Male figure "moai tangata"

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Description

wood, missing parts (feet), base

Of all the wooden sculptures of the Rapanui, the “moai tangata” bear the greatest resemblance to the world-famous giant stone sculptures.

The Polynesian noun “tangata” means man. “Moai tangata” are realistically carved male figures, usually with a boyish physique.

They may represent ancestors who actually lived, so they could be individual portraits. Thor Heyerdahl suggested that, unlike the ghostly “moai kavakava” and the “moai papa” associated with the Earth Mother, the figures represent humanity as a whole.

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Comparing literature

Barthel, Thomas S., 1500 Jahre Kultur der Osterinsel, Mainz 1989, p. 191 ff.

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