Easter Island's moai

The Rapa Nui people carved nearly 900 moai from volcanic rock. Experiments suggest they were moved upright with ropes in a rocking motion, though how they did it is still debated.

Context

The moai were carved from compressed volcanic ash (tuff) at the Rano Raraku quarry, and a large share of them, including some very large unfinished figures, still stand or lie there. Finished statues were transported to stone platforms called ahu, many along the coast. A typical moai is a few metres tall and weighs many tons, and some were given red stone topknots called pukao.

Rapa Nui oral tradition says the statues 'walked' to their platforms. Archaeologists have tested this idea. Experiments, including a widely reported 2012 trial by Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo, showed that a replica statue could be rocked forward in a zigzag motion by teams pulling on ropes, which fits the tradition and the shape of the statues' bases.

Other explanations, such as rolling the statues on logs or dragging them on sledges, have also been proposed. Estimates of when people settled the island and how long statue carving lasted vary between studies, so the dates given here are approximate.

The statues and quarry are protected within Rapa Nui National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.