12.5 t27,600 lb
A typical Easter Island moai weighs about 12.5 tonnes (27,600 lb) and stands about 4 m (13 ft) tall. That is an average across more than 900 statues of very different sizes. The heaviest moai ever raised, at Ahu Tongariki, weighs 86 tonnes (190,000 lb), and an unfinished giant still in the quarry would have weighed about 150 tonnes.
| Te Tokanga, unfinished, about 21 mStill attached to the quarry; estimates run from 145 t to 250 t | 155 t342,000 lb |
|---|---|
| Heaviest moai ever erectedAhu Tongariki | 86 t190,000 lb |
| Paro, tallest moai ever erectedAlmost 10 m (33 ft), now fallen | 82 t181,000 lb |
| Average moaiAbout 4 m (13 ft) tall, 1.6 m wide at the base | 12.5 t27,600 lb |
| Hoa Hakananai’a, British Museum2.42 m (7.9 ft), carved from lava rather than tuff | 4.2 t9,260 lb |
The Rapa Nui people carved more than 900 moai, mostly between about 1250 and 1500. The average one is about 4 m (13 ft) tall and 1.6 m (5.2 ft) wide at the base, and weighs around 12.5 tonnes (13.8 US tons). That is an average, not a standard size: the statues range from a few tonnes to more than 80.
All but 53 of the known moai were carved from tuff, a rock made of compressed volcanic ash, at the Rano Raraku quarry. About 394 statues in various stages of completion are still there. Many on the quarry slopes are buried up to their shoulders, which is why people often call them “Easter Island heads”, but every moai has a full body.
The heaviest moai ever stood up is at Ahu Tongariki, the largest platform on the island, which carries 15 statues. One of them, shorter but squatter than the tallest moai, weighs 86 tonnes (about 190,000 lb). A tsunami from the 1960 Chilean earthquake swept the platform and its statues inland, and they were put back up in the 1990s with help and a large crane from the Japanese crane maker Tadano.
The tallest moai ever erected is Paro, almost 10 m (33 ft) high and about 82 tonnes. A French visitor saw it standing in 1838; it has since fallen and lies face down, broken in two.
The biggest of all never left Rano Raraku. Known as Te Tokanga, it is about 21 m (69 ft) long and still joined to the rock. Wikipedia puts its finished weight at 145 to 165 tonnes, while a local guide quotes about 250 tons, so treat any single number with caution.
Rapa Nui tradition says the moai walked, and experiments show how. In 1986 Pavel Pavel and Thor Heyerdahl tied ropes to the head and base of 5 and 9 tonne statues and, with 8 and 16 workers, rocked them forward from side to side. In 2012 Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo had 18 people walk a 4.35 tonne concrete replica 100 m (328 ft) in 40 minutes.
A 2025 study by Lipo and Hunt in the Journal of Archaeological Science looked at 962 moai, including 62 left along the old roads. Those road moai lean forward and have wide bases, which suits being rocked upright rather than dragged on their backs. The roads were about 4.5 m wide and concave, and statues travelled as far as 11 miles (about 18 km) from the quarry.
Walking was not the only idea tested. In 1999 a team moved a 9 tonne moai lying on a sledge over rollers, using about 60 people.
An average moai weighs about 12.5 tonnes, or 27,600 lb. The heaviest one ever erected, at Ahu Tongariki, weighs 86 tonnes, about 190,000 lb.
The average moai is about 4 m (13 ft) tall. The tallest ever erected, Paro, was almost 10 m (33 ft), and the unfinished Te Tokanga in the quarry is about 21 m (69 ft) long.
Yes, every moai is a full-body statue. Many of the famous ones on the slopes of Rano Raraku are buried up to their shoulders, so only the heads show.
More than 900 are known, and a 2025 study counted 962. About 394 are still at the Rano Raraku quarry, many of them unfinished.
Hoa Hakananai’a weighs 4.2 tonnes (about 9,300 lb) and is 2.42 m (7.9 ft) tall. It was taken from Orongo in 1868 by the crew of HMS Topaze, and Rapa Nui has asked for it back.
Last checked October 2, 2026.
