A previously unknown stone statue was discovered on Easter Island.

Easter Island (although there are many names) is located in the Pacific Ocean and belongs to the territory of Chile. The island got its name because a Dutch voyager discovered it on Easter Sunday. But the uniqueness of the island is, of course, in something else. The island is known to the world for the Rapa Nui National Park (UNESCO World Heritage), in which there are stone statues or moai, from 5 to 20 meters high, which have the shape of a human head. There are more than a thousand stone buildings. The statues were made by the Polynesian people of Rapa Nui between 1250 and 1500 from volcanic rock.

Due to the drought during the last five years, the crater of Lake Rano Raraku has dried up in places. It was in the dried-up areas that, in February 2023, during the restoration of the swamp in the volcanic crater, researchers from three Chilean universities found a statue that had not been known before. The moai was lying on its side in the reeds. The height of the find is 1.60 meters, it is much inferior to other moai.

"What we saw today is very important because it is part of the history of the Rapa Nui people," said Salvador Atan Hito, head of the indigenous community.

"The interesting thing is that for at least the last 200 or 300 years, the lagoon was three meters deep, meaning no human could have left moai there during that time."

Researchers believe in the high probability of new discoveries. And at this time they are collecting funds for further research.

The information is presented by the May Henua Indigenous Community, which is jointly with the National as a forestry corporation fulfills its obligations: to manage, preserve and constantly protect its biodiversity and natural, landscape, cultural and heritage resources.