PAST SITES TO BEHOLD
From the iconic Egyptian pyramids to hidden gems such as the mystical Cahokia Woodhenge in Illinois, Great Sites of the Ancient World, edited by Paul Bahn, is a grand tour of 100 of the world’s most extraordinary archaeological discoveries. Here’s our selection of dazzling spectacles that will inspire world adventurers and armchair travellers alike.
Moai On Easter Island, The Southern Pacific
One of the most remote pieces of permanently inhabited land in the world, Easter Island, now known as Rapa Nui ( Big Rapa), offers the richest rock art in the Pacific.
Evidence suggests that people first came here from Polynesia around the 12th century to what was then a rainforest- covered island, and set about changing the landscape — making clearings in the forest to plant crops — and constructed small ahu ( stone platforms) with crude statues.
In the next phase, more than 1,000 huge moai ( statues) were carved, with some transported at considerable distances from the quarry at Rano Raraku to the edge of the island.
The quarry itself still contains almost 400 statues, including the 65.5ft long El Gigante. The causes of the island’s decline are complex, but the major factor is clearly human colonisation.
The decline of the forest, as land was cleared, can be seen in the record of pollen from the crater swamps.
By 1722, when Europeans arrived, the population had been reduced to around 2,000, living in poverty amid the ruins of their former culture.
Pharaoh Ramesses II cut a pair of temples into cliffs on the west bank of the Nile, completed around 1265 BC. He set them at an angle to each other so that, twice a year ( February and October), the rising sun penetrated the Great Temple and illuminated the four statues in the sanctuary. The Great Temple’s facade was designed to display the king in all his glory. Two statues of the king wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt sit on either side of the central doorway. The Small Temple was dedicated to the goddess Hathor. When, in 1954, it was decided to build the Aswan High Dam, the temples, threatened by rising water levels, were raised 213ft, together with sections of the cliff face.