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"A more or less crooked, and rarely completely straight, piece of toromiro was not infrequently carved into the shape of a long, slim animal with four legs drawn up underneath or alongside its body. The animal is so conventionalized that its zoological species cannot in any way be recognized, but the modern Rapanui term for this creature is moko, the general Polynesian term for any reptile, including the tiny local lizards.
Some of these wooden figures actually assume the form of a rat and are recognized as such by the modern islanders. Many have ears like a mammal. All have a rounded triangular head with a long, thin anthropomorphic nose branching into prominent curving eyebrows that sometimes continue as spirals representing eyes. More often, however, the eyes are inlaid as on the human figurines with bone or shell rings enclosing obsidian disks.
The large, wide mouth runs as a groove from the front and along the sides of the snout. The lower jaw, neck, and body continue more or less on the same level. The body is long with an evenly rounded cross-section. The hind legs are carved in relief and usually have human feet. They are either carved with the knees drawn up under the abdomen or stretched out alongside the extremely thick tail. A circumcised human penis is represented. The front limbs, with elbows drawn back along the sides of the chest, often have only four fingers on the hands, and are invariably placed side by side in a forward position under the neck and chin. A few outstanding ribs are reminiscent of the moai kavakava, and so is at first sight the serrated ridge running down the back. However, this ridge, rather than being carved like a vertebral column, as on the human figures, is here often represented as an indented, saw-shaped dorsal comb. At its base, however, it has a round disk from which a fan-shaped tassel, otherwise symbolic of a bird's tail, radiates towards the buttocks. Some rare small moko had their dorsal comb transversally perforated for a suspension string. At the distal end a long, straight, and extremely stout tail extends backwards from between the legs, forming a sort of grip or handle to the entire figure, which according to tradition served as a club. Métraux (1940, p. 169), in fact, lists the moko as a short-handled club, and cites evidence that it was stuck by its tail into the ground inside the door, and served principally to defend houses and to stop intruders from entering. Moko figures are commonly about 12-15 ins. (30-40 cm.) long with a body diameter of about 1 ½ ins. (4 cm.). All surfaces are polished and left unpainted." (Heyerdahl 3) |
