This funny image with two of the famous Easter Island statues sitting with their body and folded arms under the ground is not as far from reality as one might think.
We all have seen the iconic images of the Easter Island heads – at least on photos and videos. Yet, not many of us know that those heads actually have hidden bodies buried underneath the earth.
According to Van Tilburg, a researcher at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, “The reason people think they are [only] heads is there are about 150 statues buried up to the shoulders on the slope of a volcano, and these are the most famous, most beautiful and most photographed of all the Easter Island statues. This suggested to people who had not seen photos of [other unearthed statues on the island] that they are heads only.”
A team of archaeologists at UCLA developed the Easter Island Statue Project to better study and preserve the statues of the Rapa Nui, the people who carved these figures between 1,100 and 1,500 CE from stone found on their islands situated in the South Pacific. Through this work, the team excavated several of the heads to reveal the underlying torso and body.
The heads had been covered by successive mass transport deposits on the island that buried the statues lower part. These events enveloped the statues and gradually buried them to their heads as the islands naturally weathered and eroded through the centuries.
A total of almost 1,000 statues on the small Pacific Island have been documented and studied in the framework of the project which spanned 9 years. The team determined, as far it was possible, the meaning, function and history of each individual statue.
They found etched petroglyphs on the backs of the figures, commonly crescent shaped to represent Polynesian canoes. The canoe motif is likely the symbol of the carver’s family, providing clues as to different familial or group structures on the island.
Abundant red pigment was found at the human burial sites of several individuals, suggesting that the statues were painted red likely during ceremonies. These burial sites often surround the statues, suggesting that the Rapa Nui buried their dead with the family’s statue.
And finally, here’s is how the famous statues were carved. The one below was carved but never erected, and would have stood 72ft tall (the tallest standing is 33ft high), weighing more than 2 Boeing 737’s.
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Thank you for your insight.
im not used to seeing article with any comments on it, most of the time i read an article it has like one comment, so good job for engaging people.
How many statues
probably a bunch lol
150, see article above
Yes, read the article… “almost 1,000”.
Amazzing
This sounds like it was plagiarized from a 2nd grade homework assignment. Worst article on the Moai ever! Common knowledge they had bodies, and doesn’t mention that they also had eyes.
Why so insulting? Not everyone is aware of the details regarding the Moai. This article provides a succinct introduction.
Thanks for killin the vibe
I thought that this was known. They also had hats. Western culture has known these things from the first encounter with Rapa Nui. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hodges_easter-island.jpg
The marks on the back appear to me as ‘Self-flagellation’ .
Or tattoos?
Support Rapa Nui independence.
And thus its conversion into an USA/ANZAC vassal state such as so many others the South Pacífic over. No thank you. Disclaimer: I am not Chilean, simply a sensible person.
They built these statues big as hell so thay they would last and be seen so it seems to me us diggong them back out is exactly what they wanted for thw ? to see there craftsmanship they are over three thousand years old trust if they ate burial ground God has long since brought them home. People always speak on trivial things never mind there own homes could be on burial grounds they were everywhere
They are not 3,000 years old. They are barely 1,000 years old according to the article.
The article says “1,100 and 1,500 CE”. CE is the same as BC, so you have to add 1100-1500 to 2020 = 3120 – 3520 years ago.
CE , or Common Era, is the same as AD. BCE is the same as BC.
According to the article, the statues are between 500 and 900 years ago.
CE is common era and is the same as AD, so Jessica was correct.
CE is the same as AD
No, BCE is BC, not CE
Noooo….”CE” means “Common Era”, and is a scholarly non-Christian-centric replacement for “AD”. The equivalent for “BC” is “BCE”, or “before common era”.
Correct – they are about 1000 years old! There is no dispute about that among scholars!
There=their
Kristian wrote it correctly….
Their is possessive.
This isn’t exactly news. A number of Moai are still laid out full length in the quarry and Thor Heyerdahl was experimenting with “walking” the entire statues to determine how they were moved back in the 1980’s.
I am curious about the difference in the expertise of the carving of the statue as a whole and that of the canoe on its back. It seems to be the done by a master sculptor and a child – just totally different levels of precision.
Totally agree on the carving of the canoe; it doesn’t match the other carvings. What’s more the canoe seems to have three masts! But it seems Polynesian canoes only had on mast with very simple rigging. Would it be possible that this was carved in more recent history but before the body was totally engulfed in earth by a traveler that has sailed to the island???
Polynesian voyaging canoes had two masts, and it is possible that there were some that had three. Don’t underestimate the skill of the polynesian navigators, they were likely the best in the world. Many don’t know that when the Pacific was colonized, it was routine to burn the voyaging canoes. Some islands hid them, but most were burn’t. What many of the images on the moai represent may be distances to Hawaii, Tahiti, or Aotearoa (New Zealand) where the Maohi (Maoli, Maori) voyaged to. In terms of lashing and knots, Pacific Islanders are likely to have exchanged with many of the west coast first nations their lashings and knots, as they have much similarity, whereas the inland peoples don’t have those knots.
There was a lot of movement of peoples before the European settlers destroyed much of the cultural artifacts. Rapanui also hove the chants of how to enter Hawaii. In Hawaii, those chants no longer exist.
Mahalo nui loa for your precise sharing. I would love to know and learn more about the chants – is there a way to connect with you?
Mahalo nui loa One Baba for your precise sharing. I would love to know and learn more about the chants – is there a way to connect with you?
Your amazing. Really.
I knew nothing about any of this besiddes the heads. How fascinating! You make referance to the Maori; New Zealanders? What do they say?
I see three masts and one cross I’m guessing Spanish ship carving! Maybe why it was built as a symbol of protection from the Spanish ships!!
I think maybe it’s like when you’re busy doing a house project and your little un is all, can I help?? Sure son…chisel a canoe. JUST 1 CANOE!
Haha! Love it!
Wasn’t it discovered that the Easter Island statues surrounded a depression that used to be a lake of drinkable water? Seems it was suggested they might have been installed to guard the precious water.