One of the unsolved mystery, but able to be solve now, said British archaeologists. They believe they have solved the ancient mystery of how the giant stone statues on Easter Island acquired distinctive red hats.
The researchers said the key to the mystery lies in their discovery of a road on the tiny Pacific island.
The hats were built in a quarry hidden inside the crater of an ancient volcano, and then rolled by hand or on tree logs to the site of the statues, said the team from the University of Manchester and University College, London.
The archaeologists examined the way the hats, each weighing several tons and made of red scoria, a pumice-like volcanic rock, were moved by Polynesians between 500 and 750 years ago.
They were placed on the heads of carved stone human figures known as moai standing on ceremonial platforms which encircle the island's coastline.
But the riddle of how they were raised and attached remains unsolved. There are no evidence of bulldozer, no crane and so on being used to build the statues. So what are they use?
More reading at Discovery Channel , 8 Sept 2009
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