My Planet Experience
Ahu Akivi - Easter Island, Chile
The mystery Easter Island - Rapa Nui, the Polynesian name - is a small volcanic island in the South Pacific Ocean and one of the most isolated places on earth.
Easter Island bears witness to a unique cultural phenomenon. From the 10th to the 16th century, a society of Polynesian origin that settled there c. A.D. 300, built shrines and erected enormous stone figures known as moai , which created an unrivalled cultural landscape that continues to fascinate people throughout the world.
The enigmatic Ahu Akivi, also called “7 moai”, that look into the faraway ocean (unlike the rest of the statues that always face the island in order to protect the clans with their Mana). Nobody knows with certainty the exact role of this ceremonial place, though many believe it was used by the island’s astronomists. The moai are lined up with their back to the eastern sun, oriented according to the solar line of the equinox. A minute ahu observes them from the other side of the plain.
The ahu were usually built close to the beaches, very few were constructed inland like Ahu Akivi.
Ahu Akivi - Easter Island, Chile
The mystery Easter Island - Rapa Nui, the Polynesian name - is a small volcanic island in the South Pacific Ocean and one of the most isolated places on earth.
Easter Island bears witness to a unique cultural phenomenon. From the 10th to the 16th century, a society of Polynesian origin that settled there c. A.D. 300, built shrines and erected enormous stone figures known as moai , which created an unrivalled cultural landscape that continues to fascinate people throughout the world.
The enigmatic Ahu Akivi, also called “7 moai”, that look into the faraway ocean (unlike the rest of the statues that always face the island in order to protect the clans with their Mana). Nobody knows with certainty the exact role of this ceremonial place, though many believe it was used by the island’s astronomists. The moai are lined up with their back to the eastern sun, oriented according to the solar line of the equinox. A minute ahu observes them from the other side of the plain.
The ahu were usually built close to the beaches, very few were constructed inland like Ahu Akivi.