Puna Pau

Puna Pau is a quarry in a small crater or cinder cone on the outskirts of Hanga Roa in the south west of Easter Island (a Chilean island in the Pacific Ocean). Puna Pau also gives its name to one of the seven regions of the Rapa Nui National Park.

A red scoria pukao on the head of a moai at Ahu Tahai, made using rock from Puna Pau

Puna Pau was the sole source of the red scoria that the Rapa Nui people used to carve the pukao (topknots) that they put on the heads of some of their iconic moai statues.

The stone from Puna Pau was also used for a few non-standard moai including Tukuturi and also for some petroglyphs.