[Merged] Did Easter Island statues 'walk' ?

[Saru]

A new theory suggests that the giant stone heads might have been 'walked' upright along the roads.

The startling claim comes from archaeologists Terry Hunt of the University of Hawaii and Carl Lipo of California State University Long Beach, who showed how as few as 18 people could move a 5-ton statue with just some ropes and hopes.

Read more...

[Abramelin]

I didn't even click on the link (yet) to read the article, but I already read that theory in a book, some 30 years ago.

[spud the mackem]

A new theory suggests that the giant stone heads might have been 'walked' upright along the roads.

Here we go again, was there any roads on Easter Island ?, when the statues were put there.They all seem to be on a hillside with not a road in sight..

[Abramelin]

I didn't even click on the link (yet) to read the article, but I already read that theory in a book, some 30 years ago.

Here it is:

The Mysteries of Easter Island - Jean Michel Schwartz / 1975, chapter 6: "Transporting the Statues".

.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Abramelin

[debmedia]

may be in dream. or I read a mythology many years back where I read about a stone which have life in it. I just forget in which story I get that.

[SunGod]

'Miracle' is the obsolete word for scientific village, island of fanatic world.

They did and we couldn't understand how they did it. How bad ?

[jbondo]

Here we go again, was there any roads on Easter Island ?, when the statues were put there.They all seem to be on a hillside with not a road in sight..

What you fail to realize is over the years the statues have been buried by buildup of dirt and sand. If you took the island coast down to the level it was when they were placed there, you might find remnants of roads.

[constantine_337]

This seems to be the most practical theory yet. Others theories such as the sled would be plausible until you place the Maui near the coast because the men pulling the sleds would have no where to stand. The rope theory works on multiple levels. You could walk the Maui to the coast without having people in the ocean and it also explains how they turned the Maui to face the island because when they moved them from the quarry they would face the ocean but they had to turn it to face the island.

[HMS Dreadnought]

It certainly seems the most plausible theory I've read anyway.

[Junior Chubb]

Great, after feeling like a fool after finding out the the heads had bodies (which was old news too many) I again feel a fool that I did not know this 'old news'.

Well the only thing I do remember about these heads was the myth that if you walked through their shadows you would die later that day. Can somebody please tell me if this was a true myth (as in people believed it not that it actually happened!!) or just something my father made up to scare me?

And before this becomes a thread full of 'oh this is old news', it may be old news to some but it is new news to those who did not know (like dumb-ass here).

[cladking]

As time goes by we're probably going to find most of the ancient reports are exactly right.

However, I'm not totally convinced in this particular case. After seeing a 5 ton statue take a few steps it certainly becomes possible. With lots of practice people could get good at this. In the meantime standing them back ofn their feet will prove a chore.

[BrokenKey]

Walk? Yes. Dance? No.

[csspwns]

i dont like this theory

[Michelle]

It seems plausible to me. Even I can easily move a 200 pound co2 cylinder by rolling it on the edges. The tricks of the trade are often lost over the years due to new technology and it's a sad thing.

[CRIPTIC CHAMELEON]

Seems feasible enough but then I also like Talking Heads

[johnny blue eyes]

"Walked"? I think the correct term for this form of manouvering a heavy object is called "daddying". or "daddy" just like moving a big heavy wardrobe. you know.

[KVM10]

5 Tons fine, but I cannot ever imagine these people trying to waddle a 50 Ton Moai Having been there, I can tell you that seeing one of the original sized Moai's you're not going to try that method!

[diablo_04]

This technique looks very unstable, If you watch the video, the statue almost fall down few times.

I can see braking every 5 or sixths statue with this kind of transportation, its not practical.

[cladking]

This technique looks very unstable, If you watch the video, the statue almost fall down few times.

I can see braking every 5 or sixths statue with this kind of transportation, its not practical.

If they used this method my guess is we didn't duplicate it perfectly.

While any technique is going to be somewhat unstable it seems that using two lines in

back to turn it would help stabilize it somewhat. The more force is on it the less able it

is to get out of control.

Where's a maestro when you really need one?

Essentially each team has to work as one and each team has to be under the control

of someone with the best perspective. Perhaps this is where the legend of imminent

death if you cross its shadow comes from.

[Paranomali]

I had an image of the massive heads growing legs and just tottering around...

[+DieChecker]

I thought I'd read that archeologists had shown that just about every last tree was cut down during this time period. That lends ittself a great deal to the rollers theory in my opinion. Though I'd not be surprised if this is how they manuevered the stones into their final positions. It is how I move heavy furniture around the house, but I'd never try to walk a fridge down the sidewalk like this. I'd find some thing with wheels to put under it.

[Elq]

Researchers Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo test a new theory that suggests how ancient Easter Islanders may have used ropes to “walk” the moai to their platforms.

“The statues walked,” Easter Islanders say. Archaeologists are still trying to figure out how—and whether their story is a cautionary tale of environmental disaster or a celebration of human ingenuity.

http://quasi-mundo.com/2012/07/scientists-make-easter-island-statue-walk-video/

[Sundog]

Heyerdahl tried the same thing back in 1986

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M2zXPR9h3w

[CRIPTIC CHAMELEON]

Researchers Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo test a new theory that suggests how ancient Easter Islanders may have used ropes to “walk” the moai to their platforms.

“The statues walked,” Easter Islanders say. Archaeologists are still trying to figure out how—and whether their story is a cautionary tale of environmental disaster or a celebration of human ingenuity.

http://quasi-mundo.c...tue-walk-video/

Good theory, but if this is true they would be able to find that the ground would have been flattened and/or leveled to be able to walk these statues. A good GPR [ground penertrating radar] would substantiate this claim.

[Earl.Of.Trumps]

pretty interesting

on flat ground it seems like an Ok way to go. But Ireally wonder about getting said stone out of the quarry