Roggeveen himself quickly recognized the problem the statues posed.
Without wheels and with no source of power except their own muscles,
how did the islanders transport the giant statues?
To deepen the mystery,
by 1864 all of the statues standing had been pulled down,
by the islanders themselves.
Why then did the carve them in the first place?
And why did they stop?
Such an undertaking required complex political organization.
What happened to the organization,
and how could it have arisen in such a barren landscape?