Between about 1250 and 1500, the Polynesian inhabitants of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), the most remote inhabited island in the world, carved nearly 900 huge stone statues called moai from the volcanic tuff of the Rano Raraku quarry. The statues, which represent ancestors, are up to 10 metres tall and weigh up to 80 tonnes, and were moved up to 18 km to platforms around the coast, perhaps by 'walking' them upright with ropes. Jared Diamond popularised the story that the islanders destroyed their environment in a process of 'ecocide', but recent research points to the rats, introduced European diseases and slavery as major factors in the collapse. The Dutchman Roggeveen found the island on Easter Day 1722.
Before and after
- from 1248 to 1254Seventh Crusade
- from 1250 to 1517Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt
- 13th centuryConstruction of Château de Blois
- c. 1250Carving of the Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo
- from c. 1250s to 1500sThe moai statues of Easter Island are carved
- from 8 February 1250 to 11 February 1250Battle of Mansurah
- 1252Construction of Kōtoku-in Temple
- from 1253 to 1276Mongol campaign against the Nizaris
- 15 September 1254Birth of Marco Polo
More in Art, literature & culture
- c. 500sRise of medieval music
- from 8th century to 9th centuryRise of Carolingian Renaissance
- c. 1010sMurasaki Shikibu writes The Tale of Genji
- from 1140 to 1530Gothic art
- 1400Rise of Renaissance music
- c. 1490sThe Last Supper
The era
This moment belongs to the Medieval world (500 CE to 1500 CE), kingdoms, faiths and trade routes. You can also browse everything in the 13th century.