Project director Jo Anne Van Tilburg said: 'Our EISP excavations recently exposed the torsos of two 7m tall statues.
'Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of visitors to the island have been astonished to see that, indeed, Easter Island statues have bodies!
'More important, however, we discovered a great deal about the Rapa Nui techniques of ancient engineering.'
Among their discoveries, the team have discovered:
* The dirt and detritus partially burying the statues was washed down from above and not deliberately placed there to bury, protect, or support the statues
* The statues were erected in place and stand on stone pavements
* Post holes were cut into bedrock to support upright tree trunks
* Rope guides were cut into bedrock around the post holes
* Posts, ropes, stones, and different types of stone tools were all used to carve and raise the statues upright
The remote island - one of the remotest in the world, tucked away in the South Pacific Ocean - was once home to a Polynesian population, whose history remains mysterious.
'Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of visitors to the island have been astonished to see that, indeed, Easter Island statues have bodies!
'More important, however, we discovered a great deal about the Rapa Nui techniques of ancient engineering.'
Among their discoveries, the team have discovered:
* The dirt and detritus partially burying the statues was washed down from above and not deliberately placed there to bury, protect, or support the statues
* The statues were erected in place and stand on stone pavements
* Post holes were cut into bedrock to support upright tree trunks
* Rope guides were cut into bedrock around the post holes
* Posts, ropes, stones, and different types of stone tools were all used to carve and raise the statues upright
The remote island - one of the remotest in the world, tucked away in the South Pacific Ocean - was once home to a Polynesian population, whose history remains mysterious.
Easter Island, in the South Pacific sea, is a 64miles-square island - one of the most remote in the world.
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