Puna Pau

Puna Pau is a quarry in a small crater or cinder cone on the outskirts of Hanga Roa in the south west of Easter Island (a Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean). Puna Pau also gives its name to one of the seven regions of the Rapa Nui National Park.

Inside of park brochure for Puna Pau (in Spanish)

Outside of park brochure for Puna Pau (in English)

Puna Pau was the sole source of the red scoria that the Rapa Nui people used to carve the pukao (topknots) that they put on the heads of some of their iconic moai statues.

The stone from Puna Pau was also used for a few non-standard moai including Tukuturi and also for some petroglyphs.

Some examples of the use of red scoria from Puna Pau:

• 

  Tukuturi, a moai at Rano Raraku

• 

  Close up of red scoria pukao on the head of a moai at Ahu Tahai

• 

  Petroglyphs - Makemake with two birdmen

References

http://www.eisp.org/

External links

• Unofficial Easter Island Homepage
• Easter Island Statue project

Coordinates: 27°08′54″S 109°24′14″W / 27.1482°S 109.4039°W / -27.1482; -109.4039