Easter Island: main sights and a Q&A.(Chicago Tribune)

Byline: Randy Curwen

1. Rano Raraku quarry

"The nursery" where most of the statues were produced. Many of the almost 400 moais found here were uncompleted when work stopped. Some completed ones may have been left behind because they were damaged. The moais were carved both on the outside and inner slopes of this volcanic cone; one of the island's three crater lakes lies inside.

2. Ahu Tongariki

The largest _ and most scenic _ ahu on the island, with 15 giant moais. A small moai near the gate to the site is the world's best-traveled moai, having been flown around the world for exhibition by the Japanese who re-erected the ahu's moais in 1997.

3. Iko's Trench (Ko te Ava o Iko)

A depression leading from one side of the island to the other on the slopes of the Poike volcano. Legend has it that it was built by the industrious Long Ears and their chief Iko as a defensive trench against the Short Ears, who resented laboring under them. In the decisive battle, the Long Ears filled the trench with branches and set it afire, but through treachery, the Short Ears surrounded the Long Ears and forced them into their own fire pit, effectively wiping out both them and the ahu-building period.