Aliens: Creators of the Moai of Easter Island?

The Mystery of Easter Island

The Moai

              Easter Island: a place of mystery and suspicion. The Rapanui were a stone age culture that lived on Easter Island. The cleared the forests, planted crops, and became great artists. The Rapanui carved enormous statues called the moai, which ranged  from four to 33 feet in height and weighed up to 80 tons! but suddenly, all but disappeared. On Easter Sunday,1772, the first European  visitors arrived to Easter Island. Nearly 900 moai covered the island, but much of the island was destroyed. The palm forests had disappeared, with many plants and animals one as well.many Statues had been forgotten and toppled over. The few Rapanui that were left had turned into cannibals. What happened to this peaceful island? Many  wacky theories have formed over time. The theory that I believed happened is the walking theory because it showed why there were only a few Rapanui,why the forests were gone,l and how the Rapanui were able to move the moai.

The Theory of Carl Lipo & Terry Hunt

          Archaeologists Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt . They say that there were only a few Rapanui is because the population reached just about 3,000 people. They argue that there was never really was a big population to crash. A reason for this small population is the

fact that families were to busy with the moai( there were 900 moai) to grow large families. According to the article "Did Aliens Make These Statues?", Lipo and Hunt say that rats were the cause of the lack of palm forests. Confused? The Rapanui moved to the island about 1000 years ago. They probably brought rats with them for food( YUM). These rats were released on the island and started gnawing at the plants and nuts. This caused the destruction of the palm forests. This is supported by the fact that fossils of palm nut had gnaw marks on them.

         But they puzzle isn't solved yet. The statues were moved 11 miles across the island. How could this be possible when the Rapanui only had stone tools? Lipo's dnd Hunt's theory are that they " walked" the statues.They would tie ropes to the moai and rock them towards their destination. The archaeologist duo  demonstrated this by "walking" the statue with a team of 18. They were able to move the statue a few hundred yards.

Conclusion

         The moai and Easter Island are a huge mystery on the island, which is part of Chile today. There are many theories ranging around these mysteries. But, who knows, maybe aliens really did build the statues!