by Gabriel ORorke

Some have tattoos， some are fat， some are thin，

and we think we can tell the relations of some of them today by the 1）distinctive noses you see around town，” says Patricia Vargas.

I am on Easter Island， and Patricia—an 2）archaeologist， and one of the founders of Chiles Architectural Travel Service （ATS）—is talking about moai， the famous stone 3）monolith statues， carved out of the mountains by the islands 4）Neolithic inhabitants in the 12th to 14th centuries.

Patricias life has revolved around these astonishing creations for the last 36 years. They seem a worthy cause.

Despite being on the worlds most remote inhabited island—a volcanic 5）archipelago 2，300 miles west of Chile—the moai attract more than 50，000 visitors each year.

My destination is five-star Posada de Mike Rapu hotel， which sits on the south-eastern side of the island， five miles from the main village of Hanga Roa. Large windows frame views that seem to stretch wider than any normal 6）panorama， and the 30 bedrooms overlook little but fields and sea. The only sign of life are horses and cows which roam free， munching on grass and wandering between the coral trees.

I soon discover it is no unusual thing to see more 7）quadrupeds than 8）bipeds here—as Easter Island has more horses than people （the local Rapa Nui population is just 4，000）. However， I am here to see the statues， of which there are almost 1，000—and only one of which has legs.

This is Ahu Tukuturi who kneels on the hillside of Rano Raraku—the 9）quarry of volcanic tuffstone which gave birth to the entire race of moai.

“Different statues in different parts of the island belonged to the different clans that lived there，”explains Alex Searle， who is also an ATS guide.

What this means is that， if your clan lived on the far side， you had to transport your moai across the 64-square-mile island. Multiple theories have emerged over the years about how this supernatural feat was achieved.

“Some people thought they were lined up along the rim and fired into position when the volcano erupted，” says Alex. “Others say aliens moved them， and some say they walked.”

More than 400 figures loom out of the grass， carefully carved to completion. Gazing at them， it occurs to me that they look as though they were 10）petrified as they walked. Or perhaps that should be“staggered” —the irregular angles at which they jut out of the grass makes them look somewhat 11）tipsy.

他们中有的刻有文身，有的胖，有的瘦，我们觉得可以根据他们鼻子的特点辨别出镇上一些人之间的关系” ，帕特里夏·瓦尔加斯说道。

我现在身处复活岛。帕特里夏是一位考古学家，也是智利的建筑旅游服务组织（ATS）的创始人之一。她正在介绍“摩艾”这举世闻名的巨石群，这些石像是在公元12至14世纪由岛上新石器时代的住民在山上开凿而成。

在过去的36年里，帕特里夏的生活轨迹都围绕着这些惊世之作而展开。这一切看来都是值得的。

尽管位于世上最人迹罕至的海岛之上——智利以西2300英里的一个火山群岛上，摩艾石像还是每年吸引了超过五万名旅客前往观摩。

我的目的地是五星酒店Posada de Mike Rapu，坐落在岛的东南一隅，距离当地的主要村庄安加罗阿五英里。

透过巨大的窗户，眼底的景色似乎要比任何景宽都要开阔，30个酒店房间俯瞰的只是农田与海景。在这片景观中，唯一的生命迹象是马和奶牛，他们自由自在地徜徉在草地上，穿梭于刺桐之间。

我很快就发现，这里的四肢动物比两肢动物要多，因为复活岛上的马的数量比人口还要多（当地的居民仅为4000人）。然而，我来这要看的石像，近1000座，其中只有一座是有腿的。

这就是阿胡图库图日巨像，跪在拉诺拉拉库山巅，所有这些巨像都是取材自这座火山上的凝灰岩。

“岛上各处的不同石像分属于不同的宗族”，艾利克斯·瑟尔说，他也是ATS的一位导赏员。

这意味着，如果你们的宗族住在边远的地方，那你们就要穿越64平方英里的海岛，把你们的巨像从这一头搬到另一头。……