Thursday, March 29, 2012

The Easter Island “Heads” Have Bodies


The Moai "heads" on Easter Island have bodies. Because some of the statues are set deep into the ground, and because the heads on the statues are disproportionately large, many people (myself included) tend to think of them as just big heads. But the bodies (generally not including legs, though there is at least one kneeling statue) are there — in many cases, underground. What's even more interesting — there are petroglyphs (rock markings) that have been preserved below the soil level, where they have been protected from erosion.

Although it looks like 2 images, it's actually only 1 mind-bending picture


Everyone's reaction to this one can be summed up as, "What's the big deal? It's just two pics, one of a giant oil tanker and one of a peaceful little town--OH HOLY FUCK THOSE PEOPLE ARE ABOUT TO BE CRUSHED."

That is in fact one photo, of the The Pasha Bulker, a ship that famously ran aground in 2007 within spitting distance of that little Australian community there. The accident was due to bad weather while the captain was "eating breakfast." Apparently it became quite a tourist attraction, with people traveling from all over to see the massive stuck ship and perhaps hoping it was about to spill several million gallons of Fosters.

Dat tail