The Easter Island statues

When the first sailing ship came to Easter Island in 1722, the captain and crew were afraid to land. They saw giants looking down at them from the high cliffs. The giants didn’t move, so the ship gradually sailed closer. Finally, the sailors realized the giants were only statues. These huge carvings have puzzled the world ever since. Who made them? How did the get there?

            Easter Island is a small dot in the South Pacific Ocean. It is hundreds of miles away from the nearest shipping route, and it is one of the most isolated places on earth. The near-est mainland is over 2,000 miles away in South America.

            The biggest statue on Easter Island is over 60 feet high and weighs over 100 tons. There are hundreds of smaller ones, about 15 feet high. All of the statues are carved from stone and some wear stone hats. Their faces are solemn and unsmiling.

Earlier inhabitants of Easter Island carved the statues from the rocks in a volcanic crater next. They had to move the statues a long distance, in some cases more than ten miles, to erect them in their present position.

            No one knows for certain how the inhabitants achieved this very difficult feat, Some scientists say that palm trees grew on Easter Island in the past. They think the inhabitants cute the tree trunks. Then groups of seventy or more people rolled the statues to their present locations, Other scientists dispute this theory because there are no palm trees on the island today. More importantly, the actual purpose of the statues remains a mystery, Some, at least, were probably placed on the cliffs to prevent strangers from landing on the island.

            The result, however has been the opposite, Crowds of eager people come to gape at the statues. Easter Island is no longer a dot on the map. it has a modern airport and tourists visit from all over the world.