Orongo ceremonial village stone houses. In this place on top of Rano Kau volcano, each spring there was a ceremony for choosing Tangata Manu (Bird Man) for that year. The Tangata Manu had complete political power till next spring. Candidates for being Tangata Manu waited inside the Orongo stone houses while their warriors went down the cliffs and swam to the islets nearby in search of the eggs of the migratory Manutara seagulls that arrived each spring. When a warrior arrived with the first egg, his candidate received the title of Tangata Manu.
