This humоrоus picture оf twо well-knоwn Eаster Islаnd stаtues sitting with their аrms crоssed beneаth them is nоt аs distаnt frоm the truth аs оne mаy believe.

The famous pictures of the Easter Island heads are familiar to all of us, at least from pictures and films. However, few of us are aware that those heads genuinely have concealed bodies buried beneath the surface of the ground.]

“The reason people think they are [only] heads is because 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,” says Van Tilburg, a researcher at the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles. This implied that the statues are merely heads to those who had not seen pictures of the other ones that had been discovered on the island.

In order to better study and conserve the statues of the Rapa Nui, a group of archaeologists from UCLA who crafted these figures between 1,100 and 1,500 CE out of stone obtained on their islands in the South Pacific, the archaeologists formed the Easter Island Statue Project. The team’s efforts resulted in the excavation of multiple heads, exposing the torso and body beneath.’

The lower portion of the statue was buried behind a series of mass transport sediments that had obscured the heads. As the islands naturally aged and eroded over the decades, these occurrences engulfed the statues and progressively buried them up to their skulls.

During the course of the nine-year study, about 1,000 monuments on the small Pacific Island were surveyed and documented. To the best of their ability, the team ascertained the significance, purpose, and background of every single statue.

On the backs of the statues, they discovered carved petroglyphs, which are typically crescent-shaped and depict Polynesian vessels. The carver’s family is most likely represented by the canoe motif, which also offers insights into other familial and social organizations on the island.

Severаl peоple’s humаn buriаl sites included lаrge аmоunts оf red pigment, indicаting thаt the stаtues were prоbаbly pаinted red during rituаls. These grаveyаrds аre frequently fоund clоse tо the stаtues, indicаting thаt the Rаpа Nui interred their deаd beside the fаmily’s stаtue.

And lastly, this is the method used to carve the well-known statues. The one below was carved, but it was never built. It would have been taller than two Boeing 737s, standing 72 feet tall (the tallest standing is 33 feet high).