There are somewhere around 1,000 moai statues on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The tallest of the moai measures 33 feet tall and, on average, each statue weighs around 14 tons. Given that they were created somewhere between the 1200s and 1500 CE, by locals using tools made from obsidian and then, somehow, were transported from quarries, using nothing but manpower, makes them a frigging miracle. Scientists assumed that they'd found them all. Easter Island isn't a big place. It's hard to hide something as huge as a moai. However, it appears that it can be done. According to Popular Mechanics, a moai new to the neighbourhood was recently discovered in the dried bed of a lake, hidden amongst the reeds.
As the area undergoes drying, the lakebed in question has given up its moai. And this opportunity may occur again. "Under the dry conditions that we have now, we may find more," Hunt said. "They've been hidden by the tall reeds that grow in the lakebed and prospecting with something that can detect what's under the ground surface may tell us that there are in fact more moai in the lakebed sediments. When there's one moai in the lake, there's probably more."
The newly discovered moai is also one of the smallest found, leading experts to believe that hidden within these reeds is the potential for a bounty of new moai.
Easter Island is around 15 miles long and 8 miles wide. You could fit it inside Menorca Island and still have room for binge-drinking vacationers to ruin the lives of the locals. Given that it's such a relatively small space and folks are still discovering new surprises, think of what other wonders/horrors/problematic relics the world must hold.
