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Video: The mystery of Easter Island idols revealed: Scientists have learned how the mysterious moai statues were built
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
For many decades, scientists have tried to uncover the secret of the construction of giant moai idols on one of the most mysterious islands - Easter. Researchers carefully studied not only the statues themselves, but also the area around them, trying to find an answer to the question of how the moai were transported, as well as how they ended up on their heads with multi-ton red pukao stone hats. The application of the laws of physics, methods of archeology and computer 3D modeling allowed, finally, to find a solution to this phenomenon.
The most mysterious island
Easter Island is fraught with many secrets and mysteries. For many years, scientists have been trying, one by one, to discover its secrets. An amazing civilization that existed on the island about two millennia ago left impressive moai figures to descendants. According to researchers, giant idols are deified figures of ancestors and relatives of the ancient Polynesians.
According to research, the civilization itself practically ceased to exist long before the moment when a human foot set foot on the island. There were two versions of why this could happen: a murderous war that exterminated the tribes that existed on the island, and the depletion of the island's natural resources.
However, the study of different types of spearheads "mata'a" made it possible to conclude that they were not a murder weapon, but could only injure the enemy. Therefore, the assumption of the disappearance of civilization as a result of war has not been confirmed.
Rather, there was a depletion of resources, and then the arrival of Europeans on the island with its actual occupation by slave traders. At that time, the moai culture had almost completely disappeared and was replaced by the more aggressive bird-man culture. Thus, somewhere in the middle of the 19th century, the remnants of an ancient civilization were completely destroyed.
The destruction of the culture itself and the speakers of the language became the main difficulty in unraveling the secret of stone idols. Scientists were extremely worried about the appearance of pukao on idols, these amazing hats weighing up to 15 tons each.
The study of the gigantic sculptures showed that the torso and the hat contain different volcanic rocks, which are located at a very large distance from each other, in different parts of the island. American anthropologists have spent many years looking for clues and finally were able to answer the burning question about the mechanism of building moai idols.
The researchers took into account not only the condition of the surface and the presence of scratches and damage on the idols and their hats, but also all the artifacts found and the condition of the island's soil.
Ancient moai scholars
As a result of scrupulous calculations, it was concluded that the only possible way to put the hat on the head of the idol. At the same time, the issue was resolved with small forces: colossal deforestation and the participation of a large number of people in construction were not required.
The statues themselves were made in such a way that they had the ability to straighten themselves, if there was not too much tilt. This made it possible to move the statues, slightly shifting them alternately in different directions. In this way, people today move large bulky objects, in small steps from side to side. The idols slowly but surely moved over considerable distances.
But the hats did not get to the idols completely ready. From the quarry where the pukao blanks were made, they were simply rolled, as evidenced by scratches on the surface. Already near the idol for which the hat was intended, the blank was finalized and, using a very simple method, put on the stone owner.
The natives of Easter Island built a fairly gentle slide from sand and rubble, then wrapped a rope around the pukao and tied it to an idol. Pulling out the free end, they lifted the hat up a hill, where it was simply turned on its side and placed on the head of the monument.
This version has found a lot of evidence: the remnants of slides near some of the lying idols, a recess in the pukao, with which the hat is held on the head. An additional confirmation was the fact that all the idols initially stood at a slight slope to the ground. It was this slope that made it possible to put on the hat on the monument, and then straighten it, simply by removing some stones from the back of the pedestal.
This method made it possible to do without the participation of a large number of people. To set up the giants, the ancient Polynesians used their sharp mind, the laws of physics, a handful of people and a small amount of natural resources. And they left a memory of themselves for centuries.
Another unique seated moai Tukuturi.
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