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The Moai are a series of monolithic human figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island in Polynesia between 1250 and 1500. The nearly one thousand statues present throughout the island represent the ancestors of the Rapa Nui people, and their large size is thought to convey the power of those ancestors. The Moai were created by removing rock from a quarry using hand tools and then transporting them to where they would be erected, often using ropes or rolling them on logs. Many of the Moai remain standing today, though some have fallen due to earthquake damage or erosion.