r/BeAmazed • u/Saerdna0 • 6d ago
Miscellaneous / Others A fully excavated Easter Island head
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u/Saerdna0 6d ago
Just to add some interesting facts: Archaeologists have documented 887 of the massive statues, known as moai, but there may up as many as 1,000 of them on the island. Most were carved from volcanic rock between 1100 and 1680.
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u/AmcillaSB 6d ago
They also had white eyes and pupils, but many of those are broken or missing.
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u/Hksbdb 6d ago
And hats!
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u/mandatedvirus 6d ago
And sunglasses!
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u/WriterDave 6d ago
And my axe!
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u/InTheDarknesBindThem 6d ago
They were not hats, it is instead a bundled up topknot of hair.
Also, they were only added quite close to the end of the building era. So they didnt always have them.
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u/Polkenator 6d ago
Makes me wonder how have there accumulated so much dirt only since 1100-1680?
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u/IsNoPebbleTossed 6d ago edited 6d ago
The dirt is the scaffolding that allows workers to reach the head. So you are correct about the oddity of that much dirt accumulating naturally.
The completed statues were uncovered, and then moved from the construction zone to other parts of the island. Then there was some kind of revolt in which the full standing statues were cast down and defaced. But the “vandals” didn’t bother to dig out the ones under construction. That’s why the standing images that we all are familiar with only show mostly the head.
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u/Berry_Luxury 6d ago
The tallest moai erected, called Paro, was almost 10 metres (33 ft) high and weighed 82 tonnes (80.7 tons).
The average height of the moai is about 4 m (13 ft), with the average width at the base around 1.6 m (5.2 ft). These massive creations usually weigh around 12.5 tonnes (13.8 tons) each.
From wiki
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u/jobforgears 6d ago
I feel like they just sunk over time being so tall, thin, and heavy. I'd venture a guess that they get a lot of rain on the island which probably just made it easier for them to sink into the island over time. Makes me wonder if any of our monuments/statues will be in the ground in a few hundred years
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u/SharkLime789 6d ago
And honestly, I bet some of our monuments will totally sink or tilt over time too.
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u/RVAblues 6d ago
The didn’t sink. The soil built up around them.
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u/InTheDarknesBindThem 6d ago
Hmm, maybe?
Ground doesnt always just magically "rise".
Would only make sense if they were in a valley, which this one definitely is. Still hard, to image 24 feet of sediment building up in <1000 years.
How volcanically active is the island? Perhaps its from lava flows.
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u/RVAblues 6d ago
I once dug out a back garden that had been abandoned for 10 years. The patio was under 3 feet of dirt and rotting vegetation.
20-30 feet at the bottom of a valley over a thousand years is extremely possible. Likely, even. Especially considering that deforestation is what caused the downfall of this civilization. Without trees, the soil on higher elevations erodes much faster.
It’s not lava. Lava would be rock. Pyroclastic flow could do that overnight, but would consist of ash and pumice. This appears to simply be dirt. And I don’t think Easter Island is all that active anyway.
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u/InTheDarknesBindThem 6d ago
The point about deforestation is good.
As for lava, nah man, these islands are made of lava. It really doesn't take long for erosion and plants to turn lava into soil. Several centuries would be plenty imo.
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u/RVAblues 6d ago
Except the volcanoes on Easter Island are extinct and have been since before these statues were carved.
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u/InTheDarknesBindThem 6d ago
I feel it was clear we were talking about soil accumulation in general, not just on this island.
Unless you were saying that back yard patio was on easter island, specifically? :P
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u/RVAblues 6d ago
You’re the one who brought up lava in regards to covering the statues. It is not lava. It is just regular soil runoff.
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u/Pinksters 6d ago
That analysis revealed the rate at which the city is sinking: “The average is about 1 to 2 millimeters a year, with some areas of greater subsidence that are up to about 4½ millimeters a year,”
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u/kevinlyfather33 6d ago
I went there in 2019. Place is unreal. https://imgur.com/a/VDLXElU
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u/Any-Analysis-9189 6d ago
What about night time does it look scary or not ?
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u/kevinlyfather33 5d ago
We didn’t go to those sites at night, but I do have a few pics from an early morning walk. https://imgur.com/a/bZMQZhX
Interesting thing about night time there is that you can hear roosters and dogs all over the island.
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u/AnnOnnamis 6d ago
I’d like to see the Cal State researchers just try to “rope walk” this giant sequoia of a statue.
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u/Emotional_Youth1500 6d ago
The taller it is vs. Width the tippier it becomes … It’s really more about how would they counter balance the tilt? Maybe an elaborate pulley/pendulum systems?
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u/critiqueextension 6d ago
The iconic Moai statues of Easter Island, often depicted as just heads, actually possess buried torsos that have been documented through various excavations since 1914, revealing their full structure. This misconception stems from the fact that many of the most photographed Moai are only partially excavated, which has led to a narrative that they are exclusively heads; however, significant discoveries have shown the full bodies to intricately represent the ancestors of the Rapa Nui people and their cultural practices. For more information, refer to sources such as Forbes and ExplorersWeb.
- The Famous Easter Island Heads Have Hidden Bodies - Forbes
- Yes, the Easter Island Statues Have Bodies — But That's Old News
This is a bot made by [Critique AI](https://critique-labs.ai. If you want vetted information like this on all content you browse, download our extension.)
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u/rarelyeffectual 6d ago
So were they purposely buried to their heads or did that happen over time?
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u/M0nocleSargasm 6d ago
Okay, so now that all of the ground is removed around the base of that thing, what's the danger that it could fall in any/either direction against/crushing one of those guys standing next to it?
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u/showerbox 6d ago
They dug this out as gently and systematically as they could to preserve the site as well as possible. This isn't the run of the mill trench dig. They took their time and inspected every layer of dirt and terraced it. This one dig took them years compared to a regular drainage trench that could be done in a few hours, where accidents are more prevalent. If they died by Easter island head they probably would have died as happy campers. I know I wood.
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u/M0nocleSargasm 6d ago
I think I understand where you're coming from. But, just from a technical standpoint, you would assume the ground directly beneath this thing is now so throughly compacted, it's as if it's like standing on a base of asphalt or crushed rock. So, it would take some significant force to actually tip it one way or the other.
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u/showerbox 6d ago
I agree with the compaction assumption as well. But digging around the base of compacted anything, always includes a possible cave in hazard. I suppose that's why they are so careful digging up monoliths and structures like these; apart from finding and methodically documenting all archeological evidence possible on the way down. I would definitely be standing at the top of that hill in this picture, just in case.
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u/BriefCheetah4136 6d ago
Only aliens can move them!
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u/watchglass2 6d ago
I just reddit was easy, they tied ropes to them and just walked them into position.
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u/HazardousCloset 6d ago
Okay, so now that all of the ground is removed around the base of that thing, what’s the danger of calling it a fully excavated Easter Island statue?
sorry for being technical. I just want to get a head of this issue.
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u/Sea-Morning-772 6d ago
I just saw a video where archeologists attempted to move a sample statue by using ropes and rocking the statue. The statue was half this size. There's no way that the theory of ropes and rocking works on a statue this size.
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u/Cosmic_Meditator777 6d ago
I still never understood why this happens. does the statue sink or does the ground rise?
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u/RVAblues 6d ago
They got covered naturally over time.
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u/RVAblues 5d ago
There has been severe erosion in the hills above since the island was deforested. It rains there a lot. It doesn’t take long to cover something like that in those conditions.
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u/Background-Charity22 6d ago
So, did that part sink over time? Or did they do it on purpose so that it would never move? Impressive either way
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u/NYdude777 6d ago
Call me crazy, but I don't think this was done by primitive Humans or any other megalithic site in the world for that matter. I know crazy take.
/s
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u/MauroElLobo_7785 6d ago
Chile is a land of wonders . Isla de Pascua Is one of them. And we are the longest country in the world too . Regards from Chile to everyone.
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u/drunk_responses 6d ago
For more context: Far from all of them are buried or this tall.
As easily dmeonstrated by the top picture on wikipedia, showing the ones on plinths.
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u/seeclick8 6d ago
Was there for a few days in December. Great place! People are nice, ambiance is relaxed, food is good, Moai are amazing.
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u/NoNameIdea_Seriously 5d ago
Honestly surprised the comments aren’t dominated by a chain of 🗿…
I suppose it’s not as common in this sub as some others.
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u/Paltenburg 3d ago
I'm amazed by how consistent each culture has their own cartoonish representation of people.
For example if you compare manga and western cartoons. But also here, all the statues have the exact same unrealistic simplifications in the shape of the face.
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u/Zero_Dark_Dirt 6d ago
Missed opportunity for it not to be anatomically correct in the wiener area. Huge bone-r would have been hilarious to excavate.
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u/IsthatCaustic 6d ago
And these college students who moved a statue not even close to this size think they have it all figured out and how ancient civilizations moved these massive statues 💀
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