Statues with the huge face were carved out of solid stones around AD 1300-1700. These massive stone statues, called Moai, can be seen on Easter Island (or Rapa Nui in Polynesia) in the South Pacific Ocean. As per the popular idea, the indigenous Rapa Nui people carved these monolithic figures from the local volcanic tuff. However, archaeologists have challenged this idea.

There are nearly 900 monumental statues on this remote volcanic Chilean island and the tallest of them, called Paro, is almost 10mt (33ft) high, weighing 82 tonnes. While the heaviest Moai built was a shorter but squatter one at Ahu Tongariki, weighing 86 tonnes; an unfinished sculpture would be approximately 21mt (69ft) tall, with a weight of about 145-165 tonnes, if completed.

The creation and transport of the Moai statues have long been shrouded in mystery. Although the archaeologists have admitted that the Rapa Nui people were the creators of these iconic monumental sculptures, it is still unclear how long these indigenous inhabitants have been living on Easter Island, with some evidence suggesting settlement around 300-400 CE and others pointing to a much later arrival, as late as 1200 CE. According to the 2017 Chilean census, among 7,750 people registered on this island in the census, 3,512 (45%) self-identified as Rapa Nui.

There has been extensive research on the Rapa Nui and Moai so far, and long-held beliefs suggest the Moai statues were built in an organised manner by the Rapa Nui people through collective efforts. However, a recent study has revealed that those were not created by a joint effort at all. Archaeologists have claimed that the Rapa Nui people were organised into small, independent family- or clan-based groups and these autonomous groups likely created the Moai statues separately. This challenges older theories of a single, centralised authority.

A team of researchers led by Binghamton University archaeologist Carl Lipo recently studied the Easter Island Moai statues and found evidence that they were moved by “walking” them upright with ropes. The team used drones to click nearly 11,000 images of the island and then created a three-dimensional (3-D) model of the Moai statues with those images. The model contains images of some unfinished statues at various locations on the island. While analysing those unfinished sculptures, researchers have found that there were several inconsistencies in them. There are also discrepancies between samples erected at two different locations. The research paper on megalithic statue production was published in the PLOS One journal on November 26, 2025.

Archaeologists have identified at least 30 different areas on the island with the help of 3-D model where the statues were carved. Interestingly, there are significant area-wise differences in stone cutting and sculpture carving styles, as well as techniques. From this, they have come to the conclusion that the construction of the Moai statues was not centrally controlled. Instead, the statues were carved uniquely in each area, suggesting that the Rapa Nui people did not live in a single, politically unified society. Archaeologists are of the opinion that pre-contact Rapa Nui society was organised into multiple, competing clans or tribes (known as Mata) that used to maintain distinct territorial divisions and autonomous leadership.

The new, comprehensive 3-D model of the Rano Raraku quarry on Easter Island has documented 426 Moai in various stages of completion as the high-resolution model provides unprecedented detail of the production process and the number of statues that remain at the site. The 3-D model has also found 341 trenches that were cut to outline rectangular blocks for carving. However, no statues were carved there. In addition, 133 specific, anomalous empty spaces have been found on Easter Island. These empty spaces are quite significant as archaeologists believe that the statues were cut from there and moved elsewhere.

The largest Moai, named El Gigante, remains incomplete and is still attached to the bedrock in the Rano Raraku quarry on Easter Island. Lipo has claimed that it would have been about 21.6mt (71ft) tall and would have weighed around 270 tonnes, if completed. It seems that the massive scale was the reason it was abandoned.

Researchers speculate that these statues were moved to a different place after being carved. Lipo has stressed: “Some statues exceeded practical transport limits. This would be the case if, as we suspect, competitive escalation drove communities to attempt ever-larger Moai. These oversized attempts represent communities testing limits and recognising constraints.”

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das