Terry Hunt Finds First Moai in Rapa Nui Lakebed
A moai discovered in a dried-up lakebed on Rapa Nui in 2023 is the first of its kind found in a former lake, according to Terry Hunt, a professor of archeology at the University of Arizona. The statue turned up at the quarry where moai were carved, adding a new location to the island’s known record of more than 1,000 logged statues.
Terry Hunt on the Rapa Nui find
“We think we know all the moai, but then a new one turns up, a new discovery, and in this case, in the lake, at the statue quarry,” Hunt said. He added, “There have been no moai found in the dry bed or in what was previously a lake, so this is a first.”
Hunt said the dry conditions on Rapa Nui could reveal more. “Under the dry conditions that we have now, we may find more,” he said. He also pointed to the tall reeds covering the lakebed: “They’ve been hidden by the tall reeds that grow in the lakebed and prospecting with something that can detect what’s under the ground surface may tell us that there are in fact more moai in the lakebed sediments.”
Ma’u Henua and the hidden statue
Salvador Atan Hito, vice president of Ma’u Henua, said the newly found moai sat in a place people had not known existed. “It’s here in the lake and nobody knows this exists, even the ancestors, our grandparents don’t know [about] that one,” he said. His comment points to the friction in the discovery: experts have logged more than 1,000 moai, yet this one emerged in ground they had not previously associated with any statue.
The statue is among the smallest moai found. Most moai average about half the size of the largest statues, and the largest moai weighs 86 tons and rises 32 feet tall. About 95 percent of moai are carved from volcanic tuff, while a few are made from basalt. Their eyes were added only after the statues reached their home.
The practical next step is clear from the find itself: if one moai lay hidden in the lakebed sediments, the dry bed may hold others under the reeds. The search now turns to the parts of Rapa Nui where the surface has changed enough to hide what was once open ground.
