Moai Statues (Easter Island)

"The large stone statues, or moai, for which Easter Island is world-famous, were carved during a relatively short and intense burst of creative and productive megalithic activity. A total of 887 monolithic stone statues have been inventoried on the island and in museum collections. Although often identified as "Easter Island heads", the statues are actually complete torsos, the figures kneeling on bent knees with their hands over their stomach. Some upright moai have become buried up to their necks by shifting soils. The period when the statues were produced remains disputed, with estimates ranging from 400 CE to 1500?1700 CE. Almost all (95%) moais were carved out of distinctive, compressed, easily worked volcanic ash or tuff found at a single site inside the extinct volcano Rano Raraku. The native islanders who carved them used only stone hand chisels, mainly basalt toki, which still lay in place all over the quarry. The stone chisels were re-sharpened by chipping off a new edge when dulled. The volcanic stone the moai were carved from was first wetted to soften it before sculpting began, then again periodically during the process. While many teams worked on different statues at the same time, a single moai would take a team of five or six men approximately one year to complete. Each statue represents a deceased long-ear chief or important person, their body interred within the ahu, or coastal platforms, the moai stand upon. Only a quarter of the statues were installed, whle nearly half still remain in the quarry at Rano Raraku and the rest elsewhere on the island, probably on their way to final locations. Moving the huge statues required a miro manga erua, a Y-shaped sledge with cross pieces, pulled with ropes made from the tough bark of the hau-hau tree, and tied fast around the statue's neck. Anywhere from 180 to 250 men were required for pulling, depending on the size of the moai. Some 50 of the now standing statues have been re-erected in modern times. The first moai was re-erected on the beach of Anakena in 1958 using traditional methods during an expedition to the island by Thor Heyerdahl. While the vast majority of moai follow a fairly standard design, a few are radically different, in most parts badly eroded and broken. These are believed to predate the better-known moai, including a kneeling statue with hands on its knees, parts of a statue with clearly carved ribs and a headless, rectangularly shaped torso. Similarities to Indian stone statues around Lake Titicaca in South America are striking, whether this is accidental or not." -Wikipedia

I love mysterious places like this. I wonder what these ancient civilisations really knew and were they as some claim, more advanced than we are today?

The Polynesian colony’s inhabitants are said to have built the easter island statues as an honor to their late ancestors and that they symbolize powerful living or former chiefs. When the statues were completely carved, they were moved to ahu on the coast following a small erection with red stone cylinders (pukao) on their heads. The Easter island today is an open air museum. Though marveloous nad fascinating has lost its culture unfortunately.