kivi is a platform with seven Moai (statues) of around 4 meters (13 feet) in height. It was originally called Ahu Atio Runaru and is thought to have been constructed around 1460. It was restored in 1960 by the archaeologists William Mulloy (USA) and Gonzalo Figueroa (Chile). The odd thing about this Ahu (ceremonial platform) is that it is the only one in which the Moai look toward the ocean and perhaps some place within the Polynesian triangle. This would give credence to the oral tradition which claims that the statues represent the seven explorers who were sent by the King Hotu Matu´a to find the mythical land which his royal advisor Haumaka had seen in a dream.
Another theory is that the Moai are really overlooking an inland sector in line with the small Ahu Vai Teka on a north-south equinoxial axis, perpendicular to the azimuth of the rising and setting sun during both annual equinoxes, which seems to have been a consideration in the construction of certain platforms. During the excavations and reconstruction of the funerary site behind the Ahu, fragments of bone, seashells and fishing implements were found. On the base of one of the statues is a carved image of the creator god Make Make, similar to one found on Ahu Huri A Urenga, another platform with astronomical orientation which has been proposed to have been a solar observatory. It is strange that, although this platform is only 4 km (2.5 miles) from the Puna Pau quarry for Pukao (headdresses), none of the seven statues wears this ornament. One of the many mysteries of Rapa Nui.
