A view of the 7 Moai statues at Ahu Akivi on Easter Island. These are the only Moai on the island that face the sea. The rest turn their backs to the ocean. They are said to watch over and protect the inhabitants of the village. These 15-foot high statues are oriented precisely to look at the point where the sun sets during the Sept. equinox and their backs face the sun at dawn during the Spring equinox. This was the first section of Moais restored on the island back in the 1960s. Most were found lying flat on the ground and had to be raised using only wooden poles, stones and a pair of oxen. You can get a sense of scale when you see the people walking in the background, left.
