HUMAN BONES 195 



tell the rest of the natives to collect a quantity 

 of bones for us. This same man a native of 

 Tahiti, who had been on Easter Island for several 

 years told us emphatically that the bones were 

 on the island when the present inhabitants first 

 arrived there from Tahiti. 



We, of course, accepted his offer, and, on our 



return to the landing 

 place a few hours after- 

 wards, we found a large 

 stack of bones awaiting 

 us. We ourselves ex- 

 amined several of the 

 FIG. 2. Lava crown for statue, platforms, and in each 



one there were remains 



of human skeletons. Some were complete, and 

 some consisted only of a few small bones, such as 

 vertebrae or ribs. Many of the bones were in good 

 condition, but others were much decayed, and 

 showed signs of having lain in these graves for 

 a very great length of time. 



So far as we could discover, only one body was 

 buried in each platform. The body seemed to 

 have been placed in its grave in no special position 

 at least, the bones were all together in a pile, 

 though possibly the body may have been placed 

 in a crouching position, a supposition borne out 

 to a certain extent by the fact that the spaces in 

 the platforms were of no great size. 



All the bones collected were carefully packed 



