Scientists prove moai statues walked using rocking motion
Researchers have confirmed that ancient Rapa Nui villagers moved massive moai statues upright using ropes and a rocking technique. Experiments with replicas and 3D models demonstrate the feasibility of this method, resolving a centuries-old mystery. The findings highlight the ingenuity of the island's people with limited resources.
For centuries, scholars have debated how the people of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, transported nearly 1,000 enormous moai statues from quarries to ceremonial sites. A new study led by Binghamton University anthropologist Carl Lipo and University of Arizona's Terry Hunt provides compelling evidence that the statues 'walked' upright in a zig-zag, rocking motion, guided by ropes and just a few workers.
Previous theories suggested the moai were dragged on wooden sledges while lying prone, but Lipo's team challenged this with experimental archaeology. They first demonstrated the rocking method on smaller scales, noting its energy efficiency. 'Once you get it moving, it isn't hard at all - people are pulling with one arm. It conserves energy, and it moves really quickly,' Lipo explained. The initial challenge lies in starting the rock, especially for larger statues.
To test scalability, the researchers created high-resolution 3D models revealing key design features: wide D-shaped bases and a forward lean that facilitated the rocking motion. They then built a 4.35-ton replica moai incorporating these traits. With only 18 people pulling ropes, the team moved it 100 meters in 40 minutes—faster than prior upright transport trials.
Supporting evidence comes from Rapa Nui's landscape. The island features 4.5-meter-wide roads with concave cross-sections, ideal for stabilizing the statues during movement. 'Every time they're moving a statue, it looks like they're making a road. The road is part of moving the statue,' Lipo said, pointing to overlapping and parallel paths as signs of sequential clearing and transport.
Lipo emphasized that no alternative explains the evidence better. 'The physics makes sense,' he stated, adding that larger moai would only reinforce the method's viability. The study counters unsubstantiated theories rampant about the island, instead honoring the Rapa Nui people's engineering prowess. 'It shows that the Rapa Nui people were incredibly smart. They figured this out,' Lipo concluded.
Published in the Journal of Archaeological Science as 'The Walking Moai Hypothesis: Archaeological Evidence, Experimental Validation, and Response to Critics,' the research invites skeptics to disprove it with evidence.