Sunday 1 July 2012


Stone Statues on Easter Island Have Bodies


I’m sure many of us read (at school probably!) about Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon-Tiki expedition of 1947 in which he and five friends journeyed from Peru to Polynesia on a raft constructed from balsa wood and other native materials. 


His aim was to establish the possibility of east to west migration and settlement of Polynesia.

The most striking thing for me about the expedition was the stone statues of Easter Island encountered on the way.

Recentish archaeology has revealed that the statues have bodies with a degree of detail hitherto unknown.






Kinda interesting, don't you think?

12 comments:

  1. I did not know about the bodies. This is interesting. Thanks.

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    1. hi Martin

      nor did i and i found it fascinating

      glad you do too

      cheers

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  2. That is interesting. Thanks for the info. Good to get updates like this. It sure would be fun to work on those sites. Cheers, AOM

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    1. hi AOM

      yes, ever since i was a kid i had fantasies about being an archaeologist

      my father had a Portuguese friend (Dr van Macklenburg) who conducted a dig in Egypt and sent me one year a little night lamp - 3000 year old - and it fuelled my fantasy for a few more years.

      cheers

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  3. WOW. I was not aware of that story. Fascinating to see those photos.

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    1. hey glen

      nor was i - it made a great companion with my morning coffee the other day

      i liked seeing the diggers near to statues to get the scale which i was never that sure of

      cheers

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  4. Good heavens! Raises even more questions, doesn't it. The world is an endlessly fascinating place. Even if one has not yet had one's first martini of the day.

    I remember writing a book report on Kon-Tiki when I was in the 7th grade. Mainly I was puzzled by why anyone would do such a thing when they could just as easily gotten on an airplane. Understanding that life in the very distant past was different from life in the 1950s came only much, much later. Perhaps, because in East Tennessee life wasn't all that different from the very, very distant past?

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    1. hi Paul

      yes, my dry martini was still lodged firmly in the cocktail cabinet when i read this one

      i can imagine your thought of flight - Kon-Tiki Air has such a convincing ring to it!

      i was in Egypt a few years back (probably mentioned it before) and at Aswan and, on the other side of the Nile, i walked across the desert to the now abandoned St Michael's monastery and found lots of pottery chards - just everywhere round the C6 BC buildings.

      i have some on my desk now. i was surprised just how much stuff is still lying round.

      of course these little bits have no art or archeological value. just fun to have!

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  5. I never knew of this! Thanks for posting, it's amazing!

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    1. hi Rich

      nor did i - always thought of these statues as heads sticking out of the ground. nice to have the full picture, isn't it.

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