Archeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg fears that the giant heads are being ruined by tourists climbing all over them.
Legions of tourists cannot resist snapping’nose-pick’ selfies with the colossal statues of Rapa Nui — or Easter Island.
Jo Anne Van Tilburg said that last year, traffic to Easter Island reached 150,000 which is a rise from only 2,500 from the early 80s.
The answer? Full-bodied statues measuring up to 33 feet high.
She states that the influx of people is having a troubling effect on the island’s delicate ecosystem and its archaeology.
Van Tilburg said that the amount of people is modest, relative to the men and women who see the Pyramids, for example, but their effect is enormous.
One of the enduring mysteries is the way the Polynesian Rapa Nui society hauled the so-called “pukao,” stones six feet in diameter and weighing 12 tons.
The Rapa Nui society inexplicably collapsed before Western missionaries came in the 18th Century.
About Post Author
