4 stops
Rapa Nui moai
The quarry that carved the island's statues, the ahu that carried them, and the village above the birdman cliffs on Rapa Nui.
Stop 1
Rano Raraku
Est. 1500 BCE–900 CEType comparisonTypical for this type
A volcanic crater quarry that supplied the stone for about 95% of the island's known moai, where 887 statues remain and the unfinished moai reach 21.6 metres.
Stop 2
Ahu Tongariki
Est. 1300 BCE–1800 CEType comparisonTypical for this type
The largest ahu on the island, restored in the 1990s, carries fifteen moai including the heaviest ever erected there at eighty-six tonnes, all facing the winter-solstice sunset.
Stop 3
Ahu Vinapu
Est. 1300 BCE–1800 CEType comparisonTypical for this type
A ceremonial centre with one of the island's larger ahu, built from large carefully fitted slabs of basalt, its stone wall facing the sunrise at the winter solstice.
Stop 4
Orongo
Est. 1500 BCE–900 CEType comparisonTypical for this type
A stone village and ceremonial centre on the rim of the Rano Kau caldera, where 53 stone houses were restored and whose petroglyphs mainly show birdmen.