Rano Raraku: ~400 Moai statues carved from volcanic tuff from the slopes of Terevaka volcano. This quarry served as both workshop and source—slabs were cut, shaped, and likely moved down natural slopes to transport them across the island.
Rano Raraku: Moai quarry with 400 statues, 300,000-year-old volcanic stone
Chile, Easter IslandGeneral
Key facts
- Rano Raraku is home to roughly 400 Moai statues, the primary quarry on Easter Island
- The volcanic stone used is more than 300,000 years old, called Lapil Tough
- Archaeologists still don't know why this area was used both as a quarry and workshop
- The site shows clear examples of Moai pieces being carved directly into the mountainside
- Slabs were cut, shaped, and slid down natural slopes to transport them across the island
- Possible tsunami or debris flow may have affected the quarry area between Moai carving and discovery
- A 1960 earthquake toppled one Moai, pushing it hundreds of feet inland
Site mentioned
Sources
Rano Raraku - The Quarry - The Road Lance Traveledtheroadlancetraveled.com
All were human heads-on-torsos carved in the male form from rough hardened volcanic ash. The largest one erected was 33 feet high and weighed 90 ...
Rano Raraku - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Rano Raraku is a volcanic crater formed of consolidated volcanic ash, or tuff, and located on the lower slopes of Terevaka in the Rapa Nui National Park on ...
Rano Raraku, moai statue quarry - Easter Island Traveleasterisland.travel
Rano Raraku is the legendary moai quarry with hundreds of abandoned statues scattered around. Learn about it here!
The Easter Island Statues: How the Moai Were Made - ThoughtCothoughtco.com
The main bodies of most of the moai statues at Easter Island were sculpted out of the volcanic tuff from the Rano Raraku quarry, the remains of ...
New 3D reconstruction reveals how Rapa Nui's iconic moai were ...archaeologymag.com
A new high-resolution 3D model of Rano Raraku reveals how Rapa Nui's moai were carved and offers fresh insights into ancient production ...
Was this story useful?
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.