The 8 Things you did not know about Easter Island

1. The Moais are more than just heads

Under tons of earth, the heads conceal complete bodies with feet and hands.

2. The "mysterious" Moai sunk

That moai that is underwater  on Easter Island, and that many dream of photographing, is not real. Actually, it was released there by Kevin Costner. The actor produced a movie called "Rapa Nui" in 1994, which took place on the island, but eventually was not carried out, so they left the moai under water.

3. Why is it called Easter Island

This volcanic island received the name for which it is world-renowned, because Jakob Roggeveen, the Dutch navigator who discovered it in 1722, did so on the eve of Easter. The people of the island, who inhabit it since 300 A.D., they still call him by his original name, Rapa Nui .

4. The third name

Before being called Rapa Nui, the mysterious island was called "Te Pito O Te Henua", which translates as "The navel of the world".

5. The Language

The original language of Easter Island is VanagaRapanui, a language with a Polynesian root, as well as Tahitian and Hawaiian. Although the language, with which Easter Island most has in common, is with the Maori, spoken by the natives of New Zealand.

6. The origin

The oral tradition, and also the most accepted version today, tells that King HotuMatu'a arrived on Easter Island, from the mythical island Hiva, possibly in the Marquesas Islands, sometime between the sixth and eighth centuries AD.

7. What the moais were made for

According to oral tradition, the moai were made to represent the ancestors, rulers or important ancestors of the Rapa Nui, who after death had the ability to extend their "mana" or spiritual power over the tribe to protect it. For this reason it is also that the stone giants always look towards the earth and not towards the sea.

8. How many moais are there on the island

On the island there are 900 stone statues, of which 400 are in the RanoRaraku quarry.

Did you know that moai had bodies?