The giant moai statues of Easter Island can be moved utilizing simple principles of physics, as revealed by a recent study. Researchers found that a small group of people, long ropes, and pendulum dynamics could facilitate the movement of these famed humanfaced statues, which are significant to the Rapa Nui culture.
Easter Island’s Moai Statues: New Insights
The study, published in November 2025 in the Journal of Archaeological Science, provides new evidence in the longstanding debate regarding how the Indigenous people of Easter Island transported these colossal statues. The research team, led by anthropologists Carl Lipo from Binghamton University and Terry Hunt from the University of Arizona, discovered that the unfinished moai lacked certain details, which indicated their design was optimized for movement.
Key Discovery: Design for Transport
- Moai statues had a low center of mass and a forward lean.
- This design feature enabled them to be transported more easily.
- The average moai weighs dozens of tons and stands between 3.7 feet (1.1 meters) and 32.6 feet (9.8 meters) tall.
The researchers conducted virtual recreations of the moai, demonstrating that with the assistance of three ropes and a team ranging from five to sixty people, these statues could take steps averaging 35 inches (89 centimeters) to traverse the Rapa Nui landscape. This finding challenges the conventional view that moving the statues required many individuals and substantial resources.
The Mechanics of “Walking” Moai
From their previous experiment in 2012, where a replica moai weighing 4.8 tons was moved 328 feet (100 meters) by 18 people, Lipo and his team honed in on the mechanics that allowed for such movement. They built virtual models of 62 moai positioned along ancient paths. These models revealed that the statues’ forward lean, between 6 to 15 degrees, shifted their center of mass for better stability.
Efficient Movement Calculated
The team analyzed the physics involved in the walking motion, revealing the necessary manpower for initiation and continued movement. Their findings suggest:
- 15 to 60 people needed to start the movement.
- 5 to 25 people needed to maintain the movement.
- The moai could travel on average 1,000 feet (310 meters) per hour.
These calculations indicate that the transportation of moai was an efficient process that could cover 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) in approximately 11,000 steps.
Expert Opinions
The research has garnered interest from the academic community. Sue Hamilton, an archaeologist from University College London, praised the study as a significant contribution while also highlighting that it represents just one possibility among various interpretations of how the moai might have been moved. She noted that the findings do not definitively prove the “walking” hypothesis.
Lipo and Hunt maintain that the alternatives offered by critics do not fully account for the comprehensive evidence presented in their study. The exploration of pendulum dynamics in conjunction with a relatively small labor force offers a fascinating perspective on the logistics behind the movement of these iconic statues.