G42 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



■AHU TEPEU, A BURIAL-PLACE COMPOSED OP SHEETS OP LAVA 



The first tier of the seaward wall (see diagram on page 644) is composed of huge slabs 9 feet 

 high. The upper portion is of wrought stones. 



burial-places are usually from 12 to 20 

 feet in height and are crowned with a 

 form of hat (see page 628). 



"ahu," burial-place op prehistoric 

 easter islanders 



In Easter Island the problem of the 

 disposal of the dead is supposed to have 

 been solved by neither earth burial nor 

 cremation, but by means of the omni- 

 present stones, which were built up to 

 make a last resting-place for the de- 

 parted. The burial-places are known as 

 "ahu." They number in all some 260 and 

 are principally found near the coast, but 

 some 30 exist inland, suggesting that 

 their erection on the seaboard was a 

 matter of convenience, not of principle. 



With the exception of the great eastern 

 and western headlands, where they are 

 scarce, it is probably safe to say that in 

 riding round the island it is impossible to 

 go anywhere for more than a few hun- 

 dred yards without coming across one of 

 these abodes of the dead. 



They cluster most thickly in the little 



coves and on their inclosing promon- 

 tories, which were the principal centers 

 of population. Some are two or three 

 hundred yards away from the edge of the 

 cliff, others stand on the verge ; in the 

 lower land they are but little above the 

 sea-level, while on the precipitous part of 

 the coast the ocean breaks hundreds of 

 feet below. 



It was these burial-places, on which the 

 images were then standing, which so 

 strongly impressed the early voyagers 

 and whose age and origin have remained 

 an unsolved problem. 



During the whole of our time on the 

 island we worked on the ahu. Those 

 which happened to lie near to either of 

 our camps were naturally easy of access, 

 but to reach the more distant ones, nota- 

 bly those on the north shore, involved a 

 long expedition. Such a day began with, 

 perhaps, an hour's ride; at noon there 

 was an interval for luncheon, when, in hot 

 weather, the neighborhood was scoured 

 for miles to find the smallest atom of 

 shade ; and the day ended with a journey 



