Mysteries of Easter Island - Beautiful Moai (Part III)Easter Island, one of the most remote, inhabit

Mysteries of Easter Island - Beautiful Moai (Part III)Easter Island, one of the most remote, inhabited islands (see, http://bit.ly/1ENQBO8 and http://on.fb.me/1fEelhd) in the world is located over 2,000 miles off the coast of Chile. The giant stone heads, Moais, of Easter Island are a fascinating mystery. The statues are thought to be the faces of the ancestors of the Rapa Nui people that carved them sometime between 1250 and 1500 CE. Why were the stone heads built in the first place? Who put them there? Is it the aliens? These questions have perplexed people for hundreds of years. Researchers are excavating the statues (in the picture) to better understand the Rapa Nui people and to explain the secrets of these beautiful Moais.For the first time in 2012, it was confirmed by researchers working in the Easter Island Statue Project (EISP) that the “famous heads” of Easter Island Moais also have torsos buried within the soil. Archaeologists have always suspected that the Moais have torsos after finding half finished and broken statues strewn near the island’s stone quarry, Rano Raroko, but recent on-site excavations confirmed this result. Jo Anne Van Tilburg, director of the EISP, believes the 150 most fascinating, famous and widely recognised Moais are “buried up to the shoulders on the slope of a volcano, and this suggested to people who had not seen photos of (other unearthed statues) that they are heads only.”The Moais are believed to be most amazing works of art by Rapa Nui which not only showcased their excellent aesthetic sensibilities but also their epic endurance. According to the local legend, the ancestral spirits (mana) were invoked in the statues by Rapa Nui and then the statues were walked from the center of the island to the beach. The experts are of the opinion that Rapa Nui had used sheer physical prowess and skills both in building the huge monoliths and then successfully transporting them to their pre-designated locations near the sea. A simple number will be enough to explain the islanders’ Herculean feats; the tallest head discovered to date is over 9 meters (30 feet) tall and weighs about 74,390 kgs (82 tons). The torsos of the statues are covered with petroglyphs; drawings believed to represent an ancient pictographic written language of the Rapa Nui people. The EISP researchers found many crescent shaped symbols, most likely depicting the canoes on which the islanders came to the island. They are now studying the designs on the Moais to decipher the language of the Rapa Nui people. Van Tilburg is confident that the excavated torsos will provide them with new information about the Rapa Nui and will help them get a glimpse into the lives of these people.–RB.Further information: http://bit.ly/1J9bfxYhttp://bit.ly/1fVc4iwhttp://bit.ly/1CPWb73http://bit.ly/1JqBv2zhttp://dailym.ai/1hGy9uvhttp://bit.ly/1JCU9bxImage: http://bit.ly/1CPQPbU -- source link

More pics about