纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 070复活节岛雕像（6）（在线收听）

"It was a way of human beings who were alive relating to, and exchanging with, their ancestors, who have very great influence on human life. Ancestors can affect fertility, prosperity, abundance. As you can imagine, they are colossal - this one in the British Museum is small! There is one unfinished in a quarry in Easter Island which is over 70 feet (20m) tall - how they ever would have erected it goodness only knows. And it does put me in mind of medieval cathedral building in Europe or in Britain, where you have these extraordinary constructions involving enormous amounts of time and labour and skill... and it's almost as if these sculptures scattered around the slopes of Easter Island, large sculptures, are almost equivalent to these medieval churches. You don't actually need them all, and they are sending messages not only about piety, but also about social and political competition."

这是一种在世者与祖先联系和交流的方式。祖先可以对现世的传宗接代、社会繁荣、生活富足等方面产生很大影响。这些雕像体型都很巨大，大英博物馆的这一?座相对较小。在复活节岛的采石场上，还有座未完成的雕像高达七十英尺，天知道他们是怎么把石像竖起来的！它们让我想起中世纪英国等欧洲各地的天主教堂那种需要耗费大量人力、物力和时间，考验技术的精美建筑。这些零散地分布在复活节岛各处斜坡上的巨型雕像的价值几乎与中世纪教堂等同。它们并不是生活的必需品，所传达的信息也不只是宗教虔诚，还与社会和政治斗争息息相关。