One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Easter Island may finally be solved – as scientists pinpoint who built the iconic stone heads over 900 years ago.

In the past, researchers assumed that the 12 to 80-ton statues would have required the combined efforts of hundreds of labourers to build and move.

However, new archaeological evidence shows that the statues, known as moai, were not carved by a single powerful chiefdom.

Instead, each moai was carved by a small clan or by an individual family, with as few as four to six people working on a single statue.

Using a new 3D model of the island’s main moai quarry, which you can explore below, archaeologists identified 30 unique ‘workshops’ where the statues were produced.

The researchers found that each clan seemed to have had their own unique artistic style, specialised techniques, and preferred digging sites.

Lead author Professor Carl Lipo, of Binghamton University, says: ‘We see separate workshops that really align to different clan groups that are working intensively in their specific areas.

‘You can really see graphically from the construction that there’s a series of statues being made here, another series of statues here and that they’re lined up next to each other.’

Researchers have finally solved the mystery of the Easter Island heads (pictured), as they reveal who built these enormous monuments 900 years ago 

Scientists have combined 22,000 photos of the Rapa Nui quarry, where hundreds of heads can be found, into a single 3D model (pictured) that you can explore below

Moai production on Rapa Nui began sometime around the 13th century as Polynesian communities began to carve ever larger monuments.

By the time the first Western explorers arrived in the 1700s, there were almost 1,000 statues dotted around the island, with many more lying partly finished inside the Rano Raraku quarry.

However, how and why this island community invested such vast resources in building these monuments has remained a mystery.

‘The quarry is like the archaeological Disneyland,’ says Professor Lipo.

‘It’s always been this treasure of information and cultural heritage, but it’s remarkably underdocumented.’

In a new study, published in the journal PLoS One, Professor Lippo and his colleagues attempted to solve this puzzle by creating a detailed digital map of the quarry.

Using a drone, the researchers took some 22,000 pictures of the site and stitched them into a single 3D model that anyone can explore.

In addition to preserving the site for future study, this incredible map has also revealed some surprising details that have remained hidden from previous studies.

Using a new 3D model of the site where the heads, known as moai, were produced, scientists revealed that each head was manufactured by a small family or clan rather than by a central authority 

Professor Lipo says: ‘You can see things that you couldn’t actually see on the ground. You can see tops and sides and all kinds of areas that just would never be able to walk to.’

Importantly, this revealed just how different each of the workshops really was.

For example, the moai were usually carved by refining the facial details first before outlining the head and body.

But others carved out the entire block first before starting on the face, while others worked sideways into the cliffs.

Likewise, some moai bear the distinct signs of a unique artistic vision, including some which have a distinctively feminine appearance.

The workshops also appear to have been divided by natural features of the rock, rather than by broad geographical areas.

The researchers say this shows that access to the quarry wasn’t controlled by a single authority, but rather that individual groups negotiated between themselves.

These findings challenge the view that large monuments like the moai are evidence of a large, powerful hierarchy that mobilised lots of people on a single project.

Archaeologists found evidence of 30 different ‘workshops’ (picture), each with their own unique style and methods 

Some clans even had their own unique style, with one group producing a female moai (pictured)

This supports a growing amount of evidence that building and moving the moai wouldn’t have required nearly as much labour as previous researchers believed.

In the past, people believed that the moai were dragged on their backs from the quarry to their final positions, which would have taken a huge amount of effort.

But in a recent study, anthropologists found that the people of Rapa Nui likely used ropes to rock the statues in a zig–zag pattern.

By attaching ropes to either side of the head and pulling back and forth, the moai can be rocked side to side and shuffled forward in a ‘walking’ motion.

This technique would have allowed small teams of people to move the enormous moai over long distances with relatively little effort.

The stone heads were then moved along specially made ‘moai roads’, which connected the quarry to their final destination. 

Made to be around 4.5 metres wide with a concave profile, the researchers found that the specific shape of these roads helped to stabilise the heads and made them more likely to shuffle forwards. 

Using a combination of 3D modelling and real–life experiments, Professor Lipo and his collaborators previously found that they could ‘walk’ a moai with just 18 people.

This method proved so easy that people only needed to pull the ropes with one hand once the rocking had started. 

This supports the idea that the moai were produced and moved by a far smaller number of people than scientists had previously thought, with studies showing that as few as 18 people could ‘walk’ the sculpture using ropes 

This is further evidence that moai production likely took place on a small scale, with only a few people needing to be involved at any time.

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The researchers estimate that making a moai would only take four to six carvers and as few as 10 to 20 additional personnel to carry supplies and help with tool and rope production.

This makes sense since anthropologists believe that Rapa Nui was not politically unified, but instead consisted of many small and independent family groups.  

Professor Lipo says: ‘When we look at the ability for people to move giant statues, it doesn’t take that many people to do it.

‘So that it really connects all the dots between the number of people it takes to move the statues, the number of places, the scale at which the quarrying is happening and then the scale of the communities.’