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APM Presents: The So-Called Mystery of Rapa Nui

Rapa nui statues

Who moved the giant monolithic statues of Rapa Nui, a remote island in the South Pacific? And how did they do it? These questions have been at the center of much speculation and debate since Europeans first arrived there 300 years ago on Easter Sunday, 1722, and called it “Easter Island.” The most popular theory was that this remote civilization destroyed itself – cutting down all the trees to make contraptions for moving statues. But according to the indigenous people of Rapa Nui, their ancestors didn’t need to cut down any trees to transport the statues. In fact, their oral history has always been clear about how they were transported.