The Monuments of Old Polynesia - Easter Island

Strange monuments of a forgotten past, scores of these enormous figures stud the bald slopes of Rano Raaku on Easter Island. When set up by the sculptures who shaped the great monoliths in their virgin rock their entire torso was exposed to view; but time in its passage has crumbled the surface of the mountain and soil has gradually accumulated around the base of most of the statues, burying them ever deeper until now only their heads emerge above the sparse herbage, still turning their enigmatic gaze seaward as if challenging the curiosity of rare visitants from the civilized world beyond.

From Wonders of the Past