“The island is planted with monstrous great statues, the work of I don’t know what race, today degenerate or vanished; its great remains an enigma.” Named Easter Island by the Dutch explorer ...

The moai and ceremonial sites are along the coast, with a concentration on Easter Island's southeast coast ... They were not individualized portrait sculptures, but standardized representations ...

The imposing statues that line the coast of Easter Island ... surrounding the sculptures: why were they built? The volcanic stone figures, called moai in the island’s native Polynesian language ...