Study Confirms Theory Easter Island’s Iconic Moai Statues ‘Walked’ Into Place
(Image Credit: F. Rawath/Unsplash)
Christopher Plain·October 8, 2025
A team of researchers, including faculty from Binghamton University, State University of New York, has used physics, 3D modeling, and real-world experiments to show how the people of Rapa Nui (
Easter Island) in the
South Pacific Ocean used ropes and just a few laborers to ‘walk’ the massive Moai statues that have made the island famous into place.
Several previous theories about how the large statues, which weigh on average around 14 tons but can reach up to 105 tons, were moved without the aid of modern equipment hundreds of years ago. Those theories range from
massive labor forces dragging them prone on wooden platforms to more exotic ideas that fall well outside of the range of evidence collected by
archaeologists.
The newest study essentially confirms the previously proposed concept that ‘walking’ the statues into place by alternating their position on the opposing ends of the base in a forward-moving, zig-zag fashion is the least labor-intensive and most likely method employed by the now-extinct people.
“Once you get it moving, it isn’t hard at all – people are pulling with one arm,” explained Binghamton University Professor of Anthropology Carl Lipo. “It conserves energy, and it moves really quickly.”
A research team, including Binghamton University archaeologist Carl Lipo, has confirmed via 3D modeling and field experiments that the ancient people of Rapa Nui “walked” the iconic moai statues. Image Credit: Carl Lipo.
Although the team had successfully demonstrated the motion in previous experiments, a question remained regarding how to get the statue rocking in the first place. Lipo said the question his team faced was ‘if it’s really large, what would it take?’
“Are the things that we saw experimentally consistent with what we would expect from a physics perspective?” he asked.
Joined by the University of Arizona’s Terry Hunt, the team tested different approaches. The first step involved building a 4.35-ton replica of a Moai statue, complete with what they described as its “forward-lean designs.” Next, they gathered a team of volunteers and began alternately pulling the ropes until the massive replica began to rock.
According to a
statement detailing the experiments, a team of 18 people was able to “walk” the Moai over 100 meters in “just 40 minutes. The team said this time “marked improvement over previous vertical transport attempts,” and that the real-world effort matched the data from the 3D simulations the team had previously performed. It also offered support for the concept by validating the physics behind this type of statue transport.
“The physics makes sense,” Lipo said. “What we saw experimentally actually works. And as it gets bigger, it still works. All the attributes that we see about moving gigantic ones only get more and more consistent the bigger and bigger they get, because it becomes the only way you could move it.”
Lipo’s team created 3D models of moai to determine the unique characteristics that made them able to be “walked” across Rapa Nui. Image Credit: Carl Lipo.
Along with the successful simulations and experiments, the team notes how the layout of the area’s road is consistent with this type of movement, particularly the 4.5-meter width and concave cross-section, which could accommodate their transport and stabilize them during the walking back and forth used to move them forward.
“Every time they’re moving a statue, it looks like they’re making a road. The road is part of moving the statue,” said Lipo. “We actually see them overlapping each other, and many parallel versions of them. What they are probably doing is clearing a path, moving it, clearing another, clearing it further, and moving it right in certain sequences. So they’re spending a lot of time on the road part.”
Example of a road moai that fell and was abandoned after an attempt to re-erect it by excavating under its base, leaving it partially buried at an angle. Image Credit: Carl Lipo.
When responding to critics, Lipo and Hunter point out that the simplicity and low-labor components of their work, combined with the roadways and other evidence, place the burden on them to refute their findings.
“Find some evidence that shows it couldn’t be walking,” he said. “Because nothing we’ve seen anywhere disproves that. In fact, everything we ever see and ever thought of keeps strengthening the argument.”
The researcher goes further, noting that Rapa Nui is “notorious for wild theories backed by zero evidence,” whereas his team’s work puts the idea through both simulated and real-world tests
“People have spun all kinds of tales about stuff that’s plausible or possible in some way, but they never go about evaluating the evidence to show that,” he said. “In fact, you can learn about the past and explain the record that you see in ways that are fully scientific. One of the steps is simply saying, ‘Look, we can build an answer here.’”
This diagram illustrates the “walking” technique whereby moai were moved along prepared roads through alternating lateral rope pulls while maintaining a forward lean of 5–15° from vertical. Image Credit: Carl Lipo
When discussing the potential implications of the experiments, Lipo points to the ingenuity and engineering expertise demonstrated by the individuals who placed these statues here in the first place.
“It shows that the Rapa Nui people were incredibly smart. They figured this out,” he said. “They’re doing it the way that’s consistent with the resources they have. So, it really gives honor to those people, saying, ‘look at what they were able to achieve,’ and we have a lot to learn from them in these principles.”
The study “
The walking moai hypothesis: Archaeological evidence, experimental validation, and response to critics” was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.
