Look away now conspiracy theorists and those who love a good mystery, because new research out of Binghamton University in New York has allowed science to weigh in on the very large stone Moai statues of Easter Island, and how a place with no fresh water was able to sustain a population of 15,000 to 20,000 people, with a new discovery.
The secret? They mark sights of drinkable water.
Stick with me here because this requires a little natural know-how that I do not possess. Basically, because the island gets very little rainfall and has no obvious sources of freshwater, the study team lead by Binghamton University Professor of Anthropology Dr. Carl Lipo, looked into the possibility of the local Rapa Nui people surviving on bracken’ groundwater that is found in coastal areas.
As it turns out, the study published this theory in the Hydrogeology Journal, found that at particular points around the island it was possible for locals to collect drinkable freshwater directly from where it emerged.
“The porous volcanic soils quickly absorb rain, resulting in a lack of streams and rivers,” he says, “Fortunately, water beneath the ground flows downhill and ultimately exits the ground directly at the point at which the porous subterranean rock meets the ocean. When tides are low, this results in the flow of freshwater directly into the sea. Humans can thus take advantage of these sources of freshwater by capturing the water at these points.”
How do the statues come in? They appear to mark the spots where the fresh water could be found.
“Now that we know more about the location of fresh water…the location of these monuments and other features makes tremendous sense: they are positioned where fresh water is immediately available,” Lipo explains
The Moai statues were always believed to have political and religious significance, and now we know they were pretty damn helpful to the survival of the Rapa Nui people for so long.
Oh and everyone who still thinks the aliens had a hand in getting them into position, Lipo has foiled you again. Rapa Nui folklore spoke of these statues ‘walking’, so he got a bunch of people to tie a bunch of ropes around the head and make the statues do just that. Check it out below:
