Archaeologists have confirmed that Easter Island’s iconic Moai statues were “walked” to their platforms using rope by “remarkably few” of the island’s indigenous Rapa Nui people, solving a ...

For generations, the massive moai of Easter Island, called Rapa Nui by the locals, have stood in quiet testimony to one of archaeology’s longest-standing mysteries. How did an island society, remote ...

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: Among the palm fronds and hibiscus flowers of Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, the moai—massive statues of volcanic rock usually carved in the images of ...

The monolithic human figures of Rapa Nui, called Moai, are among the most recognizable statues in the world. There are 900 of them carved and erected between 1250 and 1500 CE. The making and ...

For years, researchers have speculated about how the ancient people of Easter Island managed to move their massive moai statues, some weighing several tons. A new study, published in the Journal of ...

Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is often portrayed in popular culture as an enigma. The rationale is clear: The tiny, remote island in the Pacific features nearly 1,000 enormous statues—the ...

A high-resolution 3D model of Rano Raraku shows that the moai were created in many distinct carving zones. Instead of a top-down system, the statues appear to have been produced by separate family ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Using 3D modeling and field experiments, researchers led by Binghamton University archaeologist Carl Lipo have verified that the ...