A team of 18 researchers was able to move a life-sized replica of a moai statue over 300 feet in just 40 minutes using only ropes.
Carl LipoResearchers used a four-ton replica to help answer the question of how the moai statues of Easter Island were moved.
A recent study may have solved the mystery behind how the Indigenous people of Rapa Nui were able to move Easter Island’s moai statues onto their ceremonial platforms.
Archaeologists say the statues were “walked” into place by “remarkably few” people using ropes. The researchers used physics, 3D modeling, and even a life-sized replica to finally solve the decades-long mystery.
How The Moai Statues Were Moved Across Easter Island
The new study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, proposes that the people of Rapa Nui pulled off the impressive feat by moving the statues in a zig-zag motion. By studying 3D models, the researchers determined that the massive monoliths had wide, D-shaped bases and leaned forward slightly, which would have made it easier for the inhabitants of Easter Island to “walk” them to their platforms.
The team tested this theory by creating a 4.35-ton replica. With just 18 people, they managed to move the statue more than 300 feet in 40 minutes.
Carl LipoA diagram demonstrating how the statues were moved.
“Once you get it moving, it isn’t hard at all — people are pulling with one arm,” study co-author Carl Lipo of Binghamton University said in a statement. “It conserves energy, and it moves really quickly. The hard part is getting it rocking in the first place. The question is, if it’s really large, what would it take? Are the things that we saw experimentally consistent with what we would expect from a physics perspective?”
“The physics makes sense,” Lipo continued. “What we saw experimentally actually works. And as it gets bigger, it still works. All the attributes that we see about moving gigantic ones only get more and more consistent the bigger and bigger they get, because it becomes the only way you could move it.”
Another key factor in the transportation of these statues was the roads they traveled on, which were roughly 15 feet wide and curved downward. This design helped to stabilize the statues as they were “walked” to their final destination.
“Every time they’re moving a statue, it looks like they’re making a road,” said Lipo. “The road is part of moving the statue.”
Still, not everyone is convinced about this latest study.
Other Potential Explanations For The Easter Island Heads
Researchers previously believed that the moai statues, which were created between 1250 and 1500 C.E., were transported horizontally on wooden rollers. However, Lipo claims this latest theory is the only explanation as to how the Indigenous people of Rapa Nui were able to move the statues.
Carl LipoA fallen statue on Easter Island.
“Find some evidence that shows it couldn’t be walking. Because nothing we’ve seen anywhere disproves that,” Lipo challenged. “In fact, everything we ever see and ever thought of keeps strengthening the argument.”
According to Lipo, this new research not only provides physical evidence — unlike previous theories — but it also honors the engineering feat of the people of Easter Island.
“It shows that the Rapa Nui people were incredibly smart. They figured this out,” Lipo said. “They’re doing it the way that’s consistent with the resources they have. So it really gives honor to those people, saying, look at what they were able to achieve, and we have a lot to learn from them in these principles.”
After learning how Easter Island’s moai statues were moved, go inside nine unsolved ancient mysteries. Then, look at 30 famous statues around the world.
