The iconic Easter Island statues have been damaged in a fire, authorities say 🗿

[Gefn]

The famous statues on Rapa Nui — also known as Easter Island — have suffered "irreparable" damage in a fire, local authorities said.

A photo shared by the municipality of Rapa Nui on social media shows several charred statues in the aftermath of a blaze that swept through around 250 acres of an area called Rano Raraku, which includes the stone sculptures known as moai.

Rapa Nui Mayor Pedro Edmunds Paoa told the Chilean broadcaster Radio PAUTA that he believed the fire wasn't an accident.

"And that is created by human beings, it is not an accident," Edmunds Paoa said in Spanish in the interview. "All the fires on Rapa Nui are caused by human beings."


https://www.npr.org/2022/10/07/1127500084/the-iconic-easter-island-statues-have-been-damaged-in-a-fire-authorities-say

[Gefn]

Sad. Those statues are so cool.
 

[SZonian]

Uhm, they're made of STONE! 

How in the hell do they "suffer irreparable damage"?

I suspect a ploy for $$ and attention here.

They probably have soot and charring, but that can probably be easily taken care of.

[GtHawk]

Uhm, they're made of STONE! 

How in the hell do they "suffer irreparable damage"?

I suspect a ploy for $$ and attention here.

They probably have soot and charring, but that can probably be easily taken care of.

I can't ever recall a picture from either my youth or more recently that ever showed grass or some low brush in any images of Easter Island and the statues, nor in any images from this Reuters story on the fire.
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/chiles-easter-island-moai-statues-face-irreparable-damage-after-wildfire-2022-10-07/

So I'm with you on it being malarkey and a grab for money.

[catfish1957]

Uhm, they're made of STONE! 

How in the hell do they "suffer irreparable damage"?

I suspect a ploy for $$ and attention here.

They probably have soot and charring, but that can probably be easily taken care of.

This may be plausible if they were in the middle of a forrest, and were in a raging forge.

The island  is pretty much a meadow, and at worst was a bad grass fire.

[DB]

A bit dubious if these claims...

[Right_in_Virginia]

This may be plausible if they were in the middle of a forrest, and were in a raging forge.

Sacred Easter Island statues suffer 'irreparable damage' after volcano fire
CNN, Oct 7, 2022

(CNN) — Easter Island's towering stone heads and other archaeological elements have been charred by a fire, according to local Indigenous and Chilean authorities.

The fire -- caused by the nearby Rano Raraku volcano -- started Monday and razed more than 100 hectares of the island, damaging its famous stone-carved statues known as 'Moai' which were created by a Polynesian tribe over 500 years ago, native officials reported.

More:  https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/easter-island-moai-damage-volcano-intl-hnk/index.html

[Right_in_Virginia]

[Right_in_Virginia]

Sad. Those statues are so cool.
 

They're thought to be representations of ancestors standing watch over the island inhibitants.

The the best guess is the moai were carved from around 1000 AD until the second half of the seventeenth century. Over a few hundred years the inhabitants quarried, carved and erected around 887 statues.  Each statue could take up to two years to complete.

Pretty amazing.

[catfish1957]

Sacred Easter Island statues suffer 'irreparable damage' after volcano fire
CNN, Oct 7, 2022

(CNN) — Easter Island's towering stone heads and other archaeological elements have been charred by a fire, according to local Indigenous and Chilean authorities.

The fire -- caused by the nearby Rano Raraku volcano -- started Monday and razed more than 100 hectares of the island, damaging its famous stone-carved statues known as 'Moai' which were created by a Polynesian tribe over 500 years ago, native officials reported.

More:  https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/easter-island-moai-damage-volcano-intl-hnk/index.html

Volcano?...Yep, that would be the forge that could do it.

[SZonian]

Sacred Easter Island statues suffer 'irreparable damage' after volcano fire
CNN, Oct 7, 2022

(CNN) — Easter Island's towering stone heads and other archaeological elements have been charred by a fire, according to local Indigenous and Chilean authorities.

The fire -- caused by the nearby Rano Raraku volcano -- started Monday and razed more than 100 hectares of the island, damaging its famous stone-carved statues known as 'Moai' which were created by a Polynesian tribe over 500 years ago, native officials reported.

More:  https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/easter-island-moai-damage-volcano-intl-hnk/index.html

Hmm, then I suppose Mr. Paoa is claiming humans caused the volcano to start the fire?

"And that is created by human beings, it is not an accident," Edmunds Paoa said in Spanish in the interview. "All the fires on Rapa Nui are caused by human beings."