Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 28, 1917.djvu/405

 in regard to Easter Island. . 371

were destined to embellish. They could not be carried, since some of them measured as much as 10 or 12 feet in diameter, and their weight ran into tons. They could only be moved by rolling, and for this the cylindrical form was obviously most effective, in fact imperative. On arrival at the site of the statue the " crown " appears to have been completed by shghtly hollowing the base to fit the top of the head, and by cutting a boss or knob on the upper end. This boss may, possibly, represent a com- promise between the desired rounded upper surface of the block representing hair, and the imposed cylindrical form, which had to be retained until the " crown " was actually in its place on the head of the statue, since, in order to get it there, it was necessary to erect in each case a long, inclined causeway up which the " crown " could be rolled to the requisite height.

The fact that these " crowns " were not exactly centred upon the top of the head, but were arranged to project more in front than at the back, may be due to a desire to combine with the representation of the hair mass, the effect of the forward-projecting palm-leaf eye-shade, which is so very commonly worn in Melanesia to protect the eyes from the sun's glare. These consist of broad flaps pro- jecting over the forehead only and kept in position by a narrow band passing round the head.

An interesting point to note in connection with the probable affinity which is suggested by a comparison of the Easter Island statues with the Solomon Islands carvings, is that just as the latter are intimately connected with a sea-bird cult (frigate-bird), so too are the former also coimected with elaborate ceremonial observances associated with sea-birds, to which reference must nov/ be made.

IV. The Bird-cult and certain rock- sculptures, paintings and engravings in Easter Island. The ornithology of the bird-cult in Easter Island is somewhat confused by the tact that whereas, in later times at any rate, the bird,