Bodies of Easter Island’s famous heads revealed

AllTop ^ | 5/12/2012 | staff

[bkopto]

The head statuary of Easter Island is instantly recognizable to people all over the world, but who would have guessed that, lurking beneath the soil, these famous mugs also had bodies?

The Easter Island Statue Project Conservation Initiative, which is funded by the Archaeological Institute of America, has been excavating two of the enormous figures for the last several years, and have found unique petroglyphs carved on their backs that had been conserved in the soil. Their research has also yielded evidence of how the carvers were paid with food such as tuna and lobster, as well as clues to how the enormous structures were transported.

[bkopto]

GGG Ping

[patriot08]

Well I'll just be darned. Look at that! Thanks for posting!

Somebody posted that if they had been buried up to their lips, nobody would have bothered to see if that was all there was to them. LOL

[Salamander]

*Wow! ping

[cynwoody]

It's 2012.

Thor Heyardahl visited the place back in the fifties.

Sheesh! Only now are they excavating?

[Political Junkie Too]

Dum-dum. You show my bum-bum!

-PJ

[21twelve]

The original tramp stamp!

Which will also lead to the mysterious demise of the U.S. of A. as well!

[shibumi]

Has Zahi Hawass locked down the site yet?

[Havisham]

I have heard that the island’s inhabitants declined to extinction because the ocean currents isolated them and the island became depleted of food sources. It occurred to me that the towering monoliths were a practical way of signaling from a greater distance the islands presence to wayfarers. At some point, there was no one who would make the journey successfully. The statues would, over time, be ‘buried’ more deeply in sedimentary deposits, exposing only the uppermost part.

[SeeSharp]

Has Zahi Hawass locked down the site yet?

Yes. And, of course, this proves the Egyptians weren't slaves.

[Ezekiel]

Is this for real? Funny... I saw one of these heads at the British Museum a few years back. What, did they unwittingly(?) decapitate the poor soul in order to remove him from the island? Archaeology, FUBAR? lol

[shibumi]

[Salamander]

LOL!

[Lazamataz]

Just shows we don’t know 1% of what we think we know.

[eastforker]

Actually it should read we don’t know 99% of what we think we know, or, we only know 1% of what we think we know!

Cheers

[Cementjungle]

I guess that would have been the first place I would have looked for the bodies... right below the heads.

[Lazamataz]

My brain just exploded.

Again.

[prisoner6]

IIRC most of the moai DO have bodies of sorts, at least down to just below the hips. At least one is in a kneeling position and fully exposed.

One of the pics that is usually shown is that of the main ahu that has been restored. There are 15 moai all in a line. It had been toppled and swept inland years later by a tsunami. If you see the picture all of the moai have bodies down to their hips.

I don't recall if that is the one where the moai face the sea. I don't believe they do. Most moai face inland NOT toward the sea but at least one does face the sea.

Another little known fact is that many moai are still in the quarry where they were hewn from relatively soft volcanic rock. They never made it to the final destination!

[MotorCityBuck]

Lol. I check these threads just to see how long it takes for UFO guy to show up.

[Vendome]

Amazing

[SatinDoll]

“My brain just exploded.”

Stop that! It’s messy.

[Lazamataz]

Oh wait, that wasn’t my brain.

[Venturer]

Paid off with Tuna , and Lobster. How can I get a job like that?

[goseminoles]

That’s not a tramp stamp! That’s a Panama City Beach license plate..

[lucky american]

He looks like Ambassador Londo Molari

[dangus]

I thought they had been found nearly all knocked over, and had been righted.

[savedbygrace]

More info:

http://www.philipcoppens.com/easterisle.html

[BuffaloJack]

Obama personally discovered these bodies.

[SunkenCiv]

GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach	join list or digest view topics view or post blog bookmark post a topic subscribe
Thanks bkopto and Lazamataz. ...has been excavating two of the enormous figures for the last several years, and have found unique petroglyphs carved on their backs that had been conserved in the soil. Apropos of nothing, anyone else ever read Thor Heyerdahl's "Aku-Aku"? To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.

[SunkenCiv]

LOL!

[SMARTY]

Right, but maybe there were restrictions on who could research and if they could or could not disturb the site.

[Cowman]

Paid off with Tuna , and Lobster. How can I get a job like that?

That depends; Are you good at catching mice?

[wolfcreek]

Well ya know what they say about assumptions?

[NYer]

Ping!

[Vaquero]

Mollari? where is Curly?

[InvisibleChurch]

No one ever thought of doing this before now? Well, that seems a bit negligent.

[Fred Nerks]

A statue excavated by Heyerdahl’s team.

source

EASTER ISLAND LAND OF MYSTERY

[TXnMA]

Several decades ago, National Geographic had articles on excavated Moai that showed the statues' hands clasped together in front -- supporting their overhanging bellies. You can see that in the Heyerdahl photo in this comment #17...

There were also articles (?Sci AM?) about entire Moai being transported overland and erected by only a few men -- using only wooden rollers, beams, and ropes...and some digging...

The articles discussed the inscriptions on the Moais' backs and compared them to the mysterious wooden "written" tablets found in seaside caves.

I really don't see what the big deal is about excavating a couple more Moai now.

Perhaps there are new details in the actual reports that are not revealed in this "pop" article...

[Condor51]

[eartrumpet]

[Dick Vomer]

What is WITH This guy and his hair? HE also pronounces the T in “often.”

[China Clipper]

"Hey! Someone shut the door!! I'm not finished yet!!!" Can't a giant stone guy get a little privacy!

[patriot08]

LOL

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

****Thor Heyardahl visited the place back in the fifties. ****

He also uncovered some of the stone bodies. This is not new. Photos in his book AKU-AKU clearly shows some that he excavated showing their were bodies under the heads.

[JRios1968]

[Last of the Mohicans]

They have eyes too.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***I thought they had been found nearly all knocked over, and had been righted.***

I believe those were the half statues sitting on a long rock platform. They had been thrown face down, then over the years beginning with Thor Heyardahl, a few of them have been set back up.

[MortMan]

Infinity tramp stamp and all!

[Tijeras_Slim]

"I've got a fine horse under me."

[blam]

"I have heard that the island’s inhabitants declined to extinction because the ocean currents isolated them and the island became depleted of food sources. It occurred to me that the towering monoliths were a practical way of signaling from a greater distance the islands presence to wayfarers. At some point, there was no one who would make the journey successfully. The statues would, over time, be ‘buried’ more deeply in sedimentary deposits, exposing only the uppermost part."

They chopped down all the trees. There wasn't any wood to make canoes to leave.

I wonder what the guy who chopped down the last tree was thinking?