Easter Island’s Giants Actually WALKED

Bright Side

Easter Island’s massive moai statues look impossible to move, but scientists now know they actually “walked” across the island thanks to a brilliant rocking method used by the Rapa Nui people. Researchers tested replica statues and found that with just a few ropes and a coordinated rhythm, small teams could tilt the giant figures side to side and shuffle them forward like huge stone penguins. This explains their forward-leaning design, the curved roads, and even the ancient legends that literally say the statues walked from the quarry. The discovery proves the islanders used engineering skill, teamwork, and smart physics—not huge armies or deforestation—to move these 80-ton giants. And in this video, you’ll explore how the moai truly walked and uncover some of the wildest secrets scientists have learned about Easter Island.  Animation is created by Bright Side.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV  Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Our Social Media:  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightplanet/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official  TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en   Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate.

Transcript

00:00The Easter Island giant heads are so popular that they even have their own emoji.

00:07Their true meaning has been a mystery for hundreds of years,

00:12but it looks like we at least know how they were built and transported to their permanent location.

00:19The Moai statues consist of three parts,

00:23a large yellow body,

00:25a red hat or topknot,

00:27and white inset eyes with a coral iris.

00:32Around 1,000 of them were created.

00:36The main bodies of most of the statues were made out of volcanic tuff from a local quarry in what used to be a volcano.

00:44The material is easy to carve, but not so easy to transport.

00:48That's probably why researchers found over 300 unfinished Moai back in the quarry.

00:54The rest of them stand in various locations,

00:58facing the villages as if watching over the locals.

01:01So, it looks like the statues were carved lying on their backs.

01:07Then, their creators detached them from the rock,

01:10moved them down slope,

01:12and set them in a vertical position to finish the work.

01:16Once it was done,

01:17it was time to get the statue to its platform.

01:20Now, if you've ever moved houses,

01:23you know how physically hard it is.

01:25So, imagine having to move a statue that is about half as heavy as a house,

01:31without a car or any modern equipment for a distance of three miles.

01:35The locals must have invented some original way of doing it,

01:40and scientists tried to recreate it to guess what it was.

01:44They tried pulling Moai replicas on wooden sleds.

01:48They thought someone could have used palm trees for that purpose,

01:52but this theory has been debunked.

01:54The most successful experiment so far

01:56was wielding ropes to rock the statue down the road in a standing position.

02:00This method sounds real

02:03because the local Rapa Noai legends

02:05mentioned that the Moai walked from the quarry.

02:09And, of course, they needed a good road to get there.

02:14In the early 20th century,

02:15researcher Catherine Rutledge

02:17identified an 800-year-old road network on the island.

02:22It was a bunch of pathways,

02:25around 15 feet wide,

02:26going from the quarry.

02:28She thought that those roads were ceremonial

02:30and not built just for the statues.

02:33She wasn't a famous scientist back then,

02:35so others mostly ignored the theory.

02:38Several decades later,

02:40famous Norwegian adventurer and archaeologist

02:43Thor Heredal published his theory.

02:46He mentioned that the roads were built

02:48exclusively to transport the Moai,

02:50and some of the statues were dropped

02:52along the roads for some reason.

02:55But in 2010,

02:56researchers found that the statues

02:58weren't randomly dropped.

03:00They actually reached their final destinations

03:03as they were all set on hidden platforms.

03:07Plus, the road floor was U-shaped,

03:10so pulling massive statues along them

03:12wouldn't be easy.

03:14You can still find roughly 15.5 miles

03:17of these roads on the island

03:19and see them from satellite images.

03:21And it looks like Catherine Rutledge

03:25was right about them.

03:27The roads were probably built for pilgrims

03:29to a sacred volcano,

03:31and the Moai standing by them

03:33were sort of signposts.

03:36Halfway across the world,

03:38in southern England,

03:39lies another mystery made of stone.

03:42A massive sound illusion,

03:43a symbol of unity,

03:45a burial ground,

03:46or more.

03:48Scientists are still debating

03:49the purpose of Stonehenge.

03:52It took Neolithic builders

03:53around 1,500 years

03:55to construct this beauty

03:56made of roughly 100 stones

03:59standing upright in a circle.

04:02Millions of tourists

04:03come to see it every year,

04:05and heritage protectors

04:06were worried about the modern road

04:08snaking close to the landmark.

04:11That modern road

04:12is now sunk into the ground

04:14below the grass level.

04:17And even though archaeologists

04:19assumed they could find

04:21an older road under it,

04:22they didn't have any high hopes.

04:25But when they took off

04:27a layer of asphalt,

04:29they noticed two parallel ditches

04:31that were nearly perpendicular

04:32to the road.

04:33The ditches connected

04:35the shortened sections

04:36of the avenue.

04:37That's what the archaeologists

04:39called the ancient pathway

04:40leading up to Stonehenge.

04:43It proves that the ancient people

04:45used to visit the monument

04:46for their purposes

04:47and probably some ceremonies.

04:51Another interesting find

04:52during a dry summer

04:53was three dry patch marks

04:55within the stone circle.

04:57It looks like they were left there

04:59by three massive boulders.

05:01So Stonehenge

05:02could have been

05:03a full circle once.

05:06In 2021,

05:08archaeologists found

05:09a Roman road

05:10submerged in the Venetian lagoon.

05:13The fact that it runs there

05:15on the bottom

05:16for nearly 4,000 feet

05:17is proof

05:18that the Romans were here

05:20before sea levels rose

05:21and flooded the area.

05:23It supports the theory

05:25that there was

05:25an important settlement here

05:27centuries before Venice

05:28was founded at the spot

05:29in the 5th century CE.

05:32The ancient Romans

05:34were great at many things

05:35and one of them

05:36was building roads.

05:38And it looks like

05:39they weren't afraid

05:40to work on the trickiest terrain.

05:42Scans have shown

05:43that the ancient road

05:44was built right on the beach

05:46and it requires

05:47some serious skills.

05:51Imagine a village

05:53from over a thousand years ago

05:55frozen in time.

05:57There's still

05:57half-eaten food

05:58on the tables

05:59and personal things

06:00left in a rush.

06:02It's all preserved so well

06:04because it's covered

06:05by volcanic ash.

06:08Researchers found this village

06:09in 2011

06:10in modern-day El Salvador.

06:13They believe

06:13there was a mass celebration

06:15in a Maya village

06:16called Seren

06:17over 1,400 years ago.

06:20The whole village was there

06:22preparing the main temple

06:23for a ritual

06:24when a nearby volcano

06:25erupted.

06:27The 200-plus residents

06:29had no time

06:30to rush back

06:31to their homes.

06:32To save their lives,

06:33they had to flee the plaza

06:35and run south

06:36on a raised road

06:37called Sacbe.

06:38They managed to escape

06:40from the plumes

06:41of volcanic ash.

06:42In addition to being

06:43a superhero

06:44and saving all the people,

06:46the road had another

06:47cool feature.

06:49All Sacbe roads

06:50had an outer layer

06:51of stones.

06:52But this one

06:53was made of ash.

06:55Ironic, isn't it?

06:57It proves that

06:58the Maya people

06:58didn't only use stones

07:00to build their roads.

07:03Archaeologists discovered

07:04several coins

07:05in Jerusalem

07:06when they were excavating

07:07an old street.

07:09When they saw

07:09the minting dates,

07:10they realized

07:11the road was built

07:12when Pontius Pilate

07:13was the Roman governor

07:14of Judea.

07:16Since he was

07:17the local ruler,

07:18it's almost clear

07:19that he gave the order

07:21to build the road.

07:23The pilgrims

07:24most likely

07:25used this road

07:26to reach the Temple Mount

07:27for worship.

07:28The pathway,

07:29which was laid

07:30with over 10,000 tons

07:31of limestone,

07:32was almost as broad

07:34as a London bus

07:35is long.

07:37It had been there

07:38for 2,000 years.

07:40It's not common

07:41that you find

07:42such a luxurious road,

07:43and it's not clear

07:44why a Roman governor

07:45would spend

07:46so much money

07:47on the road.

07:48It was probably

07:49his attempt

07:50to make the city's

07:51population like him.

07:52Plus,

07:53it was a great way

07:54to show he had

07:55both money

07:55and influence.

07:59The Old North Trail

08:00is an ancient highway

08:02that the inhabitants

08:03of North America

08:04used for 10,000 years,

08:06first on foot,

08:08then with dogs,

08:09and finally with horses.

08:11The first travelers

08:12moved around the continent

08:13down its paths

08:14for thousands of miles

08:16long before

08:17the first Europeans arrived,

08:19and even during

08:20the last ice age.

08:23They used it

08:24to carry trade goods,

08:26visit relatives,

08:27find a mate,

08:28or just explore.

08:30Researchers keep

08:31finding evidence

08:32that the stories

08:32and legends

08:33of the Blackfoot Indians

08:34about this trail

08:36are real.

08:38And it could be

08:39even the road

08:40that served

08:40one of the most

08:41massive human migrations.

08:43The people who crossed

08:44from Asia

08:45on the Bering Land Bridge

08:46about 15,000 years ago

08:48and settled

08:49in North America

08:50might have used

08:51the ice-free corridor

08:52along the Rockies,

08:55which later

08:55became a part

08:56of the trail.

08:57The Nakasendo Highway

09:01was built

09:01in the 17th century

09:03during the Edo period

09:04of Japanese history

09:05to link Kyoto

09:07and Tokyo.

09:09The 310-mile-long road

09:12runs across mountain ranges

09:13and down

09:14onto the plain.

09:16It was one of the

09:16five main roads

09:18used by the feudal lords

09:19and their families

09:20to travel to the capital.

09:22There were 69 post-stations

09:24on the route

09:25where travelers

09:26could stay overnight.

09:28The road was built

09:29for horses

09:30and pedestrians

09:31as the Japanese

09:32didn't use carts.

09:34You can still walk

09:36parts of the route.

09:37The Moai statues

09:42have been standing tall

09:43and proud

09:44for hundreds of years.

09:46Once,

09:46people put an enormous effort

09:47into carving

09:48these grand sculptures.

09:50And then,

09:50they just suddenly

09:51stopped making them.

09:53But why?

09:54Let's figure out

09:55this mystery.

09:56Easter Island,

09:57located 2,500 miles

09:59east of Tahiti,

10:00has an area

10:01of 63 square miles.

10:03To this day,

10:04it's one of the most

10:05isolated islands

10:06in the world.

10:07Once,

10:08it was covered

10:08with forests

10:09filled with different

10:10trees and ferns.

10:12But when the first humans

10:13came to the island

10:14around 400 CE,

10:16the forest slowly

10:19began to disappear.

10:22And starting from 1250 CE,

10:25Moai statues

10:26began appearing

10:27all over the place.

10:29People made them

10:30from different types

10:31of rock,

10:31compressed volcanic ash,

10:33basalt,

10:34trachyte,

10:35and red scoria.

10:36As it's a volcanic island,

10:38these were all

10:39the ingredients

10:39the creators

10:40of the statues

10:41had to use.

10:42And once the builders

10:43completed their work,

10:44they covered the statues

10:45with pumice.

10:47The faces of the statues

10:48are different,

10:49but they all have

10:50distinct expressions,

10:51with heavy brows

10:52and large noses.

10:53Their arms are carved

10:55into the body.

10:56Some have hats

10:57on top of their heads.

10:58There are nearly 900 statues

11:00all over the island.

11:02They differ in size.

11:03The average height

11:04is 13 feet tall,

11:06and the largest ones

11:07reach 33 feet in height

11:08and weigh up to 82 tons.

11:11Because the statues

11:12have so many different faces,

11:14there are theories

11:15that they represent

11:15and honor ancestors,

11:17chiefs,

11:18and other important people

11:19who lived on the island.

11:20But without any clear evidence,

11:22it's almost impossible

11:24to figure out

11:24the true purpose

11:25of the Moai.

11:27Once,

11:27they stood beautifully

11:28along the coast,

11:29watching over people

11:30in settlements.

11:32And their backs

11:32faced toward the spirit world

11:34of the sea.

11:35When Europeans

11:36first discovered

11:37the Moai statues

11:38in the 1700s,

11:39many of them

11:40had already toppled over.

11:42And the construction

11:42of statues

11:43had stopped

11:44way earlier than that.

11:46Huge amounts of effort

11:47were put into

11:47making these things.

11:49Expert craftspeople

11:50spent a great deal of time

11:51slowly carving the statues

11:53with basic pics.

11:54A team of up to six people

11:56would work hard

11:57for an entire year

11:58to make just one statue.

11:59Then,

12:00they often had to

12:01transport it

12:02to its special place

12:03on the island,

12:04as far as 11 miles.

12:06With the help

12:07of carbon dating,

12:08experts have managed

12:09to figure out

12:10that the statue

12:11started to appear

12:12in 1250 CE.

12:14And then,

12:15suddenly,

12:16in 1500 CE or so,

12:18the process

12:18just stopped.

12:20The creators

12:21of the statue

12:21just left their stone chisels

12:23where they were last used.

12:25And only a quarter

12:26of all the statues

12:27were actually placed

12:28where they were

12:29supposed to be.

12:29Half of them

12:30still remained

12:31in the quarry,

12:32while others

12:33were left on the ground

12:34mid-transit.

12:35Something happened

12:36on the island,

12:37and it caused everyone

12:38to just lose interest

12:39in the statues.

12:41There are many theories

12:42around why it could happen,

12:44and they mostly relate

12:45to deforestation.

12:47Islanders may have used wood

12:48to move the statues

12:49across the island.

12:50They possibly did this

12:52with the help

12:52of sleds and ropes,

12:54or even used logs

12:55to roll the statues

12:56or canoes

12:57to float them.

12:57The wood started

12:59to deplete eventually.

13:00Trees on the island

13:01took very long

13:02to grow,

13:03and rats ate

13:04most seeds.

13:05People had many uses

13:06for wood,

13:07and they needed it

13:08not only for practical things,

13:10but also to create

13:11other statues.

13:13Another reason

13:13why the inhabitants

13:14of the island

13:15could have stopped

13:16building the statues

13:17might be that they were

13:18busy with other projects.

13:20Specialized rock gardens

13:21were becoming more common

13:22with a growing population.

13:24They were great

13:25for the soil,

13:26keeping it warm

13:26and fertilizing it

13:27at the same time.

13:29Islanders spent much time

13:30and effort making

13:31these rock gardens,

13:32and there simply

13:33wasn't enough time

13:34to focus on building

13:35and moving the statues.

13:37Another theory suggests

13:38that what people believed in

13:40changed over time.

13:42Supposedly,

13:42the islands once saw

13:43the statues

13:44as a connection

13:45to their ancestors.

13:47After some time,

13:47though, rituals depicting

13:49a show of strength

13:50and endurance

13:51became more widespread.

13:53And with these rituals,

13:54islanders started

13:55to carve images

13:56related to seabirds.

13:58Seabirds became

13:59the main animal

14:00on the island.

14:01People started to believe

14:02that their ancestors

14:03looked over them

14:04through birds

14:05instead of the statues,

14:07so there was no longer

14:08a reason to build

14:09the moai.

14:11Anyway,

14:12these theories

14:12might be true.

14:13But the main problem

14:14was that the small island

14:16couldn't support

14:17a growing population.

14:18What was once

14:19a lush land

14:20covered in forests

14:21quickly became

14:22a barren landscape.

14:24For the first few centuries,

14:26people relied

14:27on forest resources.

14:28But agriculture

14:29became more important

14:30sometime after 1550,

14:32when forests disappeared.

14:34Tribes that once

14:35worked together

14:36to build

14:36the fantastic monoliths

14:38focused on competing

14:39against one another instead.

14:41During the struggle

14:42for land and resources,

14:44the moai statues

14:44were toppled over

14:45because people wanted

14:47to reduce

14:47their significance.

14:49Over the following centuries,

14:51all the statues

14:51were pushed over,

14:53but not all of them

14:54deliberately.

14:55Many fell naturally

14:56after being neglected

14:57for so long.

14:58Some even ended up

14:59in the ocean waters

15:00surrounding the island.

15:02And there,

15:02they sat for a while.

15:04But there was some good news

15:05for these statues.

15:06They were re-erected,

15:08providing a great experience

15:09for visitors

15:10from all over the world.

15:11If you make a journey

15:13all the way

15:13to this isolated island,

15:15the first question

15:16you'll probably ask

15:17will not be

15:18how the statues

15:19were made

15:19or how they were moved.

15:21It will be

15:21how on earth

15:23did anyone

15:23even make it here

15:24in the first place?

15:26It was one of the

15:26most amazing feats ever.

15:28The Polynesians

15:29sure did some

15:30pretty extraordinary things.

15:32From as early

15:32as 1500 BCE,

15:34these boat-faring people

15:36began to explore

15:37their world.

15:38They used the most

15:39advanced marine

15:39inventions of their time.

15:41They sailed across the ocean

15:43in catamarans

15:44and outrigger boats,

15:45starting in Southeast Asia

15:47and inhabiting many more places

15:49throughout the Pacific.

15:50They lived as far north

15:51as Hawaii in 900 BCE

15:53and all the way

15:55to the south in New Zealand

15:56by 1200 BCE.

15:58And the farthest journey

15:59to the east

16:00was, of course,

16:01Easter Island.

16:03In only a few hundred years,

16:04these early sailors

16:05inhabited an area

16:07of thousands of square miles.

16:09They simply memorized

16:10where they had already been

16:11and, this way,

16:13managed to navigate the ocean.

16:15They used a wide range

16:16of techniques.

16:17They watched the sun

16:18as it rose

16:19and set during the day.

16:21Stars helped them at night.

16:22If it was overcast

16:24and sailors couldn't figure out

16:25direction visually,

16:26they used other

16:27brilliant methods.

16:28They watched the movements

16:29of ocean currents

16:30and wave patterns

16:31and paid attention

16:32to bioluminescence

16:34in the water.

16:35These patterns helped them

16:36find where specific islands

16:37were located.

16:38These seafarers

16:40even understood

16:40how islands and atolls

16:42in the distance

16:42caused air and sea

16:44interference patterns.

16:46Birds provided them

16:47with certain signs, too.

16:48Some of them migrated

16:49long distances

16:50from one island to another,

16:52which gave travelers

16:53some kind of a visual

16:54connection for their route.

16:56Other types of birds

16:57had specific feeding times.

16:59Sailors knew

17:00when and where

17:01they hunted

17:01and directed their boats

17:03depending on where

17:04these birds fed.

17:05Vikings certainly

17:06get way too much credit

17:08for their seafaring abilities.

17:10Where they used

17:10a sun compass,

17:12the early Polynesians

17:13relied purely on the knowledge

17:14of how nature itself

17:16could guide them.

17:17Their skills were so advanced

17:18that in 1769,

17:21Captain James Cook,

17:22an English explorer,

17:23even hired a Polynesian navigator

17:25because of his extensive

17:27knowledge of the seas.

17:28But even more surprising

17:30was the fact

17:30that he drew a map

17:32from memory.

17:32It covered an area

17:34that was 2,000 miles wide.

17:36In this region,

17:37there were 130 islands

17:39and the navigator

17:40knew 74 of those islands

17:42by name.

17:43At the beginning

17:44of their voyage,

17:45Captain Cook often disregarded

17:47the navigator's advice.

17:48But toward the end

17:50of their journey,

17:51he was very impressed.

17:52He also recognized

17:53the Polynesians

17:54as possibly the most

17:56widespread nation on Earth.

17:58That's it for today.

18:00So hey,

18:00if you pacified your curiosity,

18:02then give the video a like

18:03and share it with your friends.

18:05Or if you want more,

18:06just click on these videos

18:07and stay on the bright side.

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