APRIL 2020

Rano Raraku Quarry Heads


     So here we are on April 1, 2020,  and we just wish someone would say "April Fool!" And what is happening would disappear, and life as we knew it would return. Sadly, that's not the case, so we must forge onwards adapting to our new reality. 
     In the spirit of some things remain the same - "Here's the monthly blog!"

            The Famous Easter Island Heads Have Hidden Bodies

                                               Headline from a Forbes science article in 1987
                             ( You can find the article here - along with some cool pics.) https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2017/07/26/famous-easter-island-heads-have-hidden-bodies/#45b42e4f8041

     I used to often hear of the "Easter Island Heads" - not the statues, the "Heads".  That came from people visiting Rapa Nui (Easter Island) after the 1700s. They were referring to what you see above - part of the Rano Raraku Quarry.  Remember,  the moais which were the subjects of the calendar  Cover, January, and February have all been reconstructed. If you had visited Rapa Nui until relatively recently, you would have seen the 900+ moais in pieces, scattered about the island,  many partially buried. The "partially buried" include all the heads in Rano Raraku. It has only been since 1914 that excavations and recontruction of various moais has occurred.  Rano Raraku is the site where all the moais originated. They were all carved from volcanic tuff in this quarry and then transported all over the island. Many buried moais, with only their heads exposed, remain on the mountain side.

    As early as 1914 there had been excavations of the moais showing they were more than just heads, but it wasn't until the 1980s that archeologists from UCLA began the multi-decade  EASTER ISLAND STATUE PROJECT. This project is the first controlled, scientific archaeological excavations ever undertaken in the interior of Rano Raraku Quarry.  It is also the first stone conservation and preservation pilot program in Rano Raraku. (You can find all the dry details of their first Preliminary report at http://www.eisp.org/3326/).
Rano Raraku Quarry - The dots are moai heads!
"El Gigante" - partially carved 180 ft. moai - (lower right)
         As a result of this Project all the moais in Rano Raraku were mapped and inventoried. The activity in Rano Raraku is only a part of the restoration and preservation conducted by the Easter Island Statue Project. Conservation of the area continues, and the moais are in even more danger of destruction from the elements and tourism.
Hope you are all well and coping. Do stay safe. 
Until next month!


Comments

  1. UnknownApril 2, 2020 at 9:30 AM

    First time to visit your blog... actually, first for any blog. Enjoyed it. Love your pictures and informative info. Thanks.... fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. RosannApril 5, 2020 at 3:49 PM

    Thanks for brightening my day Sylvia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sylvia PattonApril 5, 2020 at 10:32 PM

      I'd love to know who says nice things :-)) If you don't have a google account, just add your name to the post - unless you prefer to remain "unknown" - thanks anyway!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FEBRUARY 2023

Image
       So - you don't have a calendar for 2023. What to do? There is a "green" fix, at least for a few of you! If, by any chance you saved your 2017 COPPER CANYON Calendar, you can reuse it! February 1 is on a Wednesday, so it will work in 2023. Imagine that! BTW it will work for the rest of the year, as it wasn't a leap year, nor is 2023. This calendar, from 2012, will work for 28 days only! February 1 is on a Wednesday, but as 2012 was a leap year, it won't work for March forward! (Who has a 2012 Calendar anyway, except me, of course!)                                                                                                   2023 As promised, this month's images are no...
Read more

NOVEMBER, 2020

Image
This will be a November to remember, having absolutely nothing to do with this calendar! NOVEMBER, with its snow and rock design is a distraction from that "other" reality. You  couldn't be further from the angst of the election than this: on the deck of the Nat. Geo. Explorer in Southern Patagonia, looking up at this wonderful vision. Think about that! How far away it seems, even in "normal" times, let alone 2020! Snow, ice, rocks, trees - all form wonderful patterns for us to contemplate. So I thought I'd take this opportunity to introduce 2021's theme, as it continues this idea of design in nature.  Some images are iconic. You see them and immediately know where they were taken. Others, as the one above, could be from anywhere, well - anywhere really cold! In next year's  calendar you will find images from a number of travel destinations. Some you can figure out where they were taken, others you will not be able to identify the location by viewing...
Read more

JULY 2022

Image
  PHANTOM CANYON TUNNEL I told you last month that I would tell you some stories this month - and so I will! The Phantom Canyon road was originally the Florence & Cripple Creek railroad and connected Victor, CO with Florence, CO.  Cripple Creek  is a town about 6 miles from  Victor , and in the 1890's gold was discovered there.  Soon gold was being mined all over the area, and the population of Cripple Creek was some 30,000; Victor somewhat less. (Compare that to the  1950's when the populations were around 600 and 300, respectively!) Thousands of prospectors arrived between 1890-1910 and the area became the "World's Greatest Gold Camp". Over 22,400,000 oz of gold was extracted from over 500 mines in the Cripple Creek and Victor region. The Florence & Cripple Creek rail road was built in 1894 to haul the gold ore from Cripple Creek  down to the main east/west railroad at Florence. There are two tunnels such as the one a...
Read more