# DiNapoli 2019: Rapa Nui (Easter Island) monument (ahu) locations explained by freshwater sources

> Robert J. DiNapoli, Carl P. Lipo, Tanya Brosnan et al., 2019. 2 records on Mysteries Department cite it. Cited for the placement of the platforms.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CTG2S0W5M2Y/rapa-nui-easter-island-monument-ahu-locations-explained-by  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Easter Island moai](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai)DiNapoli 2019

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# Rapa Nui (Easter Island) monument (ahu) locations explained by freshwater sources

Robert J. DiNapoli, Carl P. Lipo, Tanya Brosnan et al., 2019. _PLOS ONE_.

Spatial modelling finds the ahu platforms are placed where fresh water seeps at the coast, which suggests the monuments marked and defended water.

**Easter Island moai** Articledoi: **[10.1371/journal.pone.0210409](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210409)** Checked against the original0

## What it's used for here

Cited for the placement of the platforms.

## Cited by on this site 2 records

[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)

Evidence

EVD

[The Easter Island moai](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/easter-island-moai)

The mystery article

MYS

## Cite it

```
DiNapoli, R. J., Lipo, C. P., Brosnan, T., Hunt, T. L., Hixon, S., Morrison, A. E., & Becker, M. (2019). Rapa Nui (Easter Island) monument (ahu) locations explained by freshwater sources. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210409
```

[Read it free at doi.org](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210409)

Key

**SRC** 0CTG2S0W5M2Y

Kind

Journal article

Rights

CC-BY-4.0

Kept

27 Oct 2026

Checked

Against the published article

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Bibliographic records are CC0. Take this one as CSL-JSON, BibTeX or RIS.

[CSL-JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0CTG2S0W5M2Y/rapa-nui-easter-island-monument-ahu-locations-explained-by/csl.json)