The Sisyphus Project: Moving Big Rocks Up Steep Hills and Into Small Places

We’ve all seen images from antiquity showing huge stones being dragged by massive crews pulling on ropes. But all over the world we find giant blocks in locations with no workspace for all those people. The famous “moai” of Easter Island are a classic example, perched as they are atop high seawalls with their backs to the ocean. How’d they get there?

This paper describes the development and testing on Easter Island and final confirmation in Peru and Colorado of an entirely new method for moving large monoliths without the long gangs of pullers traditionally assumed necessary to the task.

See also “Rapa Nuí Rocks Update,” in the “Rapa Nuí Journal,” Vol. 13, No. 1, March 1999