The Moai statues on Easter Island may have arrived where they stand now

easter island statues, Traditionally known as the moai on the remote South Pacific island of Rapa Nui, they are some of the most impressive artifacts of ancient Polynesian civilization. How the statues were transported remained a mystery for a long time, as they can weigh up to several tons but are scattered throughout the island. Various theories have been proposed, including that they were dragged on wooden sleds or rolled on the ground, but there is no evidence to support these claims.

In 2012, an American research team successfully supported a 4.35-ton replica of a moai statue and made it “walk.” The technique, in which two teams use ropes to pull the statue in opposite directions to propel it forward while a third team ensures it does not fall, challenges traditional theories that the moai were moved in a horizontal position.

The question then is how much effort it would have taken to move a much larger moai. “Once the moai move, it won’t be difficult at all.” He explained Carl LeBow, an anthropologist at Binghamton University.

Lebo and his team systematically surveyed 962 Moai statues on Easter Island, focusing primarily on 62 found along ancient roads. They recently published paper Providing strong evidence that Moi was transported upright.

The team also succeeded in transporting a replica of a roadside moai over 100 meters in 40 minutes with just 18 people, a much more efficient result than the results of previous experiments.

Road rules

The study discovered that moai statues are placed along… Rapa Nui The methods have common characteristics. The wide D-shaped base and forward-sloping design of the statues improved the moai’s ability to “walk”, even as they increased in size. In fact, moai abandoned on the side of the road have been found to have unbalanced centers of gravity and show signs of tipping over during transport.

This hypothesis is also supported by the ancient roads themselves, which are about 4.5 m wide and have slightly concave cross sections. Researchers believe these were ideal conditions to help stabilize the moai as they walked.

A statistical analysis of the moai’s distribution showed that 51.6% of them were concentrated within 2 km of the quarry in which they originated, indicating a pattern of exponential decay associated with mechanical failure rather than their intentional ceremonial status. It is possible that these statues were damaged or fell during transportation and were left where they were.