Part of the British Museum’s Object in Focus range, an introductory guide to Hoa Hakananai’a.

Hoa Hakananai’a, or “stolen/hidden friend’, was discovered at the impressive ceremonial village of Orongo, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Polynesia in 1868. It is not known precisely when this basalt figure was carved, but by 1000-1100 AD, similar-sized statues, all called Moai, were being quarried in the volcanic ash of Rano Raraku.

Nearly a thousand moai were produced – all sacred icons exemplifying the Polynesian concern with ancestry, the gods, life and death.

This book tells the story of Hoa Hakananai’a: an imposing, intriguing figure of superb workmanship, it was the focal point of initiation rites, and is layered with late relief carvings that relate it to exotic birdman rites.