US EditionNew 3D scan reveals a hidden network of moai carvers on Easter Island
High-resolution 3D modeling reveals 30 distinct carving zones at Rano Raraku quarry, supporting independent family group production of moai, challenging centralized workforce theories.
- High-Resolution 3D reconstruction of Rano Raraku shows moai were carved in many distinct zones, according to a study published in PLOS One.
- Archaeological evidence that Rapa Nui comprised many small family groups prompted researchers to test whether moai carving mirrored this decentralized social structure.
- Using more than 11,000 photographs and about 30 drone flights, the research team merged images into a detailed 3D reconstruction capturing hundreds of moai at different production stages.
- Analysis identified 30 distinct quarry work zones with varied carving techniques, and Carl Philipp Lipo noted `There is also evidence for transport of moai out of the quarry in many different directions`.
- These findings position the dataset as a tool for UNESCO and archaeologists, as the new 3D model supports future investigations and challenges assumptions about strict hierarchical monument production.
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New research reveals origin of iconic Easter Island statues
The iconic monuments arose from numerous teams from different clans working independently of each other.
Science Daily
ecotopical.comNew 3D scan reveals a hidden network of moai carvers on Easter Island
A high-resolution 3D model of Rano Raraku shows that the moai were created in many distinct carving zones. Instead of a top-down system, the statues appear to have been produced by separate family groups working independently while sharing techniques. Evidence of varied carving styles and multiple transport routes supports this decentralized picture. The results challenge old assumptions about how large-scale monument building worked on Rapa Nui.
A research team makes a legendary Moai quarry on Easter Island digitally accessible for the first time – thanks to a detailed 3D model from thousands of drone photosIt is one of the most remote places on earth and is thousands of kilometres from the next continent: if you want to look at the famous stone statues on Easter Island in the South Pacific, you have to take a long journey. Now one of its most important quarries, the Rano Raraku, can be…
The slow geological respiration of the Rano Raraku quarry, where the Tufo volcano was sculpted for centuries to shape the Moai, has finally been exposed in an unprecedented dimension. An exhaustive three-dimensional model, generated from more than eleven thousand photographs, has allowed to map with millimeter precision the landscape [...]
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