EasterIslandisoneofthemostfamousislandsintheworld．It'slocatedinPolynesia，agroupofislandsabout3，700kilometersofftheSouthAmericancoast．About24kilometerslongand12kilometerswide，EasterIsland'spresentpopulationisabout2，000，anditnowbelongstotheRepublicofChile（智利）．

Itisfamousforitshugestonestatues，ofwhichtherearenearlyathousand．Thesestatuesarecalledmoaiandarecarvedfromasoftrockcalledtuff（凝灰岩）．Theyshowtheheadsandshouldersofpeoplebelievedtobeearlyinhabitants（居民）oftheisland．Mostofthestatuesarebetweenthreeandtwelvemetershigh，andsomeofthemweighmorethan50tons！ItisbelievedmostofthestatueswerecarvedbetweenA.D.1000--1600．AboutacenturybeforethearrivalofthefirstEuropeans，however，thereisevidence（证据）ofsomekindofconflict（冲突）amongtheinhabitantsoftheisland，andcarvingstopped．

ThefirstrecordedvisitbyaWesternertoEasterIslandwasbytheDutchsailorJacobRoggeveenonEasterSundayin1722．ThisiswherethenameEasterIslandcomesfrom．ThearrivalofWesterners，however，didnothingtoimprovethingsbecausetheybroughtnewillnessesandtookmanyoftheislandersasslaves．In1774theBritishexplorerCaptainJamesCookvisitedtheislandandrecordedagreatdealofinformationabouttheislandersandtheirstatues．However，thefirstseriousarchaeological（考古）studywasdonebyanAmericanteam，whoarrivedin1886．Thefirstdetailedstudyofthequarry（采石场）fromwhichthestatueshadbeencutwasmadebyanEnglishwoman，CatherineRoutledge，duringtheFirstWorldWar．

EasterIslandbecamereallyfamous，however，in1950whenNorwegian（挪威的）explorerThorHeyerdahlpublishedhisbest-sellingbook，Kon-Tiki．HeyerdahlhadsailedfromSouthAmericatoPolynesiaonasimpleraft（筏）madefromalight，softwoodcalledbalsa（轻木）．HearguedinhisbookthatthefacthecoulddothisprovedthepeopleofPolynesiaoriginallycamefromSouthAmerica，notSouth-EastAsia．Heyerdahl'stheory，however，isnolongeracceptedbymostexpertsonPolynesianhistory．

1．Thestoryismainlyabout________．

A．theearlyexplorers

B．thehistoryofPolynesia

C．thestatuesofEasterIsland

D．theinhabitantsofEasterIsland