The statues of Easter Island really have “market”, and physics confirms it

For years, the researchers wondered how the former inhabitants of Rapa Nui had accomplished the impossible and moved their emblematic Moai statues. By combining physics, 3D modeling and field experiences, a team including professors from the University of Binghamton, New York State University, confirmed that the statues really walked, with a small rope and remarkably few people.

By studying nearly 1,000 Moai statues, Carl Lipo, professor of anthropology at the University of Binghamton and Terry Hunt of Arizona University discovered that the inhabitants of Rapa Nui probably used a rope and “walked” on giant zigzag statues along carefully designed roads. The article is published in the Journal of archaeological sciences.

Lipo and his colleagues had already demonstrated, by means of experimental evidence, that the great statues “worked” from their careers to the ceremonial platforms using a vertical swing movement, calling into question the theory that the statues were moved lying on wooden devices.

“Once you move it, it’s not difficult at all: people shoot with one arm. It saves energy and moves very quickly,” said Lipo. “The most difficult is to make it vibrate in the first place. The question is: if it is really tall, what should be it? The things we have seen experimentally are consistent with what we expect from a physical point of view?”

To explore how a larger statue could move, the Lipo team has created high -resolution 3D models of Moai and identified distinctive design characteristics (large D -shaped bases and a front inclination) which would make them more likely to be moved in a rocking and zigzag movement.

Putting their theory to the test, the team built a 4.35 -ton Moai replica with a separate conception “tilted forward”. With only 18 people, the team was able to transport the Moai over 100 meters in just 40 minutes, a clear improvement compared to the previous attempts at vertical transport.

“Physics is logical,” said Lipo. “What we have seen experimentally actually works. And as it grows, it still works. All the attributes we see concerning the movement of gigantic objects only become more and more consistent as they grow, because it becomes the only way to move them.”

Rapa Nui’s roads reinforce this theory. Measuring 4.5 meters wide and with a concave section, the roads were ideal for stabilizing the statues during their progression.

“Each time they move a statue, it looks like they trace a road. The road is part of the statue’s trip,” said Lipo. “In fact, we see them overlapping, as well as many parallel versions. What they are probably doing is giving up a path, moving it, giving off another, clearing it more and moving it to the right in certain sequences. They therefore spend a lot of time on the road.”

Lipo said that nothing else explains how the Moai were moved. The challenge for anyone who is to prove to him that he is wrong.

“Find evidence that shows that he could not work. Because nothing we have seen anywhere refutes this,” said Lipo. “In fact, everything we see and think keeps strengthening the argument.”

Lipo said Rapa Nui is known for his wacky theories supported by any evidence. This research is an example of testing a theory.

“People have told all kinds of stories about things that are plausible or possible in one way or another, but they have never evaluated the evidence to show that in fact, you can learn more about the past and explain the archives that you see in an entirely scientific way,” said Lipo. “One of the steps is simply to say: ‘Listen, we can build an answer here.'”

LIPO said that research also honors the inhabitants of Rapa Nui, who achieved a monumental engineering feat with limited resources.

“It shows that the Rapa Nui were incredibly intelligent. They understood it,” said Lipo. “They do it in a way that is consistent with the resources they have. It is therefore really honor to these people, saying: look at what they could achieve, and we have a lot to learn from these principles.”