Scientists Found Something New on Easter Island

Bright Side

Scientists just found something new on Easter Island, and it messes with a bunch of theories people treated like facts for years. This video breaks down what was discovered, where it was hiding, and why it changes the story of how the Moai statues were built, moved, and lived with. Some old ideas made Easter Island sound like a mystery that ended in disaster, but newer evidence paints a smarter, more organized picture. The most interesting part is how one fresh clue can flip the whole narrative, like solving the wrong puzzle with the right pieces. Easter Island keeps proving that history still has surprises left 🗿🌿  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

00:00Scientists found a new statue on Easter Island, inside the crater of an old volcano.

00:06They were sure they already catalogued all the moai.

00:10That's what they call those famous stone giants.

00:13But this discovery changes what we know about them.

00:16First of all, the moai were rarely alone.

00:19So we may hear about more of them in the same area.

00:22Second, it's the first moai found at the bottom of a lake.

00:26Scientists were working on a project to restore the marshland in the volcano's crater when they stumbled upon the statue.

00:33The lake that was here began to dry up in 2018.

00:37For at least two or three hundred years, it was almost ten feet deep.

00:41So it would be impossible for humans to build or put a statue on the bottom.

00:46Scientists think the moai are over five hundred years old.

00:49It's possible that the Rapa Nui people who built them probably brought the statue here when the lake was dry in the past.

00:57The new find turned out to be slightly over five feet tall, which is smaller than the other statues on the island.

01:04It's a full-bodied one with recognizable features.

01:08Researchers also plan to do radiocarbon dating to find out the exact age of the statue.

01:13They don't plan to remove it from where it was found because the oldest members of the Rapa Nui community want it to stay where it is.

01:22Moai statues kept scientists puzzled for centuries.

01:26They knew that they were built as a dedication to the island's chiefs, but no one could figure out why they chose these various locations for the statues.

01:35Most of them were found along the coast of the island.

01:37Researchers from Binghamton University in New York decided to study the locations more closely and learned that it had to do with water.

01:47Easter Island has porous volcanic soil that absorbs rain easily, so there aren't enough streams or rivers and too little fresh water.

01:55Hundreds of years ago, the island's people relied on groundwater discharge to get drinking water.

02:00The water stored deep underground in rock or soil layers, called aquifers, reach a point where it flows up to the surface.

02:09When this underground water emerges near the coast, it mixes with the salty seawater, but the salt level remains low enough that the water is safe to drink.

02:18The islanders used to collect this water directly from the spots where it flowed out.

02:22And it looks like that's why they built the moai along the coast, right near their most important water source.

02:30The main bodies of most of the statues were made of volcanic tuff from a local quarry in what used to be a volcano.

02:38This material is easy to carve, but not so easy to transport.

02:43That's probably why researchers found over 300 unfinished moai back in the quarry.

02:48The rest of them stand in various locations facing the villages.

02:52It looks like the statues were carved, lying on their backs.

02:56Then, their sculptors detached them from the rock, moved them down slope, and set them in a vertical position to finish the work.

03:04When it was done, it was time to move the statue to its platform.

03:08And we're talking about moving statues that weighed around half as much as a single-story, unfurnished house, without a car or any modern equipment, for three miles.

03:19The locals must have invented some original transportation method.

03:23Scientists tried to recreate it and pulled moai replicas on wooden sleds.

03:27They thought someone would have used palm trees for that purpose, but this theory has been debunked.

03:33The most successful experiment so far was wielding ropes to rock the statue down the road in a standing position.

03:41This sounds legit, because the local Rapa Nui legends mentioned that the moai walked from the quarry.

03:47And, of course, they needed a good road to get there.

03:49In the early 20th century, researchers Catherine Rutledge found an 800-year-old road network on the island.

03:58It was a bunch of pathways around 15 feet wide going from the quarry.

04:03She thought that those roads were ceremonial and not built just for the statues.

04:08She wasn't a famous scientist back then, so others mostly ignored the theory.

04:13Several decades later, famous Norwegian adventurer and archaeologist Thor Heyerdahl published his theory.

04:21He mentioned that the roads were there exclusively to transport the moai,

04:25and some of the statues were dropped along the way for some reason.

04:29But in 2010, researchers found that the statues reached their final destinations

04:33because they were all set on hidden platforms.

04:37The road floor was U-shaped, so pulling massive statues along them wouldn't be easy.

04:42You can still find roughly 15 miles of these roads on the island and see them from satellite images.

04:50Scientists used to believe that the Rapa Nui people made Easter Island unlivable and ruined their own civilization.

04:57But a new study that used remote sensing data and machine learning

05:01says that the island's population didn't grow too big and collapse.

05:05Instead, the islanders figured out how to live in this challenging place and kept their population small.

05:12and steady for hundreds of years.

05:14Researchers found amazing rock gardens as proof for this new theory.

05:20Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, is one of the most remote places on Earth where people live.

05:25It's surrounded by the Pacific Ocean.

05:27Central Chile is 2,200 miles to the east of it,

05:31and French Polynesia is 2,600 miles to the west.

05:35The island, which is 63 square miles in size, is made entirely of volcanic rock.

05:42But the volcano stopped erupting a long time ago.

05:45So, Rapa Nui's soil has lost most of the useful nutrients that lava once brought here.

05:51It's also drier than tropical islands,

05:54and its deep waters made fishing much harder for the settlers,

05:57as there's no shallow lagoons or reefs to fish in.

06:00So, the islanders came up with a smart farming method,

06:04called rock gardening, to survive here.

06:07They spread rocks of different sizes over the soil

06:10and planted crops like sweet potatoes and taro between the rocks.

06:14The rocks protected the plants from harsh winds and salty air

06:17and helped regulate the soil's temperature.

06:20They also slowly released minerals into the soil,

06:23so it became healthier for growing food.

06:25Some islanders still use these gardens,

06:29although they don't produce a lot of food.

06:32People in places like New Zealand,

06:34the Canary Islands, and the U.S. Southwest

06:36have used similar techniques to grow crops in uneasy environments.

06:41While scientists are solving Easter Island mysteries,

06:44the island itself is teaching them something new

06:47about how the Earth's mantle works.

06:49For years, they thought it moved like a slow conveyor belt,

06:53carrying tectonic plates along with it.

06:55But a new study by geologists from Cuba,

06:58Colombia, and the Netherlands is challenging this idea.

07:02They used a special method called zircon dating

07:04to figure out the island's age.

07:07Zircons are tiny crystals that form when magma cools,

07:11and they have traces of uranium inside

07:14that turns into lead over time.

07:16So, the scientists measured this change to tell the age of zircons.

07:21And they were shocked when they saw that some zircons

07:24were way older than expected,

07:26around 165 million years old.

07:29The island itself is only 2.5 million years old.

07:33The scientists found that these ancient zircons

07:35came from deep inside the mantle,

07:38under the tectonic plate,

07:39by magma from earlier volcanic activity.

07:43Easter Island's volcanoes are part of a group

07:45called hotspot volcanoes,

07:48formed by hot plumes of rock

07:49rising from deep within the Earth.

07:52Normally, these plumes stay in one spot,

07:55while the Earth's crust moves above them

07:57and creates a chain of islands,

07:59like Hawaii.

07:59But the discovery of ancient zircons

08:03on a younger island

08:04shows there's more going on

08:06deep underground than we thought.

08:09Research showed that 165 million years ago,

08:13a giant volcanic plateau existed

08:16where Easter Island is now.

08:18But 110 million years ago,

08:20it sank under Antarctica

08:21because of tectonic subduction.

08:25Ancient zircon minerals stayed put

08:27and didn't travel away

08:28with the mantle conveyor belt.

08:29So, it looks like the mantle

08:31near hotspot plumes

08:33doesn't flow as much

08:35as scientists used to think.

08:36It stays still.

08:38This new idea

08:40could lead to big changes

08:41in how we understand plate tectonics

08:44and how the Earth's inside

08:45moves over time.

08:49Waves are crashing higher than ever before,

08:52about to swallow

08:53one of the world's most mysterious islands.

08:56By 2080,

08:57rising seas could crash

08:59all the way up to

09:00Ahutongariki.

09:01It's the famous ceremonial platform

09:04on Rapa Nui,

09:05aka Easter Island.

09:08Unfortunately,

09:09that's not just a guess.

09:10Researchers at the University of Hawaii

09:12at Manoa

09:13have already run the numbers

09:15and shared their findings

09:16in the Journal of Cultural Heritage.

09:18Their study shows that up to 51 other cultural landmarks,

09:22including the iconic Moai statues,

09:25could face flooding.

09:27But before we get to all that drama,

09:29let's learn more about Rapa Nui itself.

09:32This is the original name of Easter Island.

09:35People from Polynesia settled there way back,

09:37around 300 CE.

09:39Once they made themselves comfortable,

09:41they started creating their own wild and creative culture.

09:44Between the 10th and 16th centuries,

09:46they built massive ceremonial platforms

09:49called Ahu

09:50and huge statues called Moa

09:52made to honor ancestors.

09:55Those giant figures still stand today,

09:58giving the island a mysterious vibe.

10:00Rapa Nui National Park protects all this.

10:05It's a Chilean wildlife area,

10:07the heart of Rapa Nui culture.

10:10The architecture and sculptures here

10:12are totally unique,

10:13even compared to other Polynesian islands.

10:17Easter Island is super remote,

10:19literally the farthest inhabited island in the world,

10:22sitting 2,300 miles from mainland Chile.

10:26The island covers 64 square miles

10:29and the World Heritage Site

10:31takes up about 27 square miles,

10:34including four tiny nearby islets.

10:37Rapa Nui National Park

10:38is full of archaeological treasures.

10:41Experts estimate there are about 900 Moai,

10:45more than 300 Ahu,

10:47and thousands of other structures for farming,

10:49funerals, houses, and daily life.

10:52The Moai are incredible.

10:55Some stand 6.5 feet tall,

10:57others reach almost 66 feet.

11:01Most were carved from yellow-brown lava

11:03using simple basalt tools called toki.

11:07Some Moai were still being carved,

11:09some were being moved to their final Ahu,

11:12and some were torn down and re-erected.

11:15The quarries, like Rano Reraku,

11:18show us today how the carvings were made.

11:20The Ahu come in all shapes and sizes.

11:25The biggest is Ahu Tonga Riki,

11:27with 15 Moai lined up on top of it.

11:30Most Ahu have a raised platform

11:32of carefully worked stones,

11:34a ramp, often paved with smooth beach pebbles,

11:37and a flat area in front.

11:40Rock art is everywhere.

11:42You can find pictographs and petroglyphs

11:45in all kinds of styles.

11:47Caves hide even more carvings.

11:50Even villages, farms,

11:52and other structures are super interesting.

11:55By the 16th century,

11:56according to studies,

11:58the Rapa Nui society faced a big crisis.

12:01Natural resources ran low.

12:03The culture started to change.

12:04Many of the megalithic monuments were ruined.

12:08The ancestor cult was replaced

12:10by the man-bird cult.

12:12It was centered in Orongo,

12:14by the Ranokau volcano.

12:16There are 54 semi-underground stone houses there,

12:20all shaped like ellipses

12:21and decorated with carvings

12:23about birds and fertility.

12:25This cult lasted until the mid-19th century.

12:29It's probably no wonder

12:31that colonization brought huge changes.

12:33Livestock,

12:35forced relocation,

12:36and diseases cut the native population

12:38to barely over 100 people.

12:41Today,

12:42the island is home to descendants

12:43of the original Rapa Nui people

12:45as well as immigrants.

12:47They try to keep the culture

12:48and still live in the modern world.

12:51Sadly,

12:52all that heritage

12:52might be lost soon,

12:54for good.

12:55And if nothing is done,

12:57rising seas could put Rapa Nui's

12:59UNESCO World Heritage status at risk.

13:01Scientists say that knowing these risks

13:04are just the first step.

13:06If we actually realize what's happening,

13:08we can figure out

13:09how to protect ancient monuments.

13:12The team wanted to see

13:13just how bad rising seas could get

13:16for Rapa Nui.

13:17So,

13:17they built a digital twin of the island

13:20and ran insanely detailed computer models

13:23to track waves along the shore.

13:24Then,

13:27they stacked those flood maps

13:28on top of data

13:29about all the cultural landmarks

13:31which they got

13:32thanks to local partners.

13:33They wanted to see

13:34which ones would get hit first.

13:37The results were pretty intense.

13:40Sea level rise

13:40is threatening coastlines everywhere.

13:42But the question now

13:44is when and how bad.

13:46The researchers' timeline shows

13:48that waves could crash

13:50all the way to Ahutongariki

13:52by 2080.

13:54That's the famous platform

13:55with the Moai statues,

13:57the heart of the island's culture.

13:59The data is clear

14:00and the clock is ticking.

14:02The island's people

14:03need to start planning now

14:04before the sea

14:05starts taking what's theirs.

14:08And Easter Island

14:09isn't the only potential disaster site

14:11suffering from the elements.

14:13The old city of Chanchan in Peru

14:15is feeling the heat

14:16from extreme weather.

14:18It used to be the capital

14:19of the Chimu Empire

14:20and is basically

14:21the biggest pre-Columbian city

14:24made out of earth

14:25in the Americas.

14:27The place was super advanced

14:29for its time.

14:30They had smart city planning,

14:31organized society,

14:33irrigation systems,

14:34and some amazing art.

14:37The Incas took over

14:38in the 1400s,

14:39but the ruins still show

14:40how sophisticated

14:41the Chimu were.

14:43It's now a UNESCO

14:44World Heritage Site

14:45and it's really important.

14:47And now, El Niño.

14:49The warm phase

14:50of a natural climate cycle

14:52called El Niño-Southern Oscillation

14:54brings both heavy rains

14:55and long droughts

14:57to this place.

14:58These ups and downs

14:59have happened forever,

15:00but now,

15:01they occur more often.

15:03Besides,

15:04rising groundwater

15:05is making the buildings unstable.

15:07To fight this,

15:08people are controlling

15:09the water table,

15:10fixing walls,

15:11documenting the architecture,

15:13training locals,

15:14raising awareness,

15:15and making disaster plans.

15:18Storms and shrinking sea areas

15:20are also causing problems

15:22for the 19th century

15:23Whalers settlement

15:24on Herschel Island in Canada.

15:27It's so bad

15:27that buildings

15:28had to be moved inland

15:29to stay dry

15:30and avoid flooding.

15:32If erosion keeps going,

15:34locals might have to move them

15:35even more,

15:36and some structures

15:37are likely to be abandoned.

15:40Permafrost is also

15:41breaking down graves,

15:42which makes buried caskets

15:44topple and break.

15:46If we move to the mosque city

15:48of Bagharat in Bangladesh,

15:50we'll find that water

15:52and salty soil

15:53are wrecking stone buildings.

15:55Salt gets into the rocks

15:57and then expands

15:58when it gets wet.

15:59This causes the stones

16:00to crack and crumble faster.

16:03And this place

16:04is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, too.

16:06It contains 360 mosques,

16:10public buildings,

16:11water tanks,

16:11mausoleums,

16:12bridges, roads,

16:13and other public buildings.

16:15People once constructed them

16:16from baked brick.

16:19Another place

16:19potentially in danger

16:21from rising seas

16:22and stronger waves

16:23is coastal Great Britain.

16:25There,

16:25weather conditions

16:26are threatening

16:27lots of historic castles.

16:29Hearst Castle in Hampshire,

16:32Tintagel in Cornwall,

16:34Peel Castle in Cumbria,

16:36Bayard's Cove Fort in Devon,

16:38Garrison Walls

16:39in the Isle of Skilly,

16:41and Kelshot Castle

16:42in Southampton

16:43all face danger.

16:45English Heritage says

16:46they need to fix walls

16:47and build stronger defenses

16:48to stop storm damage.

16:52Heavy rains

16:53and extreme weather

16:53are also hitting

16:54Edinburgh in Scotland.

16:57Flooding and landslides

16:58are a serious growing risk.

17:00Since 1970,

17:02annual rainfall

17:03has gone up 13%.

17:04The sandstone

17:06repeatedly gets wet

17:07and dries,

17:08which wears down

17:09Edinburgh Castle

17:10and erodes the volcanic rock

17:12it stands on.

17:14Is it going to topple one day?

17:15If nothing is done soon,

17:17time will show, I guess.

17:20Another super famous

17:21and touristy place

17:22that might get flooded soon

17:24is Venice in Italy.

17:26Its lagoon faces

17:28a serious threat

17:29from rising sea levels.

17:30Flooding is becoming

17:32more and more common.

17:34This puts the city's buildings

17:35and streets at risk.

17:37So, as you see,

17:38the problem of Rapa Nui

17:39aren't unique.

17:41Other coastal places

17:42like Hawaii

17:43face the same threat

17:44from rising seas.

17:46Ancient temples,

17:48sacred burial grounds,

17:49and other irreplaceable

17:50cultural sites

17:51are at risk.

17:52Just like the moai

17:53and ceremonial platforms

17:55of Easter Island.

17:56The rising waters

17:58don't just threaten buildings.

17:59They put the history,

18:00traditions,

18:01and identity

18:02of entire communities

18:03in danger.

18:05Researchers are using data

18:07on coastal flooding

18:08to predict what could happen

18:09to Rapa Nui

18:10and other historical spots.

18:12They're mapping the risks,

18:14studying how seas will rise,

18:16and searching for ways

18:17to protect those precious places.

18:19The clock is ticking,

18:21and without action,

18:22some of the most sacred

18:23and ancient sites

18:24could be lost forever.

18:28That's it for today.

18:29So, hey,

18:30if you pacified your curiosity,

18:32then give the video a like

18:33and share it with your friends.

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18:36and stay on the bright side.

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