What is the origin and history of the face statue featuring Benben in Night at the Museum?

1. Mystery of Stone Statues on Easter Island Easter Island is famous for its stone statues. There are more than 1000 giant stone statues and the remains of Dashicheng on the island. 19 14 and 1934 were investigated, and 1955 was engaged in excavation work. Therefore, people think that there are three cultural periods on the island. Early huge stone walls can be used to observe the sunrise direction of a year. Small and medium-sized stone statues are made of dark basalt, tuff and volcanic slag, and the isotopic carbon determination time is about 1680 BC. The middle stage is characterized by long ears and legless busts on the stone platform. The stone statue is 3-6 meters high. The tallest statue is 9.8 meters long and weighs about 82 tons. A stone statue more than 6 meters high. There are nearly a thousand huge stone statues on Easter Island. They lie on the barren hillside or seaside in Shan Ye. Among them, dozens of statues stand alone or in groups on artificial platforms by the sea, facing the sea and looking up from afar. These legless busts are lifelike, with high nose, deep eye sockets, long ears, upturned mouth and hands on the stomach. Stone statues are generally 5- 10 meters high and weigh dozens of tons. The tallest statue is 22 meters high and weighs more than 300 tons. Some stone statues have red stone caps on their heads, weighing 10 tons. These stone statues, which are called "Moai" by the locals, are carved from dark basalt and tuff, and some of them are inlaid with shells to make their eyes shine. What is puzzling is who carved these stone statues on the island? What does it symbolize? How did people transport them from the quarry to the seaside dozens of kilometers away? Some people say that this is the masterpiece of aliens. There is a saying in the legend of statues that these stone statues were carved by islanders. They are gods worshipped by islanders or ancestors deified by islanders. Many people agree with this statement. However, some experts believe that the high nose and thin lips of stone statues are typical features of white people, while the residents of the island are Polynesians, and their appearance does not have this feature. Long ears, you don't look like anyone. Sculpture is an art, which always contains the characteristics of that nation, but the shapes of these stone statues do not have the characteristics of Polynesians. Then, they wouldn't be the ancestors of Polynesians, the residents of the island now, and they couldn't have made these statues. In addition, people are also carefully analyzing from another angle. It is difficult for people on the island to complete such a large-scale carving project with primitive stone tools at that time. It is estimated that before 2000, the food on this island can only feed 2000 people at most. In the Stone Age, when productivity was very low, they had to look for food diligently every day in order to barely support themselves. Where do they have time to make these sculptures? Moreover, this kind of stone statue is very artistic, and experts are amazed at these "wonderful workmanship". Even modern people, not everyone can do it. Who can believe that Polynesians in the Stone Age were all artists who were good at carving? There is also a saying that the stone statues were not carved by islanders, but made by aliens who are more civilized than the earth. For some purpose and requirement, they chose this isolated island in the Pacific Ocean and built these stone statues. This statement is even more strange. In order to carve these stone statues, many blunt stone tools were discarded on the island. Who would believe that aliens who are more civilized than the earth people would use these primitive stone tools to complete these statues? There are hundreds of unfinished stone statues on the mountain. Why don't they finish carving and put them there? Experts said that this may be because they encountered hard rocks when carving and could not continue carving. Because stone tools were used to carve stones at that time, I tried to choose the hardest stone when making stone tools, but when I encountered hard rocks, the carving could not move and I had to give up. Therefore, these unfinished stone statues were not suddenly stopped by any catastrophic events, but gradually abandoned during the carving process. The largest stone statue, more than 20 meters high, is the largest stone statue seen on Easter Island. Because it was not finished, it is still lying on the rocks on the mountain. However, petroleum scientists do not fully agree with this view. They explained that it is also possible that the person who carved the stone statue spent a lot of labor and time carving and erecting the stone statue, but it was knocked down by the earthquake, and then a new sculpture was erected and knocked down by the earthquake. Sculptors thought it was a punishment from heaven or God, so they stopped. Now, these mysteries have a preliminary answer. According to the linguistic features of Easter Islanders, archaeologists believe that Easter Islanders originally migrated from an archipelago in Polynesia. Where do Polynesians come from? Some people once thought it came from South America. Now, more scientists believe that Polynesians come from Southeast Asia. Ancient Asians started from Southeast Asia, passed through Irian Island, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji Islands and other islands for a long time, and finally arrived at Easter Island in the 4th and 5th centuries. After Polynesians arrived at Easter Island, they also brought the custom of carving stone statues to Easter Island. For various reasons, the wind of carving stone statues became more and more fierce. According to the research of scientists, the stone statues on Easter Island do not represent God, but the late chiefs or religious leaders. In the eyes of ancient Polynesians, these people have unparalleled power to protect their children and grandchildren. According to the analysis of the transportation remains left by the carving site, scientists believe that the ancient Polynesians transported the stone statues in this way: they paved the carved road with thatch and reeds, then moved the lying stone statues to the "big sled" with crowbars and ropes, and then pulled the "big sled" with ropes. After arriving at the destination, the stone statue was erected in the pre-dug pit with ropes and crowbars. 1960, American archaeologist Muro led the islanders to adopt this method and successfully erected seven stone statues weighing 16 tons. Scientists also believe that at around 1650, there was a fierce battle between the two groups on Easter Island-the fat and the thin. The thin man who was forced to carve stone rebelled and suddenly attacked the fat man with circuitous tactics, destroying them all. As a result, the stone carving work fell by the wayside. Of course, the mystery of the stone statue on Easter Island cannot be completely solved, and there are still many problems that need further study by scientists. In short, there are many stories about stone statues on Easter Island. Until today, we have not come up with a convincing, scientific and satisfactory explanation. According to American archaeologists, the Easter Island civilization was destroyed by giant stone statues, and the resurrected islanders lived in boat-shaped houses or caves built with poles and thatch. This period is characterized by civil war, great destruction and cultural decadence. The mass-produced "mataa" (that is, the spearhead made of obsidian) is the representative of handicrafts in this period, and woodcuts and small natural stone figurines replaced the commemorative art. Wooden slips (called "[〔rongo-rongo") engraved with cow-like characters (characters crisscross from right to left, and then from left to right) were only copied from previous samples for the ceremony; Their correct pronunciation has been forgotten. Although there are many sayings, modern people have tried to decipher them many times, but they all failed. During this period, the art treasure was hidden in the secret cave of the family, and the stone platform statue erected has been knocked down. The mud in the abandoned stone yard fell to the chest of the unfinished eyeless bust standing at the foot of the volcano, and they could not be pushed down, thus leaving these eyeless stone heads for future generations and making the island famous all over the world. Legend has it that after two peoples with different cultures and languages coexisted peacefully for a period of time, sabotage activities began. Short-eared people worked for long-eared people, and almost all long-eared people were wiped out in a big firewood Pok in the ancient canal on the northeast coast. Both carbon dating and genealogy studies believe that this event and its later period began around 1680. According to carbon dating, the man-made Peuker Canal was built around 380 AD. 1984 The first international scientific conference held in Resurrection Island unanimously adopted a resolution to designate the island as the former European cultural site. Recent excavations show that the earliest immigrants came to the island with architectural ideas and mastered specialized masonry skills, thus confirming the traditional legend on the island that the earliest ancestors came to the island as organized immigrants, not just fishermen who were inadvertently blown by the wind. 1995 Easter Island is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. These navigators soon spread what they saw and heard on Easter Island to Europe and the world, and attracted some experts and scholars to visit the island. Experts came to the island and made a detailed observation of the stone statue. They found that Easter Island is triangular, 24 kilometers long, with the widest point of 17.7 kilometers and the area of 1 17 square kilometers. There are many extinct volcanoes on the island. There are three higher volcanoes at the top of the three corners of the island. Coastal cliffs are steep and extremely difficult to climb. There are about 440 stone statues on Easter Island, not including hundreds of stone statues that have been carved on rocks but have not been peeled off. The height of stone statues is generally 5-6 meters, the smallest is 3-4 meters, and the largest is 2l.8 meters high. There are about 30 stone statues with stone caps on their heads. Stone caps are not integrated with stone statues, but carved, and some stone caps are painted red. None of the stone statues carved out the feet of the lower body. Stone statues have different shapes, but they all have long ears, high noses and thin lips. The stone statue is also engraved with patterns, and the carved stone statue stands on a platform 60 meters long and 3 meters high. There are 1 1.4 platforms here, all made of big stones. The material used for carving stone statues is local volcanic rocks. The weight of each stone statue is generally above 10 tons, and the smallest estimate is above 5 tons. Another phenomenon is that there are hundreds of statues on the rocks on the island except the part standing there. It seems that something unexpected happened and suddenly stopped the ongoing work. Experts visited the islanders here. Polynesians on the island do not know the origin of these stone statues, and their ancestors did not tell their descendants who carved them. Because there are no words and no historical records. But they call the stone statue "Aunt Mao", the stone hat "Pukao" and the platform for putting stones "Ah Fu". At that time, the population was estimated to be only 2,000, obviously belonging to Polynesians, who spoke Polynesian dialect: when the British navigator Captain Cook 1774 visited the island, a Tahitian accompanying him could talk with the island residents. However, although Polynesians are famous for their superb navigation skills, even western colonists can't help but admire. However, Luo Gavin found that there are only three or four simple paddles on the whole Easter Island, which are only 3 meters long and can be used by two people at most. They are simply tied together with small boards, and the water leakage is very serious. It is necessary to paddle and scoop out the water from the boat. Such a canoe can only sail on the shore, and it is impossible to go to the deep sea. However, it is in this barren and backward land that a large number of huge stone statues called moai by local people were born. So far, 887 Moai statues have been found, most of which were carved in quarries. After the completion of carving, 288 Moai stone statues were successfully transported to the seaside altar named Ahu, with a distance of 10 km. 397 statues were not carved and thrown in the quarry, and the remaining 92 statues were abandoned in transit. Most of them are carved with soft and easy-to-carve tuff (solidified volcanic ash), and a few are carved with other volcanic rocks. The average height of Moai is about 4 meters, and the average weight is about 12.5 tons. The largest one is 2 1.6 meters high and weighs 160- 182 tons, but it was abandoned in the quarry before completion. The largest completed Moe is 9.8 meters high and weighs about 74 tons. No two moai are exactly the same, but most of them are carved in the same style, with hips at the bottom, arms hanging to the sides, and hands and fingers stretching to protect the abdomen. Moe's head is also elongated, always looking forward. Most Moai people have long ears, big noses, thin lips and deep eye sockets. Some eye sockets are inlaid with white eyes made of coral and eyes made of dark stone. About 50-75 Moai statues have a stone cap made of red volcanic rocks on top, called Pukao, which may also represent hair. Obviously, Moe is the most striking and puzzling scenery on Easter Island. Luo Gavin wrote: "These stone statues shocked us, because we can't understand how these people erected these stone statues without big wood to make any machines and strong ropes?" Luo Gavin's questions are constantly being raised, and people have been trying to give various answers. Especially those who advocate mysterious phenomena, whispering and "prehistoric civilization", take Moala on Easter Island as evidence. For example, the infamous Danny Ken claimed that these stone statues were made by aliens with ultra-modern tools. They were trapped on Easter Island because the spaceship crashed. They erected these stone statues to ask their companions for help. They left the island in a hurry when the rescue ship arrived. This groundless fantasy is not worth refuting. Many stone axes made of basalt can be found in the quarry on the island. Locals call it toki, which is discarded because of its blandness. Moai was carved with these stone tools. In 1950s, heyerdahl, a famous Norwegian archaeologist, hired six local people to carve a Moai statue with this stone axe. They resigned after working for three days, but according to the process estimation, these six people can carve a Moai in twelve to fifteen months. If you want to carve the largest Moai, you only need 20 people to work for one year. Since 1950s, archaeologists have continuously organized people to carry and build Moai or replicas in primitive ways. American archaeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg imagined that when the Gulapanui people carried Moai, they put it on a wooden sleigh with a row of wood as wheels under it, and sprinkled water on the ground to reduce friction. Through computer simulation, she found that it took five days to transport and build a replica of Moai with respect to about 10 tons when about 70 people used wood and rope as tools. During April and May of 1998, people simulated the whole process on Easter Island and made it into a TV movie. Archaeologists are quite controversial about how the Gulapanui people carried and set up Moai, but this is not important. What's important is that no matter what method the Rapapanui people use, according to the conditions at that time, it is completely possible to build an ordinary-sized Moai with dozens of people, and there is no mystery. The question is: Where did the wood and rope come from? How can poor islanders have time to carve and carry these huge stone statues? Why did you suddenly stop this activity? Unfortunately, before contact with Europeans, Rapa Nui people had no writing, so there was no historical record to answer these questions clearly. On Easter Island, there is a strange hieroglyph called rongorongo, which means "talking wood" and is carved on the board. But according to Steven Fischer, a New Zealand linguist, it was invented after the Spanish visited the island in 1770. He successfully deciphered them in 1996, and found that they only recorded sacrificial hymns and creation stories, and there was no historical record. But through archaeology, we can still get a general understanding of the historical changes of Easter Island. As time goes on, language will change slowly. By comparing the differences of homologous languages, we can estimate the time of their separation. As mentioned earlier, Rapanui is a Polynesian dialect. By comparing with other Polynesian languages, linguists speculate that this dialect was born around 400 AD. According to the radioisotope method, human beings began to live on the island between 400 and 700 AD. 1994, biologists extracted DNA from the remains of 12 Gulapanui and confirmed that they were indeed Polynesians. The customs and habits of the island, the plants planted (bananas, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, taro, taro) and the animals raised (chickens) are also the characteristics of Polynesians (these animals and plants can be traced back to South Asia, the birthplace of Polynesians, except sweet potatoes, which originated in South America). Therefore, the archaeological community generally believes that Rapanui people are descendants of a group of Polynesians who drifted to Easter Island around 400 AD. When these Polynesians first moved to Easter Island, it was really a Little Paradise. We can infer ancient vegetation by pollen analysis. Sediments in ponds or swamps are deposited according to time, and the closer the upper layer is, the longer the lower layer is. The absolute age of each layer of sediment can be determined by radioisotope method. By analyzing the pollen contained in the sediment under a microscope, identifying its species and calculating its quantity, we can know the distribution of plants at that time. Based on this, we know that Easter Island was not a wasteland in the early days, but a dense subtropical forest. In the forest, there is a cannabis plant called hau hau, whose fiber can be used to make rope. There is also a unique tree called Toromiro, which has hard wood and can be used to make fires and wood carvings. The largest number is a large palm tree, which has long been extinct on Easter Island, but it is very similar to the Chilean wine palm tree and may be the same species. The trunk of this big palm tree is straight, which can grow to 25 meters high and 2 meters in diameter. It is a good material for vehicles, stone statues and ships. Moreover, the fruit of this palm tree is edible, and the pulp can produce syrup and wine, which is an important food source. What about animals? Archaeologists can speculate by digging and comparing the animal bones left by ancient garbage dumps in the stratum. Generally speaking, fish is the main food of Polynesian people, and fishbones generally account for more than 90% of garbage. However, Easter Island is located in the subtropical zone. Compared with tropical areas, its climate is too cold to grow on coral reefs where fish gather, and its steep coastline is not suitable for fishing in shallow waters. So fish was not the main food of Rapa Nui people from the beginning. From 900 to 1300, the content of fish bones in Rapanui garbage was less than a quarter. On the contrary, almost one-third of the bones are dolphin bones. In other Polynesian garbage, the content of dolphin bones in garbage has never reached 1%. Unlike other Polynesian islands, there are no large animals or even domestic pigs and dogs on Easter Island, so dolphins are the largest animals that Rapanui people can catch and become an important source of protein for their food. But dolphins only live in the deep sea. This means that Rapanui people can build large ships to catch dolphins in the deep sea. These boats are obviously made of the trunks of big palm trees. Archaeologists also found that seabirds were also an important food for the early Rapanui people. Before the arrival of human beings, Easter Island had no natural enemies of birds and became the most suitable place for seabirds to breed. At least 25 species of seabirds used to nest and breed here, which may be the most prosperous bird breeding ground in the whole Pacific Ocean. Owls, parrots and other land birds were also the food of the early Rapanui people. Archaeologists found the bones of at least six kinds of land birds in ancient garbage. At the same time, Polynesian mice that immigrated with Rapanui people are also Chinese food for Rapanui people. In addition, there are some seal bones in the garbage, indicating that there may have been seals on Easter Island.