People all over the world are fascinated by how ancient civilizations managed to move enormous loads for their iconic monuments without the modern technology we have today. One of these is the Rapa Nui people and how they transported their huge moai statues (some weighing over 80 tons) across the island.
Now, using physics, 3D modeling and hands-on experiments, researchers have confirmed what locals and legends have long said: the statues are real. walked.
A team led by Binghamton University anthropologist Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt of the University of Arizona continues to explore a clever wiggle that allows moai to “walk” along specially designed roads.
“It shows that the people of Rapa Nui were incredibly smart. They understood it,” Lipo said in an interview. news statement.
Relocating statues from Easter Island
The team tested the walking theory for years, challenging the old idea that the statues were transported on wooden sleds or rollers. Earlier experiments showed that once the moai begins to swing, it can be moved to an upright position with minimal effort, with a person on each side pulling one arm to support its swing. “Once you get going, it’s not difficult at all,” Lipo said. “The hardest part is getting it to swing.”
To strengthen their theory, they wanted to see if the method could also work on the massive moai found on the island. They built high-resolution 3D models and found that key design features of wide D-shaped bases and a slight forward tilt of the moai would make the statues easier to swing.
To confirm their findings in real life, they built a 4.35-ton replica of the moai with the same characteristics. It took just 18 people to walk 100 meters in 40 minutes, which is much easier than trying to roll the statues vertically on a tree.
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Landscape and walking theory
The landscape of Rapa Nui itself confirms the theory of walking. The island's ancient roads are about 15 feet wide and have a curved cross-section rather than a flat one, and therefore seem ideal for stabilizing the swaying statues.
“Every time they move the statue, it's like they're making a road,” Lipo explained. “The road is part of moving the statue.”
Many of these roads overlap and run parallel, suggesting that the Rapa Nui cleared new paths by moving the statues to their destinations.
Walking theory stands apart
So far, no other explanation fits the evidence. “The physics makes sense,” Lipo said. “What we've seen experimentally really works.”
Especially as the statues get larger, walking becomes the only realistic way to move them.
He challenges skeptics to prove otherwise. “Find evidence that he couldn't walk. Because nothing we've seen anywhere disproves that. In fact, everything we've ever seen or thought about continues to strengthen that argument.”
In addition to solving an ancient mystery, the findings demonstrate the ingenuity of the Rapa Nui people, who have achieved incredible achievements using limited tools and resources, Lipo said.
“They do it according to the resources they have,” he said. “We have a lot to learn from them about these principles.”
Read more: Uncovering the history of Easter Island's enduring statues
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