moais
On a remote and tiny island in the middle of the South Pacific ocean, just below the Tropic of Capricorn and mere metres away from nowhere, sits a line of gigantic beetle-browed statues with their backs to the sea. These are the Rapanui moais, representations of dead ancestors, who sit on ceremonial platforms (ahus), with stern Picasso-cubed faces and pugnacious jaws, exuding serious mojo.

Of course the burning question is how they got to their ceremonial platforms in the first place. Most of these babies weigh 14 tons and the largest of them, El Gigante, weighs over 140 tons and stands 22m (70ft) high.

They were carved from the volcanic quarries of Easter Island and then moved to their preordained ahu, over rugged terrain and sometimes down sheer cliff faces, either by supernatural means or by phenomenally hard work.

For decades archaeologists, historians, anthropologists and professional furniture removalists have been scratching their heads in puzzlement. Teams of modern workers have recreated the primitive Rapanui environment and then pulled, pushed, cursed, lugged, dragged, hoisted and hauled in an effort to move the monsters but with very little success.

Pseudoscientists and lateral thinkers have gone with the theory of extraterrestrial visitors with earth-moving equipment. Easter Islanders prefer their own culturally specific explanation. Oral traditions tell of ancient Rapanui with ‘mana’ or divine powers capable of making the stone giants walk themselves.

Scientists and dinner party rationalists with a pen, a spare napkin, and an appreciation of physics, say that the statues can be moved with a practical understanding of pulley and lever systems, a few spare trees, a soupçon of sweet potato oil and a little bit of luck.

Whatever your poison, the Rapanui moais are an impressive sight. Evidence suggests that the island fell into tribal wars and cannibalism and the moais were all but destroyed in the ensuing mayhem. The ruins, though, still have an awesome power and there is the sense of a once great and powerful culture not so much dead as hibernating for a few millennium.