Researchers at the State University of New York at Binghamton believe they've cracked the case of how Easter Island's famous moai statues were transported across the island. Their answer: they "walked." Granted, the moai did not do this on their own. The researchers believe the statues were "walked" to their locations by the island's Indigenous people, using ropes to rock the massive figures from side to side in a controlled, zig-zag motion, per Smithsonian. This theory, detailed in the Journal of Archaeological Science, suggests that a relatively small group could move a statue weighing several tons with surprising efficiency.
The team, led by anthropologist Carl Lipo, used physics analyses, 3D modeling, and a real-world test with a 4.4-metric-ton replica to support their idea. In one experiment, 18 people managed to move the replica 328 feet in 40 minutes. The statue's low center of mass, forward-leaning design, and D-shaped base all seem to support this rocking method. Lipo notes that the hardest part is getting the statue rocking. This requires 15 to 60 people, depending on the moai's size, per Live Science. But after that, just five to 25 people are needed. "It isn't hard at all—people are pulling with one arm," Lipo says in a statement. "It conserves energy, and it moves really quickly."
Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is home to nearly 1,000 moai, with about half still at the quarry where they were carved. The rest are scattered around the island, some toppled along the way. The roads themselves, wide and concave, appear ideally suited for this type of transport. The research not only attempts to solve a centuries-old puzzle but also highlights the resourcefulness of the Rapa Nui people, who managed to move these giant figures using only the materials and manpower available to them.
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