A solitary featureless Moai statue is bathed in the light of the setting sun. These monolithic human figures were carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island between 1250 and 1500 CE. Many are set on stone platforms around the island but more than half of the island's 900 statues remain at the moai quarry at one end of the island. How the statues, weighing from 5 to 80 tons, were moved 18 km across the island from the quarry is still a mystery. But researchers believe that the islanders used trees, stones and ropes to transport them.
