Based on 3D modeling and testing on a moai replica, researchers think that small groups of people may have used ropes to ...

The iconic Moai statues of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, have long fascinated researchers and tourists alike. Recent ...

For years, researchers have puzzled over how the ancient people of Rapa Nui did the seemingly impossible and moved their iconic moai statues. Using a combination of physics, 3D modeling and ...

Scientists believe the statues may have "walked" Toria Sheffield joined the PEOPLE editorial staff in 2024. Her work as a writer/editor has previously appeared in places like Bustle, LAMag, and ...

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 ...

When the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen landed on Easter Island in 1722, he was puzzled by how the indigenous islanders could have transported the hundreds of colossal stone statues he found studding ...

The mystery of the Moai stone heads has eluded onlookers for centuries — and now, researchers say they finally know how they got there. The statues, which were carved and placed on the South Pacific's ...

How Easter Island’s moai statues made it from the quarry to their final destinations has been a mystery for centuries. Archaeologists who analyzed the physics of the statues and their transport found ...

The ancient moai statues of Easter Island may have been “walked” to their resting places, according to a new study.

Scientists may have solved the mystery of how the giant statues of Easter Island moved to their present locations.

A groundbreaking study published in October 2025 has confirmed that the iconic moai statues of Easter Island were moved into ...