Answers to the so-called mysteries of the moai on Easter Island are hidden in plain sight

10:37

April 15, 2022

Felix Poon, Outside/In

15 moai standing watch at Tongariki on Easter Island. The largest moai on the 720-foot-long platform weighs 97 tons. The site was restored between 1992 and 1996 at a cost of over $2 million, paid for by the Japanese government(Karen Schwartz/AP)

It's been 300 years since European explorers landed on a South Pacific island on Easter Sunday — and named it Easter Island.

Upon discovering the massive rock sculptures, called moai, several Western theories were born about them and the people who created them. But the people native to the island have long revealed details about the moai that negate those theories.

Felix Poon of the podcast "Outside/In" from New Hampshire Public Radio explains.

Listen to the full episode here.

This segment aired on April 15, 2022.

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