Description: Two of the 15 Tongariki moai - Easter island -
Chile.
Moai are monolithic human figures carved from rock. Moai are carved in
relatively flat planes, the faces bearing proud but enigmatic expressions. The
over-large heads (a three to five ratio between the head and the body, a
sculptural trait which demonstrates the Polynesian belief in the sanctity of the
chiefly head) have heavy brows, elongated noses with a distinctive fish-hook
shaped curl of the nostrils. Like the nose, the ears are elongated, and oblong
in form.