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The Moai statues on Easter Island were transported a remarkable 13 km by the Rapanui people. These statues literally walked even though they didn't have legs. The mechanics behind this motion are nothing short of genius.
Consider this Moai statue. Imagine this statue is pivoted at one point. If you pull this edge backward, the other end of the Moai statue will move forward. Now by magic, let's change the pivot point to the other end. Again, pull it backward, this time from the other end. Once again, the statue moves forward. Just repeat the process. This is beautiful.
The only question is how do you keep changing the pivot points before each pull? The Rapanui people cleverly used the trick of oscillations for this. Suppose the same statue is standing like this. Now when you pull, where is the pivot point? Of course, it's this point. The friction between these two surfaces will prevent the slip and the corner will act like a pivot point. Of course, you have to pull gently to prevent the slip. Similarly, if the statue is positioned in the opposite angle, the pivot point changes to that corner and with a pull, the block again moves forward.
We can easily achieve these two corner positions to the statue just by oscillating it. If you perfectly time the pull when the block is at one corner, it will move forward. After the next oscillation, one more pull from the other corner will make it move forward again. And the cycle repeats.
In fact, if you think cleverly, there's no need to add oscillations separately like this. Oscillations die because of energy loss. You may observe the decreasing angle after each oscillation. If you keep adding a little energy at the end of every oscillation, the oscillations will continue. To add this energy, you can use the same pulling rope, but this time keep it inclined. The X component of your pull will add extra energy to the statue, and the Y component will tilt the statue forward.
Let's observe the entire process again. What a clever way to transport these huge statues. Did the Rapanui people understand the mechanics of motion?
Riho made a small Moai statue. I have learned the art of walking it after a few trials. You can see all the signs we have learned about statue's motion in this slow motion visuals. The oscillations and the pull at the right time. I am pulling the statue backward and it is moving forward. It's fun to watch. Perfect. Wow.
Now it's time to test the statue in a big scale, a 3-foot model. In this big model, you can see very clearly the oscillations the statue is making. And with every rotation, the statue is moving forward.
The Moai statues were built between roughly 1250 and 1500 AD as powerful symbols of ancestral authority. Rapanui people believed that their chiefs were descended from the gods and that upon death these leaders' spirits could continue to influence the well-being of the community. The Moai were carved as representations of these important ancestors and were erected on ceremonial platforms called Ahu.
The Moai statues were carved using simple yet effective stone tools called toki. These handheld chisels were primarily crafted from hard and dense basalt. The massive blocks of stone were hewned from the volcanic crater of Rano Raraku, the island's primary quarry. These rocks were workable with the tools they had.
Archaeologists believed that teams of skilled carvers would work directly on the rock face of the quarry. They would first outline the statue on its back and then using their basalt toki meticulously chip away at the surrounding tuff. The toki themselves varied in quality with the most prized being made from a particularly hard type of basalt known as hawaiite.
Once the front and sides of the Moai were complete, the final delicate stage of detaching the statue from the bedrock would begin. This was likely a precarious process involving the careful undercutting of the statue's back.
Consider this Moai statue. Imagine this statue is pivoted at one point. If you pull this edge backward, the other end of the Moai statue will move forward. Now by magic, let's change the pivot point to the other end. Again, pull it backward, this time from the other end. Once again, the statue moves forward. Just repeat the process. This is beautiful.
The only question is how do you keep changing the pivot points before each pull? The Rapanui people cleverly used the trick of oscillations for this. Suppose the same statue is standing like this. Now when you pull, where is the pivot point? Of course, it's this point. The friction between these two surfaces will prevent the slip and the corner will act like a pivot point. Of course, you have to pull gently to prevent the slip. Similarly, if the statue is positioned in the opposite angle, the pivot point changes to that corner and with a pull, the block again moves forward.
We can easily achieve these two corner positions to the statue just by oscillating it. If you perfectly time the pull when the block is at one corner, it will move forward. After the next oscillation, one more pull from the other corner will make it move forward again. And the cycle repeats.
In fact, if you think cleverly, there's no need to add oscillations separately like this. Oscillations die because of energy loss. You may observe the decreasing angle after each oscillation. If you keep adding a little energy at the end of every oscillation, the oscillations will continue. To add this energy, you can use the same pulling rope, but this time keep it inclined. The X component of your pull will add extra energy to the statue, and the Y component will tilt the statue forward.
Let's observe the entire process again. What a clever way to transport these huge statues. Did the Rapanui people understand the mechanics of motion?
Riho made a small Moai statue. I have learned the art of walking it after a few trials. You can see all the signs we have learned about statue's motion in this slow motion visuals. The oscillations and the pull at the right time. I am pulling the statue backward and it is moving forward. It's fun to watch. Perfect. Wow.
Now it's time to test the statue in a big scale, a 3-foot model. In this big model, you can see very clearly the oscillations the statue is making. And with every rotation, the statue is moving forward.
The Moai statues were built between roughly 1250 and 1500 AD as powerful symbols of ancestral authority. Rapanui people believed that their chiefs were descended from the gods and that upon death these leaders' spirits could continue to influence the well-being of the community. The Moai were carved as representations of these important ancestors and were erected on ceremonial platforms called Ahu.
The Moai statues were carved using simple yet effective stone tools called toki. These handheld chisels were primarily crafted from hard and dense basalt. The massive blocks of stone were hewned from the volcanic crater of Rano Raraku, the island's primary quarry. These rocks were workable with the tools they had.
Archaeologists believed that teams of skilled carvers would work directly on the rock face of the quarry. They would first outline the statue on its back and then using their basalt toki meticulously chip away at the surrounding tuff. The toki themselves varied in quality with the most prized being made from a particularly hard type of basalt known as hawaiite.
Once the front and sides of the Moai were complete, the final delicate stage of detaching the statue from the bedrock would begin. This was likely a precarious process involving the careful undercutting of the statue's back.
Easter Island has nearly 1,000 Moai statues. This raises an interesting question. Out of these 1,000 statues, which one is the biggest? This question has two answers. The island has an unfinished giant still attached to the bedrock in the Rano Raraku Quarry named El Gigante. El Gigante has a height of 21.6 m and weighs approximately between 145 to 165 tons. Had it been completed and raised, El Gigante would have been a truly staggering sight.
The title for the tallest Moai to be successfully carved, transported, and erected on an Ahu belongs to Moai Paro. This impressive statue once stood at Ahu Te Pito Kura. Moai Paro is currently in a toppled condition. It has a height of 10 m and weighs approximately 90 tons.
Easter Island has beautiful beaches. This is the shape of the island. The main Ahu platforms are marked here. Out of these, Ahu Tongariki is the most significant platform. The Rano Raraku volcanic crater is located here, very close to the main platform. In the Google image of the volcanic crater, it seems like one portion of the crater is chipped away. You know why this happened? Now measure the distance with Ahu. It's a whopping 13 km.
Now only one question remains. How did they keep the statue on the Ahu platform which has a height of almost 1 meter? The only solution we could find was usage of a ramp. The Moai statue can even climb a slope if a third person supports it from the front. Our experiment perfectly demonstrated it. The statue reached the platform quite effortlessly.
The first European to discover the island was the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen on April 5th, 1722. He came across the island on Easter Sunday and in honor of the day named it Easter Island. At the time of his arrival, the island was already inhabited by the Rapanui people.
In the 19th century, the Rapanui community was on the brink of extinction. However, the community displayed remarkable resilience and their population has been recovering ever since. As per the census of 2017, the island has nearly 3,500 people identified as Rapanui. Their community is vibrant with a strong focus on preserving and promoting their unique language, music, carving traditions, and heritage.
When Jacob Roggeveen first visited the island, many of the Moai statues were still standing on their platforms along the coast. His journals describe seeing these impressive figures. The widespread toppling of the Moai statues, which accounts for why so many are found face down today, happened primarily in the 18th and early 19th centuries, well after Roggeveen's visit. This is believed to be due to internal tribal conflicts or possibly the impact of early European contact.
Interestingly, for a long time and even still today, many people believed and continued to believe that the Easter Island Moai statues are only heads even though the archaeologists were aware that the statues have full bodies. This is due to the most famous and widely circulated images of the Moai, often showing the statues on the slopes of the Rano Raraku volcano. Many of these statues were abandoned mid-production or fell over and subsequently became buried up to their shoulders or necks due to centuries of erosion and shifting soil. These iconic big head shots naturally led people to assume they were just heads.
The excavation work by Dr. Jo Anne Van Tilburg and her team since the 1980s revealed the full torsos and even some carvings on the backs of the statues that had been buried for centuries by soil erosion. It's also worth noting that new Moai are still being discovered sometimes in unexpected places like the bottom of a dried up lagoon within the Rano Raraku crater as happened in early 2023.
The title for the tallest Moai to be successfully carved, transported, and erected on an Ahu belongs to Moai Paro. This impressive statue once stood at Ahu Te Pito Kura. Moai Paro is currently in a toppled condition. It has a height of 10 m and weighs approximately 90 tons.
Easter Island has beautiful beaches. This is the shape of the island. The main Ahu platforms are marked here. Out of these, Ahu Tongariki is the most significant platform. The Rano Raraku volcanic crater is located here, very close to the main platform. In the Google image of the volcanic crater, it seems like one portion of the crater is chipped away. You know why this happened? Now measure the distance with Ahu. It's a whopping 13 km.
Now only one question remains. How did they keep the statue on the Ahu platform which has a height of almost 1 meter? The only solution we could find was usage of a ramp. The Moai statue can even climb a slope if a third person supports it from the front. Our experiment perfectly demonstrated it. The statue reached the platform quite effortlessly.
The first European to discover the island was the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen on April 5th, 1722. He came across the island on Easter Sunday and in honor of the day named it Easter Island. At the time of his arrival, the island was already inhabited by the Rapanui people.
In the 19th century, the Rapanui community was on the brink of extinction. However, the community displayed remarkable resilience and their population has been recovering ever since. As per the census of 2017, the island has nearly 3,500 people identified as Rapanui. Their community is vibrant with a strong focus on preserving and promoting their unique language, music, carving traditions, and heritage.
When Jacob Roggeveen first visited the island, many of the Moai statues were still standing on their platforms along the coast. His journals describe seeing these impressive figures. The widespread toppling of the Moai statues, which accounts for why so many are found face down today, happened primarily in the 18th and early 19th centuries, well after Roggeveen's visit. This is believed to be due to internal tribal conflicts or possibly the impact of early European contact.
Interestingly, for a long time and even still today, many people believed and continued to believe that the Easter Island Moai statues are only heads even though the archaeologists were aware that the statues have full bodies. This is due to the most famous and widely circulated images of the Moai, often showing the statues on the slopes of the Rano Raraku volcano. Many of these statues were abandoned mid-production or fell over and subsequently became buried up to their shoulders or necks due to centuries of erosion and shifting soil. These iconic big head shots naturally led people to assume they were just heads.
The excavation work by Dr. Jo Anne Van Tilburg and her team since the 1980s revealed the full torsos and even some carvings on the backs of the statues that had been buried for centuries by soil erosion. It's also worth noting that new Moai are still being discovered sometimes in unexpected places like the bottom of a dried up lagoon within the Rano Raraku crater as happened in early 2023.