i found an article
here:
mysteriousplaces.com...
One paragraph reads :
"But there is a third origin story that as far fetched as it seems has scientific proof behind it. Around 1536 a Spanish ship, the San Lesmems was
lost near Tahiti. Legends tell of the Basque survivors intermarrying with the Polynesians. Either they or their descendants set off from Tahiti to try
and return home in the 1600's and were never seen again. Interestingly, genetic testing of pure blood Rapa Nui revealed the presence of Basque
genes."
This could explain the white skinned red headed islanders as well as the question of how they got the logs for moving the statues, they could just
used the ship to transport them.
Tho i think that its more likely that trees did once grow there, tho the species (i think thats the right word for trees) is extinct , and no other
trees today can handle the soil/terrain/climate to grow there.
[Edited on 7-12-2002 by Ezekiel]