As for the statues long assumed to have been abandoned as they were being transported to the coastline to be displayed in ...

Scientists used drones to produce this 3D model of Rano Raraku, the volcanic crater where 95% of Rapa Nui's giant statues were carved. Lipo et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC BY Rapa Nui, also known as Easter ...

When Polynesian explorers landed on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, around 1200 C.E., they found nearly 20 million palm trees; by the time Dutch explorers arrived in 1722, they found only ...

The "walking moai hypothesis" could end a long-time debate over how ancient engineers moved these iconic statues around Easter Island. Reading time 3 minutes The moai statues of Easter Island have ...

For decades, the global image of Rapa Nui — Easter Island — has been reduced to giant stone heads rising from the earth, as if the moai were incomplete sculptures missing their bodies. But this ...

Some local legends are based in truth.

Despite standing in one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth, the iconic moai of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) can now be experienced from the comfort of your home. This is thanks to a new, ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Carl Lipo, Binghamton University, State University of New York (THE CONVERSATION) Rapa ...

Carl Lipo receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society. Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is often portrayed in popular culture as an enigma. The ...