Showing effect of weathering and peg-shaped base. [No. 107. Fig. 47.] ] [Illustration: FIG. 63. Showing scamped work in lower part of figure, no right hand carved, and surface only coarsely chiselled. [No. 36. Fig. 47.] ] DESIGNS ON BACKS OF IMAGES. [Illustration: FIG. 64. BACK OF AN EXCAVATED STATUE. Showing (_a_) typical raised rings and girdle; (_b_) exceptional incised carvings. [No. 109. Fig. 47.] ] [Illustration: FIG. 65. _P. Edmunds._ STATUE ON AN AHU AT ANAKENA. Rings on centre and lower portion of back. ] The eye is the only point in which the two sets vary, with the important exception that some on the mountain have a type of back which never appears on the ahu. This question of back proved to be of special interest: in some images it remained exactly as when the figure left the quarry, the whole was convex, giving it a thick and archaic appearance, particularly as regards the neck; in other instances, the posterior was beautifully modelled after the same fashion as those on the terraces, the stone had been carefully chipped away till the ears stood out from the back of the head, the neck assumed definite form, and the spine, instead of standing out as a sharp ridge, was represented by an incised line. This second type, when excavated, proved, to our surprise, to possess a well-carved design in the form of a girdle shown by three raised bands, this was surmounted by one or sometimes by two rings, and immediately beneath it was another design somewhat in the shape of an M (figs. 64 and 106). The whole was new, not only to us, but to the natives, who greatly admired it. Later, when we knew what to look for, traces of the girdle could be seen also on the figures on the ahu where the arm had protected it from the weather. It was afterwards realised with amusement that the discovery of this design might have been made before leaving England by merely passing the barrier and walking behind the statues in the Bloomsbury portico. One case was found, a statue at Anakena, where a ring was visible, not only on the back but also on each of the buttocks, and in view of subsequent information these lower rings became of special importance. The girdle in this case consisted of one line only; the detail of the carving had doubtless been preserved by being buried in the sand (fig. 65). The two forms of back, unmodelled and modelled, stand side by side on the mountain (figs. 66, 67).