Here's the solution to one of the oldest mysteries about the Easter Island statues.

The "Walking Moai Hypothesis" could end the long-standing debate over how ancient engineers moved these iconic statues around Easter Island .

 

 

The Moai statues on Easter Island have long been a mystery to researchers who have wondered how the ancient Rapa Nui people managed to move these massive blocks of stone across the island. And now, a team of anthropologists believe they may have finally found the answer – through some rather bizarre physics experiments.

In a recent paper in the Journal of Archaeological Science, anthropologists Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt analyzed 962 Moai statues, creating detailed, high-resolution 3D models to study their design and how they might have been transported.

From there, they devised an experiment to test whether a Moai statue could " walk " from the quarry to the ceremonial pedestal, a theory they actually tested in the field.

 

They found that, using ropes, groups of people could maneuver the statues in a zigzag pattern: just 18 people could make a 4.35-ton moai walk about 100 meters in just 40 minutes. They argue that this demonstration refutes previous theories that the Rapa Nui people used wooden transport devices to move the statues, or, even more fancifully, that they were relics of an alien civilization.

' People have spun all sorts of stories about things that are somehow plausible or possible,' said Carl Lipo, lead author of the study and an anthropologist at Binghamton University. ' But they have never done a review of the evidence to show that, in fact, you can learn about the past and interpret the records that you see in completely scientific ways .'

Genius in every detail

While creating 3D models of the Moai statues, the researchers identified several design features that may have made them easier to transport. Specifically, they noticed that the statues often had wide, D-shaped bases that tilted forward. According to the paper, they decided that using an 'upright, rocking ' motion would be the easiest way for the statues to 'move . '

 

The Rapa Nui paths also support this theory, the researchers added. They are about 4.5 meters (15 feet) wide with a concave profile that appears to be ' purposefully designed rather than randomly ,' meaning they may have been specifically built to help the moai stay stable while 'walking,' the anthropologists explained.

However, archaeological evidence also suggests that the moai themselves may have engineered the road, creating numerous ridges and indentations in the road for them to follow later. The article notes that ' This engineering feature transformed unpredictable movement over rough terrain into a controlled, directed progression along a prepared path .'

Lipo said: ' What we saw in the experiment was actually true… Every time they moved a statue, it looked like they were creating a path. The path was part of moving the statue. We actually saw them overlap and there were many parallel versions of them. '

 

Problem solved?

The debate over the 'correct' explanation for the moai transport is quite heated, and part of the article is entirely devoted to refuting other explanations.

However, the team of researchers argue that their ' walking moai hypothesis' also fits with oral traditions and Rapa Nui songs that describe moai 'walking' from their quarries. If the new theory is correct, it could mirror the songs of these ancient engineers.

' This shows that the Rapa Nui people are incredibly smart to figure this out ,' Lipo said. ' They're doing it in a way that's appropriate to the resources they have. So this really honors those people, saying, look at what they've achieved, and we have a lot to learn from them about these principles. '