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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

How Easter Island’s stone heads got their huge hats

Ramps and ropes may have allowed small groups of people to move massive stone cylinders.
Row of moai statues on Easter Island

Some of the hundreds of moai statues on Easter Island still boast their original headgear, which may have been rolled up ramps into position. Credit: Philippe Marion/Getty

The people of Easter Island may have adorned their monumental statues with massive stone ‘hats’ by rolling the headgear up gentle ramps.

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Nature 558, 164 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05347-y

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