Based on the accounts of Thor Heyerdahl, a famous Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer, Easter Island originally had an ancient road system that its early inhabitants used as a primary means of transportation. The numerous different roads were uncovered together with a number of statues that were uprooted beside them.
The Norwegian adventurer refuted the British archaeologist Katherine Routledge’s belief that the ancient road networks were in fact used by its original dwellers to cater to religious and ritualistic activities. Regardless of Heyerdahl’s opinions, Routledge’s belief undeniably carries much factual weight. Every ancient road on the island eventually converged to the inactive Rano Raraku volcano, signifying that it served as a primary place of worship for the ancient Islanders.
Like Moving Mountains
To simulate the manner in which the ancient builders of the Moai would have carried the giant structures everywhere across the Easter Island, an engineer from the Czech Republic, Pavel Pavel, teamed up with an adventurer from Norway, Thor Heyerdahl, and built their own accurate replica of the Moai statue. The two used a single rope, secured it tightly around the head, and then used another one following the same approach on the base of the statue.
Together with 16 other people, they were able to move the statue albeit at a snail-like pace. But since their pulling created some minor damage to the statue, they opted to conclude the activity in advance. After the event, both made the prediction that it was possible for their team to move the giant statue 330 feet per day. If we did the math, then it would require nearly twenty people 160 days to move one statue for a distance of just one mile!
Resistance
While various contradicting theories exist involving the strange disappearance of the early Easter Islanders, the majority of anthropologists have similar views when it comes to one specific fact. At one particular time during the 18th century, the early inhabitants of the Easter Island began massive riots, in resistance against their tribal leaders.
When resources started to dwindle, tensions between various groups grew and eventually explode into violent clashes and actual battles. Because of the large-scale unrest that happened during that time, a lot of the Moai statues were destroyed and taken down. As it appears, the majority of the statues were left lying beneath the earth. Obviously, each one of them has been re-elected ever since.
The Mysterious Heads
The Moai a.k.a the Easter Island stone statues and their mysterious history have the way for a distinct people and culture. The natives of the island dwelled in one of the most remote communities all over the world and left with them a significant legacy and heritage to their descendants.
And unfortunately, the original islanders also left the world with more unanswered questions than answers. There’s a lot to be told about how these ancient people thrived on the island and managed to erect such massive statues from the ground. Archaeologists had difficulty explaining their exact origins and the reasons why the ancient islanders stopped building them. It’s a pacific wonder that’s truly covered in mystery. But perhaps what’s even more puzzling is the location of the island itself…
The Unknown Connections
But it’s not just the island’s gigantic head statues and unexplained road networks that have been shrouded in mystery. Archaeologists and researchers were also puzzled about the kind of writing system that the early inhabitants of Easter Island would have possibly used during their time.
Robert M. Schoch, an American associate professor of Natural Sciences at the College of General Studies, Boston University, believes that the tablets with calligraphic writings could date as far back as 10,000 years older than they originally thought. If this were true, then Easter Island would be a lot more ancient than we have expected it to be. The idea hit Schoch following an exploration of the ancient Turkish ruins of Gobekli Tepe and felt that it was somewhat out of place based on where it is situated. Schoch has the same observation with the Moai and the pillars of Gobekli Tepe.