About this place
A coastal ahu where moai lie fallen—raw evidence of clan wars and tsunami damage.
Hanga Te’e (often grouped with Vaihu) presents moai face-down in the grass, topknots scattered like abandoned wheels. The scene shocks first-time visitors, yet archaeologists read it as a timeline: some statues fell during inter-clan fighting, others during 20th-century storms. Walking the shoreline clarifies how close villages lived to the surf—and how vulnerable monuments remain to rising seas.
Photography ethics
Resist the urge to step inside rope lines for “unique” angles—erosion from footsteps is cumulative. Long lenses from the path still convey drama.