CARL SKOTTSBERG 



that it is the largest one ever found on an ahu and the last one to be upset. 

 Are there two exactly similar ahu close to each other, each with an unusually 

 large image? I think not. The measurements were taken by my wife and 

 myself with a tape 25 m. long and the figures committed to paper on the spot. 



It could possibly also be the same ahu as no. 34 Punahoa of Thomson 

 1. c, p. 505. He also gives the total length of the single moai as 32 feet. 

 However, the entire structure is said to have a length of 175 feet and a width 

 of 8 feet, which figures must be entirely incorrect if ahu Paro is meant. 



}3y what kind of apparatus or devices the statues were transported from 

 Rano Raraku to the coast, in some cases to rather inaccessible places, remains 

 a mystery. The natives possessed strong cordage, and Mrs. R. has made out 

 that long lines were used occasionally, but veritable hawsers would have been 

 needed to drag the statues along over the ground in the manner imagined by 

 Thomson. We have seen that there is evidence against the island ever having 

 produced good-sized timber suitable for rollers. THOMSON thinks that, after a 

 smooth road had been constructed, »the images were dragged by means of 

 ropes made of indigenous hemp»; »seaweed and grass made excellent lubri- 

 cants». He could »clearly see how it was accomplished with a large force of 

 able-bodied men» (p. 498). I must confess that I find it less easy to understand 

 how the work was done, for the least obstacle would become a serious one; 

 and the roads must have been made as smooth as a floor in order to serve 

 the purpose, the images being rather fragile. Mrs. R. has traced the few high- 

 ways leading from Rano Raraku to the coast; but if really the images were 

 dragged up to the numerous ahu all round the island, these roads cannot have 

 sufficed, but an elaborate network of very smooth paths was required, of which 

 all traces would have disappeared. It is true that seaweeds are plentiful, but 

 there is no species of any considerable size and I fail to see how the quantities 

 required could have been brought together. It is astonishing that no tradition 

 on the means of transport survives. According to Mrs. R. the natives in- 

 variably off"ered one explanation: that the images were transported by the aid 

 of supernatural forces. 



On p. 486 Thomson discusses the possibility of a transport by sea. Near 

 a group of ahu he discovered a fine landing-place made by art, »admirably 

 adapted to the landing of heavy weights*. From old drawings we know what 

 the aboriginal canoes were like — not a single one, as far as I know, has been 

 preserved to our days — but they were not strong enough to support any very 

 heavy weight. One might suggest that large rafts were built but, on the other 

 hand, there are several ahu which are unaccessible from the shore. 



Still, there is another metod to be reckoned with, although further specu- 

 lation on this matter may appear pretty useless. Some sort of a sledge-like 

 apparatus could have been constructed without the need of timber of any con- 

 siderable size. A sledge would slide quite well over the grass,, provided that 

 the road was cleared from stones. A great number of people could be simul- 

 taneously engaged in pulling, while, if rollers were used, the image must have 

 been more difficult to handle. Once arrived at the ahu, a sloping causeway 

 could have been built, from which the image was lowered down in position, 

 or, the same method could have been used that was applied when raising the 



