Why is the island called Easter Island?

A Dutch explorer arrived on Easter Sunday 1722

Its shape looks like a giant painted egg

Missionaries built its first church at Easter

A system of glyphs that has never been deciphered

A traditional fishing net woven from bark fiber

A double-hulled canoe used for long voyages

Easter Island Quiz: Moai, Rapa Nui and Birdmen of Chile

This Easter Island quiz travels to Chile's remote Pacific island, known to its people as Rapa Nui, with questions on the moai statues, the quarry of Rano Raraku, the 15 moai of Ahu Tongariki, red pukao topknots, the Birdman competition at Orongo, the rongorongo script and Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen. Ten questions.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 90 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 90s

Names
What do the island's Polynesian people call Easter Island?
Discovery
Why is the island called Easter Island?
Quarries
Most moai were carved from volcanic rock at which crater quarry?
Hats
What are the red stone cylinders placed on top of some moai called?
Platforms
Ahu Tongariki, the island's largest ceremonial platform, has how many moai standing in a row?
Competitions
In the Birdman competition at Orongo, what did contestants race to bring back?
Writing
What is rongorongo?
Statues
What is unusual about the seven moai of Ahu Akivi?
Count
Roughly how many moai are known on Easter Island?
Beaches
Which white-sand beach on the north coast, with palm trees and moai, is said to be where the first settlers landed?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: What do the island's Polynesian people call Easter Island?
Answer: Rapa Nui
Rapa Nui is also the name of the people and their language. The island lies about 3,500 kilometers off the coast of Chile.
Q2: Why is the island called Easter Island?
Answer: A Dutch explorer arrived on Easter Sunday 1722
Jacob Roggeveen was the first known European to reach the island. He named it Paasch-Eyland, Dutch for Easter Island.
Q3: Most moai were carved from volcanic rock at which crater quarry?
Answer: Rano Raraku
Hundreds of moai remain at Rano Raraku, some unfinished and still attached to the rock. Many stand buried up to their shoulders on the slopes.
Q4: What are the red stone cylinders placed on top of some moai called?
Answer: Pukao
Pukao were carved from red scoria at the Puna Pau quarry. They may represent topknots of hair worn by Rapa Nui men.
Q5: Ahu Tongariki, the island's largest ceremonial platform, has how many moai standing in a row?
Answer: 15
A tsunami in 1960 scattered the statues. A Japanese crane company helped restore the site in the 1990s.
Q6: In the Birdman competition at Orongo, what did contestants race to bring back?
Answer: The first sooty tern egg
Men climbed down cliffs and swam to the islet of Motu Nui. The winner's leader became the Tangata Manu, or Birdman, for a year.
Q7: What is rongorongo?
Answer: A system of glyphs that has never been deciphered
Only about two dozen wooden objects carved with rongorongo survive. Scholars still debate whether it is true writing.
Q8: What is unusual about the seven moai of Ahu Akivi?
Answer: They face the ocean
Most moai face inland, watching over villages. The seven of Ahu Akivi look toward the sea, and legend links them to seven explorers.
Q9: Roughly how many moai are known on Easter Island?
Answer: About 900
Some stand over 10 meters tall and weigh dozens of tons. Researchers believe many were moved upright by rocking them with ropes, as if they walked.
Q10: Which white-sand beach on the north coast, with palm trees and moai, is said to be where the first settlers landed?
Answer: Anakena
Legend says King Hotu Matu'a arrived there by canoe. Ahu Nau Nau, with moai wearing pukao, stands just behind the beach.

Easter Island Quiz – Statues at the End of the World

Easter Island is one of the most remote inhabited islands on Earth. Lying in the South Pacific about 3,500 kilometers west of Chile, it is a triangle of volcanic land only about 164 square kilometers in size. Its people call it Rapa Nui. The island is world-famous for nearly 1,000 giant stone statues called moai, and most of it is protected as Rapa Nui National Park, a UNESCO site.

Polynesian voyagers settled the island many centuries ago, sailing great distances in canoes. They built ceremonial platforms called ahu and carved moai from volcanic rock at the quarry of Rano Raraku. The statues are believed to represent important ancestors, watching over the villages with their backs to the sea.

Moving the moai was an incredible achievement. Researchers think many were walked upright using ropes, rocking them from side to side. Some were topped with red stone pukao. Over time, conflict, environmental change and contact with outsiders led to the toppling of many statues.

European contact began on Easter Sunday 1722, when the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen arrived. Later, slave raids and disease devastated the population, which fell to about 100 people in the 1870s. Chile annexed the island in 1888. Rapa Nui culture survived, including the Birdman tradition of Orongo and the mysterious rongorongo script.

Today, about 8,000 people live on the island, mostly in Hanga Roa. Visitors see sunrise at Ahu Tongariki, swim at Anakena beach and watch the Tapati festival of dance, music and sports each February.

Rapa Nui people today work to protect their heritage and ask museums to return objects taken from the island. A famous moai called Hoa Hakananai'a, removed in 1868, stands in the British Museum in London, and islanders have asked for it to come home.

This quiz covers the history, statues, traditions and landscapes of Easter Island.

What This Quiz Teaches

This quiz is perfect for history fans, travelers and mystery lovers.

The names Rapa Nui and Easter Island
How and where the moai were carved
Pukao, ahu and Ahu Tongariki
The Birdman competition at Orongo
The rongorongo script
Anakena beach and island life today

Quick Facts About Easter Island

Flights from Santiago to the island take about five and a half hours.
The largest moai ever carved, called El Gigante, was never finished.
The island has three main extinct volcanoes.
Easter Island observes Chilean law but has special status.
The Tapati Rapa Nui festival includes a triathlon on banana-trunk sleds.
Visitors must go with a local guide in many areas of the national park.