and places for worshiping pagan gods, they were even considered as real monuments to famous islanders.

The first descriptions of the Dutch navigator help to form a definite impression of the significance of the statues. For example, the discoverer noted in his diary that the aborigines lit fires and prayed near the statues. But the most surprising thing was that the aborigines were not distinguished by a developed culture and could not boast of certain achievements in construction or any advanced technologies even for that time. Accordingly, a completely logical question arose about how these tribes, living according to primitive customs, were able to create such amazing statues.

Numerous researchers have made the most unusual assumptions. Initially, it was believed that the statues were made of clay or were even brought from the mainland. But soon all these guesses were refuted. The statues turned out to be completely monolithic. Skilled authors created their masterpieces directly from rock fragments using primitive tools.

Only after the famous navigator Cook visited the island, who was accompanied by a Polynesian who understood the language of the island’s aborigines, did it become known that the stone sculptures were not dedicated to the gods at all. They were installed in honor of the rulers of ancient tribes.

How the statues were created

As already mentioned, the statues were hewn out of monolithic rock fragments in a volcanic quarry. The work on creating unique giants began with the face, gradually moving to the sides and arms. All statues are made in the form of long busts without legs. When the Moai were ready, they were transported to the installation site and placed on a stone pedestal. But how these multi-ton giants moved from the quarry of the volcano to the stone pedestals over a huge distance is still the main mystery of Easter Island. Just imagine how much force it could take to deliver a 5-meter stone giant, the average weight of which reached 5 tons! And sometimes there were statues more than 10 meters in height and weighing more than 10 tons.

Every time humanity encounters something inexplicable, a lot of legends are born. This happened this time too. According to local legends, the huge statues were once able to walk. Having reached the island, they lost this amazing ability and remained here forever. But this is nothing more than a colorful legend. Another legend says that the untold wealth of the Incas was hidden inside each statue. In pursuit of easy money, antiquity hunters and “black archaeologists” destroyed more than one statue. But nothing but disappointment awaited them inside.

Has the mystery been solved?

Not long ago, a group of American scientists who were studying ancient giants announced that they were close to solving the Moai statues. Researchers claim that the statues were transported in groups using primitive lifting mechanisms, huge carts and even large animals. Since the statue was transported in a vertical position, from a distance it seemed as if the stone block was moving on its own.

Tourism

From the very moment when tourism began to develop at a crazy pace, when the popularity of this type of active recreation and spending time gained enormous popularity among exotic lovers and simply curious citizens, Easter Island became a real place of excitement. Thousands come from all over the world to look at the amazing stone statues. Each statue is unique and has its own unique decoration, shape and size. Many of them have bizarrely shaped headdresses. By the way, hats differ in color. And, as we found out, they were manufactured elsewhere.

Mounted on special pedestals, these silent creations of human hands evoke sincere admiration from everyone who is lucky enough to see them with their own eyes. They seem to peer with their “dead eyes” deep into the island or into the blue expanse of the ocean. If they could talk, how many interesting things could they tell about the lives of their creators? How many secrets could be comprehended without suffering from numerous guesses?

The most popular place to visit is the Tongariki platform. 15 statues of different sizes were placed on the stone base. The statues have preserved many traces of civil wars and other destructive events to which the island was subjected. There is information that in 1960, a monstrous tsunami hit the island, which threw stone sculptures 100 meters deep into the island. Residents managed to recreate the platform on their own.

Finding the platform is not difficult. It is located in close proximity to the Rano Raraku volcano, which became their deposit. Taking a photo among the giant Moai is the sacred duty of every tourist visiting the Chilean island. According to “experienced photo hunters,” the best time for photo sessions is sunset and dawn. In the rays of the sun, stone giants appear in a different, unusual beauty.

Just the sight of these stone giants evokes awe and respect for their creators, makes you think about your life and your true place in the Universe. The giants of Easter Island are one of the most mysterious creations, the secret of which we all have yet to learn. They came to us from the quarry of a volcano and carry with them a still unknown mystery for thousands of centuries.

How to get there

Unfortunately, getting to Easter Island is very problematic even today. Although there are two simple methods - air and water - they are still quite expensive. The first method will require you to purchase a ticket on a scheduled plane. You can fly from the capital of Chile, Santiago. The flight will take at least 5 hours. You can also get to Easter Island by cruise ship or yacht. Many tourist ships that pass off the coast of the island happily call at the local port, providing their passengers with a unique opportunity to touch the long history of the mysterious island.

Easter Island is the most remote inhabited piece of land in the world. Its area is only 165.6 square kilometers. Belongs to the island of Chile. But the nearest mainland city of this country, Valparaiso, is 3,703 kilometers away. And there are no other islands nearby, in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean. The nearest inhabited land is located 1819 kilometers away. This is Pitcairn Island. It is famous for the fact that the rebellious crew of the Bounty ship wanted to stay on it. Lost in the vastness of Easter, it holds many secrets. Firstly, it is not clear where the first people came there from. They could not explain anything to the Europeans about this. But the most mysterious mysteries of Easter Island are its stone idols. They are installed along the entire coastline. The natives called them moai, but could not clearly explain who they were. In this article, we tried to summarize the results of all recent scientific discoveries in order to unravel the mysteries that shrouded the most remote land plot from civilization.

History of Easter Island

On April 5, 1722, the sailors of a squadron of three ships under the command of the Dutch navigator Jacob Roggeveen saw land on the horizon that had not yet been marked on the map. When they approached the eastern coast of the island, they saw that it was inhabited. The natives swam towards them, and their ethnic composition amazed the Dutch. Among them were Caucasians, Negroids and representatives of the Polynesian race. The Dutch were immediately struck by the primitiveness of the technical equipment of the islanders. Their boats were riveted from pieces of wood and leaked water so much that half the people in the canoe bailed it out, while the rest rowed. The landscape of the island was more than dull. Not a single tree towered on it - only rare bushes. Roggeveen wrote in his diary: “The desolate appearance of the island and the exhaustion of the natives suggest the barrenness of the land and extreme poverty.” But most of all the captain was shocked by the stone idols. With such a primitive civilization and meager resources, how did the natives have the strength to carve so many heavy statues from stone and bring them to the shore? The captain had no answer to this question. Since the island was discovered on the day of the Resurrection of Christ, it received the name Easter. But the natives themselves called it Rapa Nui.

Where did the first inhabitants of Easter Island come from?

This is the first riddle. Now over five thousand people live on the 24-kilometer-long island. But when the first Europeans landed on the shore, there were significantly fewer natives. And in 1774, the navigator Cook counted only seven hundred islanders on the island, emaciated from hunger. But at the same time, among the natives there were representatives of all three human races. Many theories have been put forward about the origin of the population of Rapa Nui: Egyptian, Mesoamerican and even completely mythical, that the islanders are survivors of the collapse of Atlantis. But modern DNA analysis shows that the first Rapanui people landed ashore around the year 400 and most likely came from Eastern Polynesia. This is evidenced by their language, which is close to the dialects of the inhabitants of the Marquesas and Hawaiian Islands.

Development and decline of civilization

The first thing that caught the eye of the discoverers were the stone idols of Easter Island. But the earliest sculpture dates back to 1250, and the latest (unfinished, remaining in the quarry) - to 1500. It is not clear how the native civilization developed from the fifth to the thirteenth centuries. Perhaps, at a certain stage, the islanders moved from a tribal society to clan military alliances. Legends (very contradictory and fragmentary) tell of the leader Hotu Matu'a, who was the first to set foot on Rapa Nui and brought all the inhabitants with him. He had six sons, who divided the island after his death. Thus, the clans began to have their own ancestor, whose statue they tried to make larger, more massive and more representative than that of the neighboring tribe. But what was the reason why the Rapa Nui stopped carving and erecting their monuments at the beginning of the sixteenth century? This was discovered only by modern research. And this story can become instructive for all humanity.

Ecological disaster on a small scale

Let's leave aside the idols of Easter Island for now. They were sculpted by the distant ancestors of those wild natives who were found by the expeditions of Roggeveen and Cook. But what influenced the decline of the once rich civilization? After all, the ancient Rapa Nui even had writing. By the way, the texts of the found tablets have not yet been deciphered. Scientists have only recently given an answer to what happened to this civilization. Her death was not quick due to a volcanic eruption, as Cook assumed. She agonized for centuries. Modern studies of soil layers have shown that the island was once covered with lush vegetation. The forests abounded in game. The ancient Rapa Nui people practiced agriculture, growing yams, taro, sugar cane, sweet potatoes and bananas. They went to sea in good boats made from a hollowed-out palm tree trunk and hunted dolphins. DNA analysis of food found on pottery shards indicates that the ancient islanders ate well. And this idyll was destroyed by people themselves. The forests were gradually cut down. The islanders were left without their fleet, and therefore without the meat of ocean fish and dolphins. They have already eaten all the animals and birds. The only food left for the Rapa Nui people was crabs and shellfish, which they collected in shallow waters.

Easter Island: Moai Statues

The natives could not really say anything about how the stone idols weighing several tons were made and, most importantly, how they were delivered to the shore. They called them “moai” and believed that they contained “mana” - the spirit of the ancestors of a certain clan. The more idols, the greater the concentration of supernatural power. And this leads to the prosperity of the clan. Therefore, when in 1875 the French removed one of the Easter Island moai statues to take it to a Paris museum, the Rapa Nui had to be restrained by force of arms. But, as research has shown, about 55% of all idols were not transported to special platforms - “ahu”, but remained standing (many in the stage of primary processing) in a quarry on the slope of the Rano Raraku volcano.

Art style

In total, there are more than 900 sculptures on the island. They are classified by scientists chronologically and by style. The early period is characterized by stone heads without a torso, with the face turned upward, as well as pillars where the torso is made in a very stylized manner. But there are also exceptions. Thus, a very realistic figure of a kneeling moai was found. But she remained standing in the ancient quarry. In the Middle Period, the idols of Easter Island became giants. Most likely, the clans competed with each other, trying to show that their mana was more powerful. Artistic decoration in the Middle period is more sophisticated. The bodies of the idols are covered with carvings depicting clothes and wings, and the moai often have huge cylindrical caps made of red tuff placed on their heads.

Transportation

No less a mystery than the Easter Island idols, the secret of their movement to the ahu platforms remained. The natives claimed that the moai themselves came there. The truth turned out to be more prosaic. In the lowest (more ancient) layers of the soil, scientists discovered the remains of an endemic tree that is related to the wine palm. It grew up to 26 meters, and its smooth trunks without branches reached a diameter of 1.8 m. The tree served as an excellent material for rolling sculptures from quarries to the shore, where they were installed on platforms. To hoist the idols, they used ropes that were woven from the bast of the hauhau tree. The environmental disaster also explains the fact why more than half of the sculptures ended up “stuck” in the quarries.

Short-eared and long-eared

Modern residents of Rapa Nui no longer have religious reverence for the moai, but consider them their cultural heritage. In the mid-50s of the last century, a researcher revealed the secret of who created the idols of Easter Island. He noticed that Rapa Nui was inhabited by two types of tribes. One of them had his earlobes lengthened since childhood by wearing heavy jewelry. The leader of this clan, Pedro Atana, told Thor Heyrdal that in their family, the ancestors passed on to their descendants the art of creating the status of moai and transporting them by dragging them to the installation site. This craft was kept secret from the “short-eared” and was passed on orally. At Heyerdahl's request, Atana and numerous assistants from his clan carved a 12-ton statue in a quarry and delivered it upright to the platform.

Or the tuffite of the Rano Raraku volcano quarry ( Rano Raraku). It is possible that some of the statues come from deposits of other volcanoes, which contain similar stone and are closer to the installation sites. There is no such material on the Poike Peninsula. Therefore, few small statues there are made from local rocks. Several small statues are made of another stone: 22 - from trachyte; 17 - from red basaltic pumice of the Ohio volcano, in Anakena Bay, and from other deposits; 13 - from basalt; 1 - from mujerite of Rano Kao volcano. The latter is a particularly revered 2.42 m tall statue from the cult site of Orongo, known as Hoa Haka Nana Ia ( Hoa Hakananai'a) . Since 1868 it has been in the British Museum. The round pukao (hair bun) cylinders on the heads of the statues are made from basalt pumice from the Puna Pao volcano.

Ahu Tongariki

Size and weight

In many publications, the weight of the moai is greatly overestimated. This is due to the fact that for the calculations, basalt itself is taken (volumetric mass about 3-3.2 g/cm³), and not those light basalt rocks listed above (less than 1.4 g/cm³, rarely 1.7 g/cm³). cm³). Small trachyte, basalt and mujerite statues are indeed made of hard and heavy material.

The usual size of a moai is 3-5 m. The average width of the base is 1.6 m. The average weight of such statues is less than 5 tons (although weights are indicated at 12.5-13.8 tons). Less commonly, the height of the statues is 10-12 m. No more than 30-40 statues weigh more than 10 tons.

The tallest of the newly installed ones is the Paro Moai ( Paro) na ahu Te-Pito-Te-Kura ( Ahu Te Pito Te Kura), 9.8 m high. And the heaviest of the same category is the moai on ahu Tongariki. Their weight, as is customary, is greatly overestimated (82 and 86 tons, respectively). Although all such statues are now easily installed by a 15-ton crane.

The tallest statues are on the outer slope of the Rano Raraku volcano. Of these, the largest is Piropiro, 11.4 m.

In general, the largest statue is El Gigante, measuring about 21 m (according to various sources - 20.9 m, 21.6 m, 21.8 m, 69 feet). They give an approximate weight of 145-165 tons and 270 tons. It is located in a quarry and is not separated from the base.

The weight of stone cylinders is no more than 500-800 kg, less often 1.5-2 tons. Although, for example, a cylinder 2.4 m high in Moai Paro is overestimated and is estimated to weigh 11.5 tons.

Location

Almost half or 45% of all moai (394 or 397) remained in Rano Raraku. Some were not completely cut down, but others were installed on stone-lined platforms on the outer and inner slopes of the crater. Moreover, 117 of them are located on the internal slope. All these moai remained unfinished or did not have time to be sent to another place. Later they were buried by colluvium from the slope of the volcano. The remaining statues were installed on ahu ceremonial and funerary platforms around the island's perimeter, or their transportation was never completed. There are now 255 ahus. Ranging in length from a few meters to 160 m, they could accommodate from one small statue to an impressive row of giants. The largest of them, Ahu Tongariki, has 15 moai. Less than a fifth of all statues were installed on ahu. Unlike the statues from Rano Raraku, whose gaze is directed down the slope, the moai on the ahu look deep into the island, or more precisely, at the village that once stood in front of them. Many broken and intact statues ended up inside the platforms during their reconstruction. Also, apparently, many are still buried in the ground.

Statue with reconstructed eyes.

Early Moai

Moai Hoa Haka Nana Ia

Moai Hoa Haka Nana Ia

Not all moai mounted on ahu were equipped with red (originally black) pukao cylinders. They were made only where there were pumice deposits on nearby volcanoes.

Watercolor drawing by Pierre Loti dedicated to Miss Sarah Bernhardt. The drawing has the inscription “Easter Island January 7, 1872 at approximately 5 o’clock in the morning: the islanders are watching my sailing. The island depicts moai, stone idols of Easter Island, skulls, ua (Rapanui clubs), as well as the Rapanui people themselves, whose bodies are decorated with tattoos.

Island stones in local terms

They are arranged in the order in which the strength of the rocks decreases.

1) Maea mataa(maea - stone, mataa - tip [Rapanui]) - obsidian.

Maea rengo rengo- chalcedony and flint pebbles.

2) Maea nevhive- black heavy stone (black granite according to W. Thomson), in fact these are trachybasalt xenoliths. He went for big chops.

Maea toki- basaltic xenoliths of basic and ultrabasic rocks included in tuffs and tuff conglomerates. Used for hammers and choppers.

3) Hawaiiite (andesite) basaltic lavas and mujerite (a type of basaltic tuff according to F. P. Krendelev); maybe also trachyte (this is not basalt) - used for several small statues. Most likely, these breeds belong to the “maea pupura”, point 4.

4) Maea pupura- flagstone of andesitic basaltic tuffs, used for the manufacture of fences, house walls and monumental ahu platforms.

5) Maea Matariki- large-block tachylyte basalt tuff or tuffite, which was used to make the bulk of moai statues. The size of the blocks determined the size of the statue.

6) Kirikiri-tea- soft gray basalt tuff, used for making paint.

Maea hane-hane- black, then reddening basalt pumice, used for pukao hairstyles, some statues, in construction, for paints and abrasives.

Pahoehoe- pumice of andesitic basalts (Tahitian).

see also

Notes

Literature

  • Krendelev F. P., Kondratov A. M. Silent guardians of secrets: Mysteries of Easter Island. - Novosibirsk: “Science”, Siberian Branch, 1990. - 181 p. (Series “Man and the Environment”). - ISBN 5-02-029176-5
  • Krendelev F. P. Easter Island. (Geology and problems). - Novosibirsk: “Science”, Siberian branch, 1976.
  • Heyerdahl T. Reports of the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition to Easter Island and the Eastern Pacific Ocean (2 volumes of scientific reports)
  • Heyerdahl T. Easter Island art. - M.: Art, 1982. - 527 p.
  • Heyerdahl T. Easter Island: A Mystery Solved (Random House, 1989)
  • Jo Anne Van Tilburg. Easter Island Archaeology, Ecology and Culture. - London and Washington: D.C. British Museum Press and Smithsonian Institution Press, 1994. -