Can you give me some interesting facts on the Moai or Easter Island?

Dr. dig responds:

You can find out more about Easter Island and the remarkable moai - the huge stone statues - in the October/November 1999 issue of dig Magazine. The article "Land of the Giants" is written by Jena Malone.

This article will tell you some amazine things about this beautiful South Pacific Island and the statues that are carved there. Here are just a few facts that will enthrall you:

1. Many Easter Island moai have bodies that extend 20 to 40 feet underground.

2. The largest moai, El Gigante, is nearly 72 feet high and weighs between 14 and 16 tons

3. In order to construct the huge moai statues, the Polymesian settlers had to use the trunks of palm trees as rollers to bring the statues to the place where they were erected. So many trees were needed that the process led to deforestation and environmental deterioration.
When the first Europeans visited the island in the 18th century, they found a treeless landscape and a population suffering from food shortages.

4. The moai have eye sockets, some of which may have originally been inlaid with artificial eyes. The whites of the eyes were made from white coral inlaid with either red scoria or obsidian, which formed the irises.

Nova online has a terrific website where you can learn more about Easter Island and its moai. The address is: www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/easter.