Easter Island ... Geographic. The statues were built in the late 1500s and early 1600s, though some date back as far as 1300. Polynesians likely began inhabiting the island around 1000 CE.

Easter Island is known for these iconic Moai statues, as well as mysteries surrounding the inhabitants of the island. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news ...

Graham Hancock's new theory claims a lost civilization built the Easter Island statues more than 11,000 years old. (photo credit ... out a human presence that far back," Hancock added.

Easter Island is home to approximately 1,000 large stone heads, known as Moai, scattered across the island. Hancock argues that the island was settled, and the statues were built about 12,000 ...

Today we're on an island far out in the Pacific Ocean ... miles from the nearest land-mass. It's Rapa Nui - Easter Island - the most remote inhabited island, not just in the Pacific, but in ...

Archaeologists believe they have solved one ancient mystery surrounding the famous Easter Island statues. At 2,500 miles off the coast of Chile, the island is one of the world's most remote places ...

Among the many secrets buried in Easter Island prehistory is the question of how the Rapanui people transported the multi-ton statues, or moai, from their quarries to their final ceremonial ahu ...

This story appears in the July 2012 issue of National Geographic magazine. On a winter night last June, José Antonio Tuki, a 30-year-old artist on Easter Island, did one of the things he loves ...