# The Easter Island moai > Nearly a thousand moai, stone figures up to 10 m tall carved from the volcanic tuff of Rano Raraku, were made on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) between the… Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai Publisher: Mysteries Department Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page) Updated: 2026-10-27T17:47:22+00:00 --- **MYS** 0CTG2VPT2YY8·Mystery · site # The Easter Island moai **0** [Follow][Ask a question](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=easter-island-moai) The Easter Island moai ![Six of the 15 Ahu Tongariki Moais](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/easter-island-moai-lead) Rivi · CC BY-SA 3.0 Where Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile, 3,500 km west of South America⁠[[10]] Settled about AD 1200⁠[[1]] Quarry Rano Raraku crater, about 30 separate carving areas⁠[[2]] Moved Upright, rocked forward with ropes, on prepared roads⁠[[3]] European contact 5 April 1722, Jacob Roggeveen⁠[[7]] Population before contact A few thousand, stable; no seventeenth-century bottleneck⁠[[10]] Status Partly explained Questions 1 of 4 answered People [**Carl Lipo** Archaeologist, Binghamton University](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/people/FIG0CTG2X5P0VAA/carl-lipo)[**Terry Hunt** Archaeologist, University of Arizona](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/people/FIG0CTG2XDG566R/terry-hunt)[**Jacob Roggeveen** Dutch navigator; first recorded European visitor](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/people/FIG0CTG2XX45QFR/jacob-roggeveen)[**Jo Anne Van Tilburg** Archaeologist, UCLA; director of the Easter Island Statue Project](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/people/FIG0CTG2XNA441R/jo-anne-van-tilburg) Catalog key**MYS** 0CTG2VPT2YY8 Rapa Nui is a 164 km² volcanic island in the south-east Pacific, the most isolated inhabited place in the Polynesian world. Polynesians settled it about AD 1200⁠[[1]]. Within a few generations they were carving moai, human figures with long heads and folded arms, from the soft tuff of the Rano Raraku crater, and moving them to stand on ahu, stone platforms that line the coast; the largest standing statue is nearly 10 m tall and the heaviest moved weigh more than 80 tonnes⁠[[2]]⁠[[3]]. Hundreds of statues remain in the quarry in every stage of work, and dozens lie along the roads that lead from it⁠[[4]]⁠[[3]]. Two questions have driven a century of study. The first is how a population without wheels, draught animals or large timber moved the statues, and the answer now best supported is that they were walked: the road statues have wide D-shaped bases and lean forward, and a 4.35-tonne replica was rocked forward upright by 18 people with three ropes in 2011⁠[[3]]⁠[[5]]. The second is what happened to the people who made them. The account made famous in the 2000s held that the islanders felled their palm forest to move statues, exhausted the soil, starved, fought and toppled their own monuments before Europeans arrived in 1722. Each part of that account has since been tested. Radiocarbon shows land use continuing across the island to contact and monument building continuing past it⁠[[6]]⁠[[7]]; the obsidian "spear points" are tools⁠[[8]]; the rock gardens could never have fed more than a few thousand people, so there was no large population to collapse⁠[[9]]; and ancient genomes show no bottleneck in the 1600s⁠[[10]]. The catastrophe came after contact, through disease and the Peruvian slave raids of the 1860s⁠[[10]]. The forest did disappear, over centuries and for several reasons⁠[[11]], and the statues did fall, mostly after 1722⁠[[12]]. The island also kept a script, rongorongo, on fewer than 30 wooden objects, still undeciphered; one tablet's wood dates to the fifteenth century⁠[[13]]. Of the 4 questions on this site, 1 are answered. The most likely answer to “How were the moai moved from the quarry to the ahu?”, not yet confirmed: statues were moved upright, rocked forward with ropes by small teams along prepared roads. ### Key questionsset by the editors [**Did Rapa Nui society collapse before European contact?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/questions/QST0CTG30B82PQ7/did-rapa-nui-society-collapse-before-european-contact)Answered: a small, stable population adapted to a poor environment with rock gardens and kept building until contact;… [**How were the moai moved from the quarry to the ahu?** ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/questions/QST0CTG303E013Y/how-were-the-moai-moved-from-the-quarry-to-the-ahu)Most likely: statues were moved upright, rocked forward with ropes by small teams along prepared roads [All 4 questions ](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=easter-island-moai) ## The site Rano Raraku is a volcanic crater on the island's east side whose outer and inner slopes are cut into terraces of quarry faces. A 3D model built from more than 11,000 photographs in 2025 records hundreds of statues still attached or lying in the quarry and identifies about 30 distinct carving areas, each with its own techniques and its own exit route, which the authors read as the work of independent groups sharing one tradition rather than a centrally run workshop⁠[[2]]. Excavation around two of the statues standing on the crater's outer slope showed they were set upright in pits, that their bodies carry carvings now buried, and that the quarry soils were fertile and cultivated⁠[[4]]. [![The moai standing on the outer slope of Rano Raraku](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/v/3b8f12e704f8c5eee3ec86fa2cb5d7fd9ef8cc02b75038c82a28305937b5c24d/w800)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3AKC5YX9/the-moai-standing-on-the-outer-slope-of-rano-raraku) The moai standing on the outer slope of Rano RarakuAurbina. Public domain[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3AKC5YX9/the-moai-standing-on-the-outer-slope-of-rano-raraku) From the quarry, roads run to the coast. The ahu platforms stand where fresh water seeps at the shore, which spatial modelling shows is the best predictor of their placement⁠[[14]]. The red scoria hats, pukao, of up to 12 tonnes were quarried at Puna Pau on the island's west side, rolled to the ahu and raised onto the statues by parbuckling up a ramp⁠[[15]]. **Map of the area** [Open the full map](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/map) [Area][Region] [+][−] 1 **Rano Raraku** Volcanic crater and statue quarry Within 100 m 2 **Ahu Tongariki** Platform with fifteen moai Within 100 m 3 **Anakena** Beach and settlement site Within 100 m 4 **Puna Pau** Scoria quarry Within 100 m 5 **Orongo** Ceremonial village on the rim of Rano Kau Within 100 m MappedBase map © OpenStreetMap contributors ### Timeline **Timeline** Squeezed where little happened. Each mark is a published claim, by how it stands:AcceptedMost likelyStill possibleDisputedRuled out ## What was found The statues on the roads differ from those on the platforms: their bases are wider and D-shaped in plan and their centre of mass sits forward, so that an upright statue leans toward its face; statues that reached an ahu had their bases trimmed flat and their eye sockets cut⁠[[3]]. In 2011 Lipo and Hunt walked a 4.35-tonne concrete replica with the road form upright, using one rope on each side and one behind, rocking it so that each roll carried it a step forward; 18 people moved it 100 m in 40 minutes⁠[[3]]. Fallen road statues lie face down on downhill stretches and on their backs uphill, as a walked statue would fall⁠[[3]]⁠[[5]]. Hunt and Lipo's dates from Anakena put settlement at about AD 1200⁠[[1]]. Mulrooney's screening of the island's radiocarbon record found no gap in land use before contact⁠[[6]]. Obsidian hydration dating of gardens showed use shifting between regions over time rather than failing everywhere⁠[[16]]. The mata'a, the obsidian flakes long called spear points, have shapes unsuited to piercing and are general tools⁠[[8]]. Bayesian modelling of ahu construction shows building continued after 1722⁠[[7]], and the toppling of statues dates mainly to the century after contact⁠[[12]]. In 2024 a satellite survey mapped the rock-mulched gardens across the whole island at about 0.76 km², a fraction of earlier estimates, enough to support a population of about 3,000, close to the number seen in the 1700s⁠[[9]]. The same year, genomes of 15 islanders who died between 1670 and 1950 showed a population that grew steadily from settlement with no bottleneck in the 1600s, and that carried about 10 per cent Native American ancestry acquired around 1250–1430, before any European reached the Pacific⁠[[10]]. ## What is known The statues were carved with basalt picks from tuff and moved upright along prepared roads by teams with ropes; the shapes of the road statues, the fall patterns and the experiments agree, and no competing method accounts for the base form⁠[[3]]⁠[[5]]. The hats were rolled and parbuckled⁠[[15]]. The work was done by many groups, not one authority⁠[[2]]. [![Pukao at Puna Pau and on the ahu](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/easter-island-moai-a-pukao-m1)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3CA20A4W/pukao-at-puna-pau-and-on-the-ahu) Pukao at Puna Pau and on the ahuDennis G. Jarvis. CC BY-SA 2.0[Artifact ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3CA20A4W/pukao-at-puna-pau-and-on-the-ahu) The population was small, grew slowly and kept building until contact; it was then reduced by smallpox and other diseases and by the 1862–1863 slave raids to about a hundred people by 1877⁠[[10]]⁠[[7]]. The forest was lost over several centuries through clearance, fire, the rats that ate the palm seeds, and drought, with the timing varying between parts of the island⁠[[11]]. The island was in contact with the Americas before Europeans⁠[[10]] and, on a 2025 reading of ritual sites, with the rest of East Polynesia after settlement⁠[[17]]. ## The explanations On transport, the walking reading is supported by the base shapes, the lean, the roads and the experiment⁠[[3]]⁠[[5]]. The horizontal reading, that statues were dragged on their backs on wooden sledges or rollers, requires large timber and does not explain why road statues differ from ahu statues or why the finished bases were trimmed after arrival; it was tested with a replica in 1998 but needed far more people per tonne⁠[[5]]. Oral tradition says the statues walked⁠[[3]]. On the end of statue-making, the ecocide reading predicts a seventeenth-century population crash, famine, warfare and the halting of monument work before 1722; the radiocarbon, land-use, genetic and agricultural evidence contradict each prediction⁠[[6]]⁠[[8]]⁠[[9]]⁠[[10]]⁠[[7]]. The resilience reading, that a small population adapted to a poor environment with rock gardens and kept its institutions until contact, fits the evidence and is now the position of most researchers working on the island⁠[[9]]⁠[[10]]. Rull's review keeps open how much the deforestation was human and how much climatic⁠[[11]]. Claims that the statues were made by an earlier non-Polynesian people, or that they are older than the settlement, predict dates before AD 1200 and a non-Polynesian ancestry; the genomes are Polynesian with a Native American component acquired after settlement, and the oldest secure dates on the island are thirteenth century⁠[[1]]⁠[[10]]. ### Published claims **Published claims and their status** | Year | Who | Claimed | Status | Reason | |---|---|---|---|---| | 1919 | Katherine Routledge⁠[18] | The present islanders are descended from the people who made the statues. | Accepted | Ancient genomes show a Polynesian population continuous from settlement to the present⁠[10]. | | 1952 | Thor Heyerdahl⁠[20] | Easter Island and the rest of Polynesia were first settled from South America, and South Americans brought the tradition of monumental stonework. | Ruled out | The islanders' genomes are Polynesian, with a small Native American share that entered after Polynesian settlement⁠[10]⁠[19]. | | 2005 | Jared Diamond⁠[21] | The islanders cut down their forest to move statues and farm, and the society collapsed into famine and war before Europeans arrived. | Ruled out | Three independent lines contradict a pre-contact crash: building went on past 1722, the gardens could feed only about 3,000, and the genomes show no bottleneck⁠[7]⁠[9]⁠[10]. | | 2005 | Jo Anne Van Tilburg and Ted Ralston⁠[22] | Moai could have been moved lying down on a wooden sledge sliding over a ladder of rails; 40 people pulled a 10-tonne replica. | Disputed | The method works mechanically, but it does not explain why statues on the roads have different bases from those on the platforms⁠[3]⁠[5]. | | 2006 | Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo⁠[1] | Polynesians first settled Rapa Nui about AD 1200, centuries later than the AD 400 to 800 long assumed. | Accepted | An island-wide screening of radiocarbon dates finds no reliable evidence of earlier settlement⁠[6]. | | 2007 | Terry Hunt⁠[23] | Rats introduced by the settlers did much of the damage to the palm forest, and the island's catastrophe came after European contact. | Still possible | Rats are one accepted cause of the forest's loss, but how much was rats, clearance, fire or drought is not settled⁠[11]. | | 2013 | Carl Lipo, Terry Hunt and Sergio Rapu Haoa⁠[3] | The statues were walked upright along the roads, rocked forward by teams with ropes, as their D-shaped bases and forward lean show. | Most likely | The leading explanation, backed by base form, fall patterns and a 4.35-tonne replica, but no full-size statue has been walked⁠[5]. | | 2013 | Mara Mulrooney⁠[6] | Radiocarbon dates from across the island show land use continuing without a break up to European contact. | Accepted | Agrees with the genomes and with monument building that went on after 1722⁠[10]⁠[7]. | | 2015 | Christopher Stevenson and colleagues⁠[16] | Garden use rose and fell at different times in different parts of the island, with some areas declining before contact. | Still possible | It rests on obsidian hydration dates, and the authors read it as local adjustment rather than island-wide collapse⁠[16]. | | 2016 | Carl Lipo, Terry Hunt and colleagues⁠[8] | The obsidian mata'a long called spear points are general-purpose tools, not weapons made for war. | Most likely | A shape analysis that removes one plank of the warfare account, with no published rebuttal cited here⁠[8]. | | 2018 | Sean Hixon, Carl Lipo and colleagues⁠[15] | The red scoria hats were rolled from the Puna Pau quarry and raised onto the statues by parbuckling up a ramp. | Most likely | Fits the hats' shapes and the ramps at the platforms, though no hat has been raised this way in an experiment⁠[15]. | | 2019 | Robert DiNapoli and colleagues⁠[14] | The ahu platforms stand where fresh water seeps out at the coast, so the monuments marked a community's water. | Most likely | Fresh water is the best predictor of ahu placement in spatial modelling; the reading of what that meant socially is an inference⁠[14]. | | 2020 | Robert DiNapoli and colleagues⁠[7] | Bayesian modelling of the dates shows ahu construction continuing after Europeans arrived in 1722. | Accepted | Consistent with the island-wide radiocarbon record and the genomes⁠[6]⁠[10]. | | 2020 | Robert DiNapoli, Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt⁠[12] | The statues were toppled mainly in the century after European contact, not in a pre-contact phase of war. | Most likely | The dated evidence points after 1722, though few topplings are directly dated⁠[12]. | | 2020 | Alexander Ioannidis and colleagues⁠[19] | Polynesians met Native Americans from a population related to today's Zenu of Colombia about AD 1200, long before Europeans entered the Pacific. | Accepted | Ancient Rapanui genomes confirm pre-European contact, though they date its arrival on the island to about 1250 to 1430⁠[10]. | | 2024 | Dylan Davis, Robert DiNapoli and colleagues⁠[9] | Rock gardens covered only about 0.76 km² of the island, enough to feed about 3,000 people, so there was never a large population to collapse. | Accepted | The figure matches the population seen at contact and the genomes' steady growth⁠[10]. | | 2024 | J. Víctor Moreno-Mayar and colleagues⁠[10] | Genomes of 15 Rapanui show steady growth with no seventeenth-century bottleneck, and about 10 per cent Native American ancestry acquired around 1250 to 1430. | Accepted | Agrees with the radiocarbon and garden evidence for a population that kept growing until contact⁠[6]⁠[9]. | | 2024 | Silvia Ferrara and colleagues⁠[13] | One rongorongo tablet in Rome is made of wood felled in the mid-fifteenth century, so the script may predate European contact. | Still possible | The date is of the wood, not the carving, and the other three tablets dated are nineteenth century⁠[13]. | | 2025 | Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt⁠[2] | A 3D model of Rano Raraku shows about 30 separate carving areas, the work of independent groups rather than one central workshop. | Most likely | The carving areas are documented, but no area has yet been dated or matched to the platforms its statues went to⁠[2]. | ## What would settle it The transport question would be settled by excavating road statues and road surfaces for rope anchors, post holes and wear, and by walking a full-size tuff replica of a large statue with ropes of the island's own fibre⁠[[5]]. The organisation of the work would be tested by dating individual quarry areas and matching their statues to specific ahu⁠[[2]]. The population history would be tightened by more ancient genomes from before 1670 and by direct dating of gardens and houses island-wide⁠[[10]]⁠[[9]]. Rongorongo would move from pointer to question with more direct dates on the tablets and a corpus large enough to test decipherments⁠[[13]]. ## Questions 1 of 4 questions are answered. **Key questions** [All 4](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions/key-questions?mystery=easter-island-moai) **0** [Did Rapa Nui society collapse before European contact?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/questions/QST0CTG30B82PQ7/did-rapa-nui-society-collapse-before-european-contact) 0 of 1 sub-questions answered·0 Answered: A small, stable population adapted to a poor environment with rock gardens and kept building until contact;… **0** [How were the moai moved from the quarry to the ahu?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/questions/QST0CTG303E013Y/how-were-the-moai-moved-from-the-quarry-to-the-ahu) 0 of 1 sub-questions answered·0 Most likely: statues were moved upright, rocked forward with ropes by small teams along prepared roads ## Evidence 22 findings [How were the moai moved from the quarry to the ahu?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/questions/QST0CTG303E013Y/how-were-the-moai-moved-from-the-quarry-to-the-ahu)7 findings [Statues were moved upright, rocked forward with ropes by small teams along prepared roads.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/answers/ANS0CTG312P33K5/statues-were-moved-upright-rocked-forward-with-ropes-by)Most likely +[Road moai have D-shaped bases and a forward centre of mass; ahu moai have trimmed flat bases.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG31AG4YPJ/road-moai-have-d-shaped-bases-and-a-forward-centre-of-mass)Established +[A 4.35-tonne replica was walked 100 m in 40 minutes by 18 people with three ropes.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG31JA2KFN/a-4-35-tonne-replica-was-walked-100-m-in-40-minutes-by-18)Supported +[Fall orientations on slopes match walking.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG31T42K02/fall-orientations-on-slopes-match-walking)Supported +[Oral tradition says the statues walked.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG321Y6TAK/oral-tradition-says-the-statues-walked)Suggestive −[No full-size tuff statue has been walked, and the largest moved statues are 20 times the replica's mass.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG329R43ET/no-full-size-tuff-statue-has-been-walked-and-the-largest)Suggestive [Statues were dragged horizontally on wooden sledges or rollers.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/answers/ANS0CTG32HJ5FAS/statues-were-dragged-horizontally-on-wooden-sledges-or)Disputed +[A 1998 horizontal-sled experiment moved a replica but needed many more people per tonne.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG32SC7117/a-1998-horizontal-sled-experiment-moved-a-replica-but-needed)Suggestive −[Road statues differ systematically in base form from finished ahu statues, which a horizontal method does not explain.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG33165B13/road-statues-differ-systematically-in-base-form-from)Supported [Did Rapa Nui society collapse before European contact?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/questions/QST0CTG30B82PQ7/did-rapa-nui-society-collapse-before-european-contact)10 findings [Deforestation for statue transport and farming caused famine, warfare and a population crash in the…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/answers/ANS0CTG33GT4MY7/deforestation-for-statue-transport-and-farming-caused-famine)Disputed +[The palm forest was removed over the centuries after settlement.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG33RM19JW/the-palm-forest-was-removed-over-the-centuries-after)Established −[Radiocarbon shows land use continuing across the island to contact.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG340E3WX6/radiocarbon-shows-land-use-continuing-across-the-island-to)Supported −[Ahu construction continued after 1722.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG34882QYP/ahu-construction-continued-after-1722)Supported −[Mata'a are general tools, not weapons.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG34G23VNX/mataa-are-general-tools-not-weapons)Supported −[Rock gardens cover about 0.76 km², enough for about 3,000 people, so no large population existed.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG34QW4K75/rock-gardens-cover-about-0-76-km2-enough-for-about-3-000)Supported −[Fifteen ancient genomes show steady growth and no bottleneck in the 1600s.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG34ZP5F3A/fifteen-ancient-genomes-show-steady-growth-and-no-bottleneck)Established [A small, stable population adapted to a poor environment with rock gardens and kept building until contact;…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/answers/ANS0CTG357G5AP7/a-small-stable-population-adapted-to-a-poor-environment-with)Most likely +[Genomes show no bottleneck and about 10 per cent Native American ancestry acquired about 1250–1430.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG35FA31VX/genomes-show-no-bottleneck-and-about-10-per-cent-native)Established +[Garden extent supports about 3,000 people, matching the contact-period population.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG35Q46159/garden-extent-supports-about-3-000-people-matching-the)Supported +[Land use shifted between regions over time rather than failing everywhere.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG35YY6VKQ/land-use-shifted-between-regions-over-time-rather-than)Supported +[Statue toppling dates mainly to after contact.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG366R66YF/statue-toppling-dates-mainly-to-after-contact)Supported [Who organised the carving and moving of the statues?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/questions/QST0CTG30K20GMV/who-organised-the-carving-and-moving-of-the-statues)3 findings [Many independent kin groups carved and moved statues, sharing a tradition but not a central authority.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/answers/ANS0CTG36PC3NR5/many-independent-kin-groups-carved-and-moved-statues-sharing)Most likely +[About 30 distinct carving areas with different techniques and exit routes in the Rano Raraku 3D model.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG36Y67WEQ/about-30-distinct-carving-areas-with-different-techniques)Supported +[Ahu are placed at the fresh-water seeps that each group depended on.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG376072E7/ahu-are-placed-at-the-fresh-water-seeps-that-each-group)Supported [A paramount chief or priesthood directed statue production for the whole island.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/answers/ANS0CTG37DT3369/a-paramount-chief-or-priesthood-directed-statue-production)Disputed −[The quarry shows many independent areas, not one organisation.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG37NM3HEE/the-quarry-shows-many-independent-areas-not-one-organisation)Supported [Is rongorongo a pre-contact writing system, and can it be read?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/questions/QST0CTG30TW0W1X/is-rongorongo-a-pre-contact-writing-system-and-can-it-be)2 findings [Rongorongo was in use before European contact.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/answers/ANS0CTG38582RAE/rongorongo-was-in-use-before-european-contact)Disputed +[One Rome tablet's wood dates securely to the mid-fifteenth century; three others are nineteenth century.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG38D26Y53/one-rome-tablets-wood-dates-securely-to-the-mid-fifteenth)Suggestive [The script was invented after islanders saw the Spanish annexation document signed in 1770.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/answers/ANS0CTG38MW7HH2/the-script-was-invented-after-islanders-saw-the-spanish)Disputed +[Most dated tablets are nineteenth century.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/evidence/EVD0CTG38WP0XZS/most-dated-tablets-are-nineteenth-century)Suggestive ## Artifacts The films, photos, papers and objects this mystery rests on, each with its own key and its distance from the original. **Artifacts** [See all 21](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts) Photo1 step from object [The moai standing on the outer slope of Rano Raraku](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3AKC5YX9/the-moai-standing-on-the-outer-slope-of-rano-raraku) Aurbina · Public domain 3D model1 step from object [The Rano Raraku quarry faces with unfinished moai](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3B3009FQ/the-rano-raraku-quarry-faces-with-unfinished-moai) Carl Lipo, Terry Hunt, Thomas Pingel and team · CC BY-NC 4.0 Document2 steps from object [Fallen moai along the transport roads](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3B303BNN/fallen-moai-along-the-transport-roads) Lipo, Hunt and Rapu Haoa · publisher Document2 steps from object [The 4.35-tonne walking experiment replica](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3BAT7BXW/the-4-35-tonne-walking-experiment-replica) Lipo and Hunt · publisher Photo1 step from object [Hoa Hakananai'a](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3BJM5PBF/hoa-hakananaia) James Miles · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo1 step from object [The four rongorongo tablets in Rome (Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary)](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3BTE1JG2/the-four-rongorongo-tablets-in-rome-congregation-of-the) Trocadéro Museum · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo1 step from object [Pukao at Puna Pau and on the ahu](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3CA20A4W/pukao-at-puna-pau-and-on-the-ahu) Dennis G. Jarvis · CC BY-SA 2.0 Dataset2 steps from object [Skeletal remains of 15 Rapanui individuals sampled for ancient genomes](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts/ART0CTG3E8J714W/skeletal-remains-of-15-rapanui-individuals-sampled-for) Moreno-Mayar and colleagues · CC BY 4.0 [See all 21 artifacts](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai/artifacts) ## See also [ **Rongorongo** The glyph system of Rapa Nui, carved on about 26 wooden objects, none yet read. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/rongorongo) [ **Puma Punku and Tiwanaku** A sixth-century platform of precisely cut andesite at Tiwanaku, Bolivia. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/puma-punku) [ **Göbekli Tepe** A mound in south-eastern Turkey with carved stone pillars of the 10th millennium BC. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/gobekli-tepe) [ **Nazca Lines** Lines and figures scraped into the desert of southern Peru between 200 BC and AD 650. ](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/nazca-lines) ## References 1. 1.[Hunt, T., Lipo, C. 2006. 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