What happened to many of Easter Island’s statues during the late cultural period?

During the late cultural period on Easter Island, the upright ahu images—the monumental stone statues—were successively overthrown.1

This era, which began around 1680, was characterized by internal conflict, general destruction, and cultural decline. By the time Captain James Cook visited the island in 1774, he observed that the large statues were no longer venerated and that most had been deliberately toppled. While these monumental works were abandoned, smaller stone figurines and wood carvings became the primary forms of artistic expression during this time.12