A new moai was found in the bed of a dried-up lagoon in a volcanic crater, one of Easter Island’s iconic statues, the indigenous community that administers the site on the Chilean island has said.
“This moai has great potential for scientific and naturalistic study, it is a truly unique find as it is the first time that a moai has been discovered inside a lagoon in the Rano Raraku crater,” the Maui Henua indigenous community said Tuesday in a statement.
The statue was found on 21 February by a team of scientific volunteers from three Chilean universities collaborating on a project to restore wetlands in the crater of the Rano Raraku volcano.
Many moai in that area suffered burns in the October wildfires on the island, which is also known as Rapa Nui and lies some 3,500 kilometers (2,175 mi) off the west coast of Chile.
“This moai is in the center of a lagoon that began to dry up in 2018,” Ninoska Awareipua Huiki Cuadros, director of the Maui Henua indigenous community that administers Rapa Nui National Park, where the volcano is located, told AFP.
“Interestingly, for at least the last 200 or 300 years, the lagoon was three meters deep, which means no humans could have left the moai at that time,” said Huqi, who is also the provincial chief. There is a local branch of the National Forestry Corporation, which is assisting in the restoration of marshlands.
Moai are distinctive monolithic carved stone figures with long faces and no legs that were excavated mostly from tuff, a type of volcanic ash, at Rano Raraku volcano.
This moai is 1.6 m (5 ft and 3 in) tall and was found lying on its side, looking up at the sky.
“It is a complete body with recognizable features but no clear definition,” said Maui Henua’s statement, adding that the group is seeking funding to conduct more in-depth studies on the find.
However, Huki said that “there are no plans to remove the moai from where they are.”
He said, “You have to ask the whole Rapa Nui community what they want to do with the moai, and the oldest people want it to remain there.”
Rano Raraku volcano and its moai are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Easter Island was long inhabited by Polynesian peoples before it was taken over by Chile in 1888.