Easter Island statues were covered in TATTOOS [View all]
The world was shocked to discover the famous Easter Island heads actually had bodies attached.
Now new pictures have emerged showing their previously hidden torsos are covered with intricate tattoos.
These include crescents carved on the backs of the towering monoliths, which academics say represent the canoes of the Polynesians who made them.
Their significance is not fully understood but they are believed to represent important tribal figures or ancestors.
It is thought the bodies would have been originally displayed in all their glory but that centuries of exposure to the elements caused them to be buried under layers of silt until only the heads remained visible.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/amazing-pictures-show-moment-archaeologists-5846615
A couple of comments on this...... geologist say the statues were not buried and the sedimentary build up should have take thousands of years not hundred....... so the mystery continues
Also some of the early statues are made of basalt which has no quarry on the island.
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