Scientists Uncover New Easter Moai Statue in Dry Lake Bed

Reuters

13:17 JST, March 8, 2023

SANTIAGO (Reuters) — Scientists have found a previously undiscovered moai on Easter Island, uncovering the large stone statue in a dry lake bed on the tiny, remote island in the middle of the Pacific.

Geologists were studying the site after fires swept through the area last year. It could mean more figures and tools used by the ancestral Rapa Nui people are buried nearby in the once-underwater site, scientists said.

“This is the first time, from what I understand, that something has been found in the basin,” said archaeologist Jose Miguel Ramirez.

It meant that the lake had likely dried at some point in the past, and perhaps the Rapa Nui were taking advantage of that to move the statue, he added.

“I think more [moai] are going to keep showing up,” Ramirez said.