The towering Easter Island moai have always stirred wonder and curiosity. But how these massive sculptures got from quarry to platform has long been a mystery. The smaller ones weigh 12-14 tons, while ...

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 ...

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 ...

If you ever visit the monolithic human figures in Rapa Nui, you will undoubtedly hear the local legends that say they simply ...

Researchers say Easter Island's 4-ton moai "walked" across the island -- thanks to physics, ropes and a little ancient choreography -- no magic necessary. Binghamton University Turns out, the heads of ...

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 ...

Easter Island statues, traditionally known as moai on the remote island of Rapa Nui in the South Pacific, are some of the most impressive artifacts of ancient Polynesian civilization. How the statues ...

Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen has an exquisite track record, having “discovered” both the Polynesian islands of Bora Bora and Maupiti. However, it’s his accounts of Easter Island for which he is most ...

There are more than 1,000 moai statues on Easter Island, representing a key part of the region’s cultural and archeological past. A new moai, smaller than most, was found in a dried-up lakebed. The ...

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 ...