The giant stone statues of Easter Island, some weighing more than 80 tonnes and standing 10 metres tall, were moved kilometres across rough volcanic terrain by groups of 18 people pulling them upright with ropes, because the statues were specifically designed with a forward lean and a wide D-shaped base that turned every step of their transport into a controlled fall

When the first European ship arrived at Easter Island in 1722, the Dutch sailors aboard found something they could not explain. Lining the coast of one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth, a tiny volcanic island approximately 3,700 kilometres from the nearest continent, were hundreds of giant stone statues. Some of them stood [...] The post The giant stone statues of Easter Island, some weighing more than 80 tonnes and standing 10 metres tall, were moved kilometres across rough volcanic