Scientists used drones to produce this 3D model of Rano Raraku, the volcanic crater where 95% of Rapa Nui's giant statues were carved. Lipo et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC BY Rapa Nui, also known as Easter ...

For generations, the massive moai of Easter Island, called Rapa Nui by the locals, have stood in quiet testimony to one of archaeology’s longest-standing mysteries. How did an island society, remote ...

When Polynesian explorers landed on Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, around 1200 C.E., they found nearly 20 million palm trees; by the time Dutch explorers arrived in 1722, they found only ...

If you ever visit the monolithic human figures in Rapa Nui, you will undoubtedly hear the local legends that say they simply ...

The "walking moai hypothesis" could end a long-time debate over how ancient engineers moved these iconic statues around Easter Island. Reading time 3 minutes The moai statues of Easter Island have ...

Easter Island — has been reduced to giant stone heads rising from the earth, as if the moai were incomplete sculptures ...

Sept. 5 (UPI) --Rising sea levels could flood more than 50 archaeological sites on Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, by 2080 -- including the iconic Ahu Tongariki, according to a new study from the ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Carl Lipo, Binghamton University, State University of New York (THE CONVERSATION) Rapa ...