Unravelling The Secrets Of Easter Island's Moai Statues

This star belongs to a group of very brilliant, deep blue color stars, which have been observed by almost all cultures in the world. One of the reasons why so many telescopes have been built in Chile is due to the whole area surrounding the Southern Cross. This was influenced by Tiahuanaco. The whole idea of the Chacanas was also later taken by the Incas. In order to navigate, you need a fixed point, a point from which to take measurements. They represent the magical power, the mana, brought by the Pleiades, which allowed fishing in the high seas and the arrival of tuna fish to the island. Paranal has a reputation for having 330 clear nights per year. They went around the world in a boat as basic as this one. The mana, the energy that a person has in life, took possession of the statue once its eyes were opened, and it became Naringa Ora, a living face. The stars in the sky form all types of shapes, which humans have arbitrarily classified as constellations. Several of them are crucial for sailing at high sea. Explorers and adventurers in search of new territories depended heavily on the positions of stars, as to not lose their way during their journey into the unknown. The Southern Cross is one of the most important constellations in the southern sky, while in the north, the Polaris star plays a similar role. How important are constellations now in the 21st century? With archaeologists, we will discover how a mysterious tribe of Polynesia developed an exquisite knowledge of the sky, in particular, about a group of stars known as the Pleiades, also called the Seven Sisters. We start our journey in search of the brightest constellations of the night sky, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, in one of the most isolated spots on Earth. This is Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. We meet archaeologist astronomer Edmundo Edwards, who has devoted his life to unraveling the secrets of this mysterious island. I arrived here for the first time with my father in 1957, when I was 17 years old. I have lived here for almost 50 years, and became interested in this subject around 15 years ago, when a group of astronomers came to the island and started visiting all the monuments here. This island is in the middle of the ocean. Polynesian people settled here, probably around 900 or 1000 AD. Easter Island is one of the angles of the so-called Polynesian Triangle, which comprises Hawaii in the north, the Aotearoa Island, known as New Zealand, towards the south, and Rapa Nui, here in this corner of Polynesia. We are Polynesians, the same people that are found in Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Fiji. We are the product of extremely ancient migrations that started from what is known today as the Asian Pacific. We are a happy people who love our culture, love our land. We are also warriors, we know how to fight and we like it. It is something we inherited somehow from our ancestors. Archeoastronomy studies the vision of primitive people, or ancient people, about the design of the stars, celestial bodies, and how they were used in their calendars. There were experts who would watch the universe, and based on their observations, and on the rising and setting of certain stars, they could tell when the seasons would change, when the fish or the birds would migrate. This is a circular structure of stone, a hollow turret called tupa, with an entrance. These structures, there are 26 across the island, were inhabited by the ancient priests, who were astronomers, and who would determine time and calendars. There is a reason for these narrow entrances, because in ancient times, there was a belief that bad spirits would stick to people's backs, so to prevent their entering a home, people would touch the upper side of the entrance with their backs, so that the bad spirits would fall off. That way, there would never be any bad spirits inside their homes. In all cultures of the world, people have had great respect for those who understand the movement of the stars, because stars are a very strange thing. Suddenly they appear, and suddenly they disappear. The moon changes. What does all this mean to those who watch the sky? Here, at Easter Island, as in all of Polynesia, there were priests called Tuhunga, who were experts on the matter, and would devote their lives exclusively to observe these phenomena. There were schools where children would learn to make maps of the sky with little twigs. They would tie seashells in the quadrants of these twigs, representing constellations and the stars themselves. Constellations befitting the Polynesian culture, of course, not the same constellations of the West. In some cases, complete constellations would coincide with those of Polynesia, as in the case of the Pleiades, for example, called Matariki in Rapa Nui. We are standing in front of Ahu Benapu, one of the most emblematic altars on Easter Island, since it has beautiful masonry. Some people think it may have been the result of contact with Peru and the architecture of the Incas, because the stones are very well fitted, very similar to Andean construction. We don't think that is the case. We think it was rather a local evolution that enabled ancient Rapa Nui to build magnificent shrines. It is extremely well built. It fits perfectly. These stones come from a mile away, from Ranaukau. But the interesting feature about this altar is that if you trace a perpendicular line here, the center of the Ahu points exactly to the place where the Pleiades sat. And the Pleiades were an extremely important group of stars to the Polynesians. When they appeared in the horizon, it was the period when the gods returned to Earth. The Pleiades are a star cluster visible at night to the naked eye. They are situated 450 light years away from us and were formed around 100 million years ago. The Pleiades appear before the sun rises on November 20th in the horizon towards the east of the island. And after that, they are visible until around May 7th. On May 7th, they set in the horizon toward the west and do not appear again until the beginning of June or mid-June. They are also important because that is the time when the new year starts here on Easter Island. One of the most impressive legacies of the Rapa Nui culture are the Moai, mysterious sculptures made of volcanic stone. It's a riddle how the people of Easter Island managed to transport these gigantic constructions all over the island. What is their meaning? Did their eyes also point towards the sky and the stars? The Moai represent the most important people along a genealogical line. I mean, a family could have 10 Moai in their altar. That meant that there were 10 really important people, the Mana, or people with great energy who are worthy of being remembered. Through this statue that lingered. The ancient belief in the island is that the Mana, the energy that a person has in life, which some call the soul, the spirit, would take possession of the statue. Once his eyes were open, then it was no longer a Moai statue and would become an Oringa Ora, a living face. We are in the eastern side of Easter Island, which is the place where the sun rises all the time in the ocean. Here, there is a natural stone with some piercings, which, according to ancient people on the island, was a map of the Pleiade. It has some holes where smaller holes are placed, so that they are perceived better. Eight of them are visible. Generally, one sees seven, but a child with good eyesight may see up to 10 stars. The Pleiade are a very brilliant group of deep blue-colored stars, very beautiful to watch in the sky, and have been observed by almost all cultures in the world. We have walked about 200 yards from the stone with a map of the stars. Here, we find the famous stone called Papahuitu. This is a stone where the priests and chief of the island would gather to observe the rising of the Pleiade. And this stone has all these drawings, which I will enhance. These are hooks, fishing hooks. They are very stylized, since they are not exactly like a fishing hook. They are much more curved, but they represent the magical power, the mana, that the Pleiade would bring, which allowed fishing in the high seas and the arrival of tuna fish on the island. On Easter Island, we have the most beautiful skies in the world, because there is no light pollution. We have no cities, no lights to hamper our watching the stars at night. This is something that has been lost in cities, because people there don't watch the sky anymore, they don't see anything. That is very sad, since stars are among the most beautiful things we have. They are also important, because they mark certain periods, periods of happiness and sorrow. They show us the period of the year, when fish and birds migrate, when sustenance will reach all the world. People in general should be more interested in stars. It's not just a subject for astronomers, or something we can look up on the internet, or watch from large telescopes, such as the ones we have in Chile. Unfortunately, I think we have lost our natural ability to watch the stars at night, and I think it's sad. For some people, stars are still alive. But I feel, I'm a person who watches the sky every night, that we need to become aware of how small humans are, to understand that we are all part of that great universe, of which we know very little. That is strong, potent, because it gives us a true dimension of what is and what isn't important in life. How we depend on stars, in the sense that we are not hit by a comet or a meteorite, or that the planet will end through a solar eruption, I don't know. We are at the mercy of this large space, and it also protects us. This is something that all human beings should reflect upon. We travel to the extreme south of the American continent. Here, we will see an initiative that rescues the legacy of old explorers. We use the stars as guides in their adventures. Among them, Hernando de Magallanes, who on board the ship now Victoria, was the first person to circumnavigate the world. Or Charles Darwin, who on board the Beagle sailed around the world before he envisioned the theory of evolution. We propose, in fact, to tell the story of great seamen in the area, visiting them on board of their ships in an interactive way. I was surprised to see such a small boat, and so round. Because this was a round boat, like a nutshell almost, it had no draft to hold it into the water. So I thought, how could such a small boat cover such distances or go around the world? They used an astrolabe and other instruments for navigation. Not like today, when it is so easy to navigate. This kind of instrument is the nocturlabe. The nocturlabe operated in the same way as an astrolabe, but at night. Here, the Southern Cross is very important, since these instruments were built specifically for each hemisphere. These are for the Northern Hemisphere, but later, they started to use it for the Southern Cross. The use of these nautical instruments allowed sailors to find their positions perfectly at night. The Southern Cross made it easy to find the South Celestial Pole by projecting the main mast of the cross towards the south about three and a half times. The point where this projection ends corresponds to the South Celestial Pole. It can be said that these types of naval expeditions, such as the one commanded by Hernando de Magallanes, are an important cornerstone in the history of navigation. To pass through oceans, such as the Atlantic Ocean, also called North Seas, implies a technological change, particularly in the construction of the ship, and also in the technical area, in the use of the helm. Well, this is the James Caird. It was the second boat I built. After the now Victoria. This is the Beagle, and it is the fourth boat we are building. This wood I have here are curved pieces which we use in the frame. This is a warship from the times of Napoleon. It was designed in 1808, and was built to consolidate British supremacy on the seas. We have the drawings on HMS Beagle. This grid represents the meters, and the black lines are the shape in the drawings. It is interesting to stress that this is the area where Darwin slept, which was a space of about 10 by 10 feet. During the day, this was the map room. In any of the two hemispheres, you need a fixed point to navigate, a point from which to take measurements. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Ursa Major is used, and in the Southern Hemisphere, the Southern Cross. It is nice work. Gratifying, as you say. It is a task that has not been done much here in Magallanes. I think that the ships of historical importance will be here. The reproductions that are here will be the only ones to remain for a long time. Well, for a student of history, it is very important to have a chance to see the physical features of a ship, like the Neo Victoria, or what the Ancud Schooner looked like, or the Beagle. It is an experience in life. It is a contribution to the knowledge in the world at this point. What I always try to impress on children is, look, think that with very little knowledge, since they had no compasses or anything like that, with the knowledge of a high school student in second grade today, with arithmetic, algebra, they managed to go around the world in a basic ship like this one. Some things require perseverance and long-term work, and then you see the results. But not everything happens immediately. Those are the values we try to transmit here. We travel with astronomer and winner of the National Science Award, José Massa. We are going to a very different landscape, where rain hardly ever falls, Serra Paranel, home to the largest and most advanced optical telescope in the world. It is operated by an international organization made up of 14 European countries, as well as Brazil. Using the impressive technology of the telescopes in Paranel, our mission is to obtain a spectacular image of the Southern Cross. This landscape is very unusual. If you look around, there's no grass, no trees, no animals. There's nothing. So one really feels this is a unique place, where astronomers work, as well as people in the mining business. One can either study the ground or study the sky. As you can see, this isolated landscape, with dry air, no artificial light, and a large number of clear nights, was the site chosen by the European Space Observatory to build its very large telescope. We are at Serra Paranel of the European Southern Observatory. Towards the back are the four 8.2 meter telescopes that integrate what is known as the VLT, the Very Large Telescope. There's also smaller telescopes. This entire group, this orchestra of telescopes, comprise an interferometer. They can use the entire mountaintop like one single great telescope, and achieve a resolution in the sky that would be impossible with just one telescope. It could be adapted like a great zoom, where one can see extremely small details. We can see an insignificant fraction of the sky, but with extraordinary resolution. This site, Paranel, 75 miles away from Antofagasta, has the reputation of enjoying 330 clear nights per year. Therefore, only 10% of nights, 1 out of 10, may not be too good for astronomy, but 9 nights out of 10 will be excellent. Due to the rotation of the Earth, if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, as most developed countries are, you can't see the southern skies. You need to cross the equator, be south of the equator, to be able to see the Magellanic clouds, to see the Southern Cross, to see the Jewel Box. Even the galactic center is 30 degrees south of the equator. So, in these latitudes, it lies exactly over your head at midnight, on winter nights. Well, in the southern sky, one of the jewels here is Alpha Centauri, which is right beside the Southern Cross. And within the Southern Cross, one of the prettiest objects studied during the last century by all the observatories, is the Jewel Box. Well, here we are, reaching the heart of the VLT telescope. This is the control room for the four main telescopes and the two auxiliary telescopes. You can see how they are working at night. Tonight, all the telescopes are operating, but there is nobody inside the telescopes, since the bodily temperature of humans would cancel the observations. One needs to work at a distance of 500 meters away from the telescope. And now, we are going to one of the control units to see what they are observing tonight. Tonight, we are operating in UT-1. We are working with the FORCE instrument. It all starts when the astronomer sends the object's coordinates to the telescope. I receive the coordinates, the telescope points there, and then I start to guide it. When the telescope reaches the coordinates, we use a star to keep it on center. And we need to make sure that the star stays centered in the instrument. How long will this observation take? The actual time of the observation will take an hour and a half. During that time, various images are taken, so that the astronomer can later reduce all that data. After that, we are going to take a standard, well-known star, so that the astronomer can carry out the corresponding calibrations. Exactly. We are now in the control room of the ANTU telescope. The observation of the asteroid we were doing a while ago is over. Now, the night program goes on. During the program, we will observe the jewels, a group of stars very close to the Southern Cross. They are actually in the direction of the Southern Cross, but much further away, 6,000 light-years away. Stars are all born together in a group. And in this group, although it's very young, some very large stars evolve very quickly. There's one, like a very red ruby, which has been observed since very ancient times. The jewel box, the Southern Cross, Alpha and Beta Centauri, and the Coalsack Nebula are all towards the south. Quite visible from Chile. These objects are observed in the north of Chile, but cannot be observed from the Northern Hemisphere. That is one of the reasons why there are so many telescopes in Chile. Precisely because one can observe the Southern Cross area, the Magellanic Clouds, the Coalsack, and among other small treasures, the jewel box, which lies beside the Beta star in the Southern Cross. From Perenel, we travel towards the Andean Plateau, near the frontier of Argentina and Bolivia. This area was home to the Incas, who came from what is modern-day Peru. It was also known as Timunacu, from what is currently known as Bolivia, and home to the Lican and Tai, or Atacama people. All these native cultures assigned an important significance to the Southern Cross. It is not the Catholic Cross that was brought by the Spaniards, but rather the Chicana or Andean Cross, which these people could see above the night sky. We accompany Silvia Lisoni and Jessica Fernandez, two enthusiastic teachers who are devoted to preserving and teaching Andean astronomy. What other constellations could the ancient Andean people see in the sky? Well, what do we see here? Here we have one of the things that are also seen in the sky. This is the river, the Puri River, which was called Mayu by the Incas. The Mayu River, where the Yagana walks in the sky. And it gets lost, since even from afar, it looks like a worm with many legs, like centipedes. I know what centipedes look like. One could also think that it looks like a horse's jaw. Sure, like a horse, because of the teeth, but it is part of the culture to which one belongs. Yes, I know where it is. I saw it a while ago. Here, that's the cross. Here we have the Southern Cross, what they knew as the Shakana. We also have two small llamas watching. If you look, there's a figure similar to a man. Do you see it? His hands are raised up. It is a special looking figure there. And on top, there's this part where the Spaniards also left an imprint. But what is amazing about this is that it has an influence from Tiwanaku. The Tiwanaku developed this whole idea of the Shakana, which was later taken by the Incas. Here we are in Santa Barbara, as this place is known. And it's different from other places where we have seen petroglyphs. What we have here are pictoglyphs. It has the same color of the people from Atacama. They used this color most of all. Even nowadays, on the doors of the houses, one can tell when they belong to a person from Atacama, since their doors are painted with this same greenish calypso color, like copper, like the copper stone. Well, the Shakana is the Andean cross. It's quite known through the souvenirs taken by the tourists in their bags. But it holds a lot of symbolism. To begin with, it's like a ladder. You see the huipala, which is the indigenous flag. Well, everything that goes down, like a ladder, also goes up. It's a symbol of the Andean cross. It includes both the masculine and the feminine. On top, there is a condor, which is very symbolic for Andean cultures. To watch it in the sky, near the gods, near the moon, the sun. It glides in the sky, right? It holds all that strength. And below, you have man. He also has basic concepts and his values, to be hardworking, truthful, honest, and faithful. With regard to observing the sky, there are stories that we are trying to rescue in order to write them. Some grandparents relate them to their grandchildren, but not usually. So now we have this idea of recovery, to speak about the paniri, to speak of what the Tudor hills were. You know, people say to me, I had never heard this before, but I think my grandfather Why? Because the Spaniards repressed the native culture. To begin with, the Konza language. If somebody spoke the language, they would be beaten up. Their tongues would be cut off. So they were systematically repressed. But even so, what little remains can be useful. Below are the hills, which you always see. But they have a name, the San Pedro, San Pablo, and the paniri. We, in Calama, hardly ever lift up our heads. However, for the Lekantai, the Andean groups, the Maya, Aztecs, Egyptians, Chinese, or whatever ancient civilization you think of, stars were of paramount importance. The Southern Cross was given that name by Hernando de Magellani. Usually, in the Southern Hemisphere, names are linked to sailing. That is, as I mentioned before, we currently do not watch the stars. But for ancient cultures, for sailors, they were very important. The experience we've had in this observatory is remarkable. It's a nice presentation of astronomy, both of ancient astronomy and all the myths associated with the distribution of stars as well as the objects in the sky. They've explained what they are, and I saw in the children a lot of motivation. They listened and paid attention. It combines astronomy, culture, history, attachment to the land, and I think it's very interesting so that people can appreciate the wonderful sky that we have above us. The last leg of our journey in search of the Southern Cross and other constellations takes us to the small village of Combarbala. Here, the Southern Cross Observatory has been built with great effort. My life here in Combarbala has always been simple, since it's a small village and people are pleasant. I lead a quiet life in Combarbala since nowadays there isn't too much annoying noise from cars. The Science Academy, which is located in the America School, started with the purpose of developing children's skills. This place has become a wonderful environment where students can achieve their goals. The Southern Cross Observatory is the largest observatory for astrotourism in South America. You are most welcome here at the Observatorio Cruz del Sur. Here at night, you can live the experience in astronomy called Chile, a window to the universe. We will observe the majesty of the sky through a telescope. The students realized that one of the technicians who works here was cleaning the mirror in the telescope, and they had asked about the mirrors and what was wrong. When we were going to one of the observing domes, the guide had to stop the tour for a while since the lens was dirty. They showed us the dirty lens and then taught us how to clean it. Since I had never looked through a telescope, it was quite exciting. The dust on the lenses made observation difficult, so César and Ronald decided to see what was causing the contamination. They discovered that the dust came from places where local artisans worked with stone. César and Ronald then decided to carry out a project to solve the problem. It is very big now. It has to be cut and then the shape assembled. Then it needs polishing. Dry polishing is not the same as polishing with water. It is hard due to the dust. Everything gets full of dust. Look at the dust. If one cuts a stone dry, dust goes all over the place. To give you an idea, it would be as if a big truck went along a dirt road. Everything gets full of dust, and when there is no wind, the dust remains. Ronald's father helped us out with the project, lending us stones and things to measure the dust with the machinery and all of that. They started with the dust extractor, and after that, they thought of how to recycle the dust that flies from the stones. This is a prototype of a dust extractor which we would like to implement in artisan shops in Cambarvala. Once we have the dust inside the container, we can recycle it into a brick. We're going to build a brick out of recycled dust. This is a model of an artisan shop that we would like to implement in Cambarvala. It is built with recycled brick. It also has a mesh around it, and the dust extractor is inside the workshop. It would be good for the observatory, since the telescope's mirrors would not get dirty and the stars could be observed more clearly. To think that they're so far away from everybody, and as the students develop their knowledge, and to see that they achieve their proposed goals, it just gives me great satisfaction. Thanks to their work, Cesar and Ronald have won international awards for school sciences, and were even invited to Portugal to describe their experience. Today in Cambarvala, there is a new alternative for keeping the skies clean so that new generations can continue to observe the Southern Cross and the many other constellations that guide our journey at night.