Mystery Resolved After 900 Years

For 900 years, the movement of Easter Island’s moai statues has puzzled experts. Researchers Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt propose that the ancient Rapa Nui people used ropes to “rock” and “walk” the statues across rough terrain, rather than dragging them on sleds. Their study suggests that individual clans carved their own statues, challenging previous beliefs of a single chief’s oversight. The moai, believed to represent ancestors, symbolize the ingenuity of the Rapa Nui civilization.

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