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Easter Island: Early Witnesses
William Thomson
493
appears to have been to select a suitable rock
upon which the image was sketched in a reclining
position. The upper surface having been carved
into shape and entirely finished, the last work
was to cut the back loose from the rock. This
necessitated the exercise of great care to prevent
the breaking off of exposed portions, and was
accomplished by building piles of stones to
sustain the weight while it was being undermined.
Ninety-three statues in all, similar to those
shown in Figs. 11 and 12, were counted inside the
crater, and of these forty are standing up,
completed and ready to be transported to the
platforms for which they were
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FIG. 11.
IMAGE: RANA RORAKA (front view)
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FIG. 12.
IMAGE: RANA RORAKA (back view)
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intended. They stand well down towards the bottom
of the slope, and are more or less buried in the
earth by the washings from above, as shown in
Figs. 13 and 14. The work of lowering the huge
images from the upper terraces to the bottom of
the crater and thence over the wall and down into
the plain below, was of great magnitude, and we
are lost in wonder that so much could be
accomplished by rude savages ignorant of
everything in the way of mechanical appliances.
The average weight of these statues Would be
something between 10 and 12 tons, but some are
very large and would weigh over 40 tons. It is
possible that a slide was made, upon which the
images were launched to the level ground below; a
number of broken and damaged figures lie in a
position to suggest that idea, but from the bottom
of the crater they were transported up and over
the wall and thence over hill and dale to various
points all over the island. Excavations were made
at different points inside the
493