MAJESTIC MOAI

Moai

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n the pages of National Geographic or in PBS documentaries, you’ve seen them—photos or footage of the iconic human-faced statues dotting a wild, green island in the Southeast Pacific.

Some of the head-and-torso carvings are precisely lined up like soldiers guarding their home, Rapa Nui (commonly referred to as Easter Island). Elsewhere, a single stone figure juts skyward. Some of the figures slump backward, or forward, into volcanic hillsides, while others tower above, averaging 13 feet tall and weighing nearly 14 tons.

Known as moai, these monuments were carved from quarries centuries ago by the Rapa Nui people, who then transported them great distances to their resting places on giant platforms. You can’t miss ’em: The 63-square-mile island has about 1,000 moai. In the “you-get-what-you-pay-for” vein, you could book an Expedia vacation to visit. Or you could travel there next

Rano Raraku Is the quarry where most of the Moai were carved. The ones seen here fell and never made it to their destination

The platform on which the moai stand is an ahu

year with an internationally renowned anthropologist and archaeologist, among the world’s foremost experts on human and environmental histories of the Pacific Islands. And who lives in our state. “It’s the most fascinating place in the world,” says that person, Dr. Terry Hunt, dean of The University of Arizona Honors College in Tucson. “The island tells you a lot about human nature, not about the failure of an island population, but about their success in a very remote place because of their investment in engineering, art and architecture.”

MYSTERIES UNRAVELED Rapa Nui, which was inhabited by Polynesians in about 1200, was christened Easter Island by Dutch explorers in honor of the day of their arrival in 1772. The 63-square-mile island was annexed by Chile, nearly 2,200 miles to the east, in 1888.

There’s been no shortage of speculation about the moai, their role in the island’s ancient civilization and how they were built and moved. Hunt has for two decades been involved in this research and has led study-abroad trips for students and educational experiences for friends and supporters of UA and at his previous academic posts, the University of Oregon and the University of Hawaii.

Their major work was disproving theories that the statues were horizontally relocated on wooden slides and rollers. Rather, Hunt and others determined they were moved along well-prepared roads using a walking/rocking motion, as you might move a large appliance into your kitchen. The findings were published in The Statues That Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island, co-authored by Hunt and Carl P.

These round stone houses at the edge of the crater of the volcano Ranu Kau are part of the ceremonial village at Orango. It was here that the annual Birdman competition took place

Lipo, an anthropology professor at Binghamton University in New York.

Last year, Hunt’s team completed research on how the Rapa Nui people chose the final resting spots for their moai in order to deify their ancestors. They were placed near the island’s limited freshwater sources, so critical to the islanders’ existence. The researchers concluded that this positioning reflected generations of sharing, not only water and food, but also social activities, knowledge and resources.

LEARNING FROM THE BEST This summer, Hunt will take UA Honors College students to Easter Island for three weeks to use drones, photography, 3D modeling and other devices to discover additional mysteries of the island’s archaeology and environment. Students

enrolled in this interdisciplinary course learn to think critically about their research from scientific, historical and culture perspectives, he says.

And their involvement greatly enhances research, Hunt notes. “They sometimes ask what may seem like a naive question, but it turns out to reveal something that, after 20 years in this field, I never thought about.”

Rachel Lindzon, an Honors College senior, earned six credits during her four-week study abroad to Rapa Nui last July. In addition to learning about the moai, she and others were immersed in the Polynesian culture and conducted experiments with drones and other instruments. Lindzon’s interactions with Hunt not only improved her research and critical thinking skills, but also helped produce her project on soil analysis and writing papers on

Ahu Tahai at sunset

collapse and deforestation theories, among other topics. “I learned how to work independently and be more datadriven, to think for myself and to look at hard facts,” she says. “Rapa Nui is just magical, enchanting, really.”

TRIP OF A LIFETIME You won’t get an argument on that from Heather Lenkin, who traveled there last summer with Hunt and a dozen other Honors College supporters. Lenkin is a trustee for the World Monuments Fund, which placed Rapa Nui on its 2020 watch list of cultural heritage sites needing protection.

“It’s one of the world’s most precious archaeology sites, and it is precarious,” says Lenkin, who also is a UA trustee and chair of the Honors College advisory board. “There are petroglyphs in a variety of precarious positions related to the soil erosion that’s going on. We need to work with the islanders to preserve these important ceremonial and religious pieces.” She and other guests stayed at an Explora Hotel that was off the tourist path and experienced horseback riding, nighttime photography that was literally and figuratively astronomical, hiking and learning about the Birdman culture and Rapa Nui from the best.

“The opportunity to go with someone who has that much expertise is reason enough,” Lenkin says. “But Dr. Hunt is totally in love with the people, and what he’s doing there is unparalleled. I would never have had that experience with someone else.”

Hunt’s next available trip for non-students will be late spring 2021. ❖ For more information, email David Scott Allen at dallen@email.arizona.edu.

Happy Trails Nature meets luxury in Arizona’s panoramic high desert

Photos by ELLEN BARNES Styled by CAROLE COTTEN Hair and makeup by MORGAN TERESA Model: THE AGENCY ARIZONA Location: THE RANCH, A LUXURY CAMPING VENUE AT DESERT MOUNTAIN CLUB Special assistance: H2 EXPEDITIONS, h2expeditions.com