Last updated on May 9th, 2019
Sites where moai stood can be found all along Rapa Nui’s coast.
While the historical record is mostly blank, it is clear that some sort of catastrophe – either environmental or interpersonal in nature or, most likely, a combination of the two – led to the collapse of the sophisticated society that had existed on Rapa Nui. By the time Cook reached the islands on Easter Sunday in 17???? , the rich fields described by earlier explorers appeared abandoned and virtually all of the moai had been toppled face-down onto the ground.
Eventually all of the island’s the moai were knocked over. Those standing on the island today have all been put back up in their original locations. Vinapu is one of many areas where the moai still lay exactly where they fell several hundred years ago.
Besides the fallen moai, the ruins at Vinapu site also provide an example of some of the finest stonework that was done on the island, stonework like that found in far away Incan ruins.
It is an evocative place.
That has me perplexed too – I have to look into it a bit more.
These picture are really intriguing. I'm courious to know what's in the one picture with the rock that looks like it has splatterings of white on it's top. It's a couple pictures above the visible rock with the face. lol does that makes since? Anyway – marvelous pictures. =)