Overview
- Researchers produced the first high-resolution 3D model of Rano Raraku from over 11,000 drone images, published with public access at the request of a local group after a 2023 wildfire.
- The mapping identifies roughly 30 discrete workshop zones with distinct carving techniques, suggesting decentralized, kin-based production, though several archaeologists say the social inferences remain unproven.
- The model catalogs 426 moai at various stages, 341 extraction trenches, 133 removal voids, and five bollards interpreted as anchor points for lowering statues down slopes.
- Measurements of statues abandoned along ancient roads, physics analyses, and a 2013 replica trial support the hypothesis that many moai were transported upright using a controlled walking motion.
- Ecological modeling in the study argues that introduced Polynesian rats suppressed forest regrowth by consuming most seeds, reframing island deforestation as unintended ecological change rather than elite-driven collapse.