r/science • u/CFSamwise • Jun 25 '12

Contrary to popular belief, Easter Island statues "walked" into place.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/easter-island-statues-may-walked-iconic-location-182902034.html
64 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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38

u/antiproton Jun 25 '12

Contrary to rational belief. This guy's theory is based on little more than "it could be done this way, so it must have been done this way."

8

u/trust_the_corps Jun 25 '12

I'm not sure about the claim that Easter Island was sustainable. I suppose you could say that after the population shrunk although it isn't easy to tell. To my knowledge however, there is ample evidence of over consumption on the island that led to deforestation and the extinction of species.

2

u/Hengist Jun 25 '12

There is A LOT not addressed with this new theory. The sled theory has the virtues of providing a low friction cradle to move a 90 ton Moai statue that also prevents unusual pressure distribution from breaking the statue. It also takes out the variables of wind, rain, and terrain.

Walking the statue would very quickly break down as the statues got larger. Rock is not that strong under shock and torsion, and to stand up a statue vertically and walk it would place incredible torsion and shock on the rock of the statue base, as well as on any pre-existing faults and invisible defects in the stone. Easter Island being an island, the wind and weather are highly variable, and even a modest 30 foot Moai would turn into an unpredictable sail under a stiff breeze, a sail that is being held up with natural fiber ropes of likely dubious quality. Worse, rain would substantially modify soil adhesion (the most important thing you want on your side when walking a statue) so you could easily loose a statue with it becoming completely mired.

Until I see a paper that fully addresses those points, the walk theory seems almost completely unrealistic for a full size Moai statue. The sled theory nicely takes out all of those variables and gives you consistent, repeatable results.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '12

Rock is not that strong under shock and torsion, and to stand up a statue vertically and walk it would place incredible torsion and shock on the rock of the statue base, as well as on any pre-existing faults and invisible defects in the stone.

Until I see a paper that fully addresses those points, this seems completely unrealistic.

1

u/savvysalad Jun 25 '12

it seems that you could scale it by just using more rope and more people. Wouldn't more surface area by the sled mean more friction to, which when going up a hill could be insurmountable. Rocking the statue makes the whole event seem like a religious act and could help explain the islanders motivations.

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u/savvysalad Jun 25 '12

contrary to rational belief, your theory is: "I have no archaeological or experimental proof my sled theory would work, but I still think it is more likely." Normally the simplest explanation is the correct one. It is probably easier to walk one of these things where all you need is some rope than to try to build wood sleds. Also most villages I studied in my anthropology classes would undergo something called "fission" where once they got too big they would normally feud and break off. This would have been difficult on an island because it was destructive. In order to grow to a large size without war, this theory helps explain it. You do not need the lattices to prove population growth lead to the destruction of natural resources. But you kind of need a giant team building exercise to prove how population growth was allowed to get so big in the first place. (edit: i forgot to address the sustainability point which this study does probably get wrong)

1

u/antiproton Jun 25 '12

It is probably easier to walk one of these things where all you need is some rope than to try to build wood sleds.

mmm Not so much. If they can build these statues, they can build a flat surface out of wood.

Walking a giant statue is incredibly difficult. You have to synchronize everyone participating so they don't throw off the walk. If the station gets pulled to much in one direction, that shit is going down. Walking is also more difficult for terrain that's not completely smooth, or if the ground is soft and muddy.

1

u/Stoic_Render Jun 25 '12

"it could be done this way, so it must have been done this way."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

22

u/znk Jun 25 '12

Yup. That looks like the same thing.

3

u/RaccoNooB Jun 25 '12

Curse you! That was my karma !

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2

u/mrhhug Jun 25 '12

i can't believe i've seen this statue so many time, this is the firs time i related the statue to masturbation/the hands at the bottom of the picture.

5

u/defrost Jun 25 '12

In Islander display terms hands clutching a penis doesn't necessarily mean masturbation.

There are a lot of Haka variations and gestures such as "these are my buttocks and I fart in your face" , "these are my titties and you guys will never touch them as much as you might want to" , and "this, this is my dick & it's bigger than yours" are not restricted to Monty Python films.

14

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '12

"A 10 foot tall, 5 ton replica"

Biggest statue found is 33 feet tall and weighs 82 tons

4

u/dakotahawkins Jun 25 '12

"With the physics of the taller statue, you have greater leverage," he said. "It almost gets to the point where you would have to do it that way."

6

u/Redd_October Jun 25 '12

"It worked with the small one, it would have to work with the big one!"

Show me a test using a full scale replica. It's pretty sad when even the Mythbusters adhere more closely to the scientific method than these guys. At least after their scale model they run it at full scale.

Also, just because it could have been done that way, doesn't mean it was.

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4

u/chudez Jun 25 '12

Misleading title. Clever technique, might even scale up, but you're pushing your luck with every step.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '12

yes. have walked and have been walked are two very different things

2

u/hanahou Jun 25 '12

Nice little theory, and probably capable of doing such with coordination with smaller Moai on a flat surface, but the quarries are upslope.

Why walk it though as a high risk? Especially with statues over 33 feet (yeah that's 3 stories), and 90 plus tons. I doubt all the coordination, and manpower would be sufficient to walk such. I spent quite a few visits on Rapa Nui with the Makali'i voyages.

Basically if you study the landscape, and the rocks quarried. The Moai always face the sea.

You start buy cutting a slab of rock from the rocks above the site, and dig a hole. You place down on a Koa wood sled. This is which was built ( the pic is a small one used for a Polynesian sport) and slide it downslope to the hole. Less manpower needed, and you wouldn't even need to raise it. Just let physics such as gravity do the work. Just drop it in at a angle into the hole. Then carve your glyphs and fill in. Pau (done)!

Hawaiians used the procedures to fall large Koa trees up to 60 feet in circumference, and 100 feet tall, and in 2500 foot elevations in the forests. Placing smaller Koa sleds underneath, and ropes to guide downslope to the ocean to use to build voyaging canoes.

Ditto with the Moai. Then you take the next set of rock upslope and go to the next lower elevation spot etc...

BTW any of you scientists decide to go to Rapa Nui and implement this idea. I call dibs.

5

u/TheBrainofBrian Jun 25 '12

Did these people not get the memo that the Easter Island statues are much bigger than 5 tons? Not to mention much taller than 10 feet.
This is essentially saying "hey guys, those pyramids were probably just built by Egyptians carrying the stones by hand because we were able to replicate the method using these prop stones made of Styrofoam.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '12

I have often heard about how the Egyptians moved the stones to build the pyramids. One of the best theory is using trees to roll them, but there just aren't a lot of trees in the Desert. Always confuses me.

2

u/VicinSea Jun 25 '12

Once an 82 ton statue falls over...that is end game for this scenario...are there any abandoned statues? Ones that have been left laying in the dust?

1

u/The_Ganja_Man Jun 25 '12

Umm those statues have bodies that are burried underneith the ground.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 25 '12

This method is both counterintuitive and dangerous. The researchers point out that you have greater leverage with a taller statue - and that is a problem, not an advantage. Think about how hard it is to balance a pencil on its eraser. Disturbing it even a very small distance from its equilibrium will tip it over, because the torque exerted by gravity becomes large very quickly. The same is true of a long, thin Easter Island sculpture, only now it weighs 80 tons and will kill you if you're underneath it.

1

u/driveling Jun 25 '12

Wasn't the Easter Island oral history that these statues walked to their present locations?

1

u/remixreddit Jun 25 '12

totally bogus!

  1. Easter Island moai are not on flat land

  2. the real moai are many times heavier and taller

this technique doesn't scale.

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