Just when experts thought they knew every moai on Rapa Nui, otherwise known as Easter Island, a dried-up lakebed kept them on ...

Easter Island's famous moai statues are crumbling into the sea, forcing locals to face urgent decisions about how best to protect their heritage.

The iconic moai statues of Easter Island, known locally as Rapa Nui, are crumbling under the pressure of climate change and the passage of centuries (BBC).

Easter Island is known for its Moai statues, but for nearly two decades the people who built them were thought to have disappeared due to ecocide, or habitat destruction brought on by human use.

A new study reveals Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, was less isolated than believed, showing inter-island connections and shared ritual practices across Polynesia.