May 12, 2012 Easter Island heads have bodies!

[sandypossum]

I got the link from a FB friend, and one of her other friends called hoax, so I checked it out some more. I started with the Wikipedia page about them. I agree that Wiki is fallible, however, follow the links and the evidence is overwhelming that they really do all have bodies

Though moai are whole-body statues, they are commonly referred to as "Easter Island heads"

. Most of the moai on the island are in fact fully visible. The reason we think of them as just heads is that when photographers first got to the island all but the partly buried ones (the ones you generally think of ) had toppled. The heads had not as they were kept upright by... being half buried. They've since been set upright again - not a simple job. Some were probably toppled by earthquakes, some probably by rival clans. Landslides due to the earthquakes are probably the cause of the "heads" being "buried" as well. I get the impression that so many of them have been uncovered and set upright for quite a while, and the excavation is rather the last step in the restoration project. It's actually pretty cool that they were buried, as it has been able to preserve the fine details lost on the exposed ones. My guess is that they've become a bit of an internet sensation right now just because someone posted a photo in the right place at the right time and... whhhhhhooooosh! Everywhere. Rapa Nui has long been on my bucket list!