Motu Iti (Rapa Nui)
Motu Iti, or Little island in the Rapa Nui language, is a small uninhabited islet near Motu Nui, about a mile from Rano Kau on the south western corner of Easter Island, a Chilean island in the Pacific. It has a land area of 1.6 hectares, which makes it the second largest of the five satellite islands of Easter Island, after Motu Nui.
Nowadays it is a bird sanctuary and part of the Rapa Nui National Park but until the late nineteenth century CE it was important to the Rapanui people both as their best source[1] of obsidian for sharp edged tools and for an annual harvest of eggs and fledglings from the seabirds that nested on it. Motu Iti is the summit of a large volcanic mountain which rises over 2,000 meters from the sea bed.
Seabirds nesting on Motu Iti include the sooty tern.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Flenley and Bahn The enigmas of Easter Island 2003 ISBN 0-19-280340-9
27°11′44″S 109°26′59″W / 27.19556°S 109.44972°W
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