The Statues That Walked

Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island

By: Terry Hunt, Carl Lipo

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

The monumental statues of Easter Island, both so magisterial and so forlorn, gazing out in their imposing rows over the island’s barren landscape, have been the source of great mystery ever since the island was first discovered by Europeans on Easter Sunday 1722. How could the ancient people who inhabited this tiny speck of land, the most remote in the vast expanse of the Pacific islands, have built such monumental works?

No such astonishing numbers of massive statues are found anywhere else in the Pacific. How could the islanders possibly have moved so many multi-ton monoliths from the quarry inland, where they were carved, to their posts along the coastline? And most intriguing and vexing of all, if the island once boasted a culture developed and sophisticated enough to have produced such marvelous edifices, what happened to that culture? Why was the island the Europeans encountered a sparsely populated wasteland?

The prevailing accounts of the island’s history tell a story of self-inflicted devastation: a glaring case of eco-suicide. The island was dominated by a powerful chiefdom that promulgated a cult of statue making, exercising a ruthless hold on the island’s people and rapaciously destroying the environment, cutting down a lush palm forest that once blanketed the island in order to construct contraptions for moving more and more statues, which grew larger and larger. As the population swelled in order to sustain the statue cult, growing well beyond the island’s agricultural capacity, a vicious cycle of warfare broke out between opposing groups, and the culture ultimately suffered a dramatic collapse.

When Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo began carrying out archaeological studies on the island in 2001, they fully expected to find evidence supporting these accounts. Instead, revelation after revelation uncovered a very different truth.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2011 Terry Hunt and Carl Weber (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Hunt and Lipo make a major contribution to global history. They decipher the tangled skeins of Easter Island’s history with cutting edge scholarship and vivid writing. Their meticulous research tells a tale not of ecological armageddon, as so commonly believed, but of brilliant human achievement under difficult, isolated circumstances. This important book revolutionizes our understanding of ancient Polynesia and is a must-buy for anyone visiting this extraordinary place." (Brian Fagan, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara)

"Finally, a fair and balanced account of the deeper human and environmental histories of Easter Island by people who not only know the records intimately but also helped produce them. In the midst of an ocean of sensationalist accounts of these histories, The Statues that Walked rights many wrongs." (Donald K. Grayson, Professor, Department of Anthropology and Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington)

"A great read and a genuinely exciting account of how the science of archaeology is done at its best." (John Edward Terrell, Professor and Regenstein Curator of Pacific Anthropology, Field Museum of Natural History)

Interesting but Sluggish

Easter Island is fascinating, and this account of its history is no exception. The only downfall is, because it is an in-depth archeological and social study, sometimes the narration gets lost in technical terms and explanation of studies that would serve great purpose in Peer Reviewed Journals, but is too technical for casual reading.
The narration is great, and the story is interesting, overall. If you have any interest in Easter Island and its sometimes fraught history, give this a chance.

Great listen.

I grew up with a fascination of archaeology and this island in particular and this book provided me with all of the answers to questions I had and even more. I began to lose interest around chapter three where everything told starts feeling redundant but then suddenly I was captivated unable to stop listening as more and more of the research unfolded.

interesting

This was way more interesting than I could have imagined. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire story.

The Statues That Walked

For someone who is not usually a "nonfiction reader" nor someone who has a particular interest in any of the areas of study herein examined, I enjoyed this. It certainly peaked my curiosity. My initial reason for choosing the title: my dad. He was very interested in the South Pacific islands. Not bad!

Very interesting

If you were ever curious about the huge rock statues on Easter Island you will find this explanation to be satisfying. It was well performed, clearly read.

Now I Know!

What would have made The Statues That Walked better?

Since this is a documentary presenting research on an ancient culture, it is what it is somewhat dry and definitely not a page turner. I don't think the presentation could be improved, due to the type of book that this is. Audio was certainly the best way for me to get this information, because I never would have stuck with it in written form! The book was a great companion to gardening in 90+ degree heat, and that is why I do audio books--to keep me focused on physical and menial tasks...

Would you recommend The Statues That Walked to your friends? Why or why not?

I would recommend it with the stipulation that it is NOT fiction, and is NOT exciting...but the explanation of that culture, and the marvelous insights into an uneducated people who were able to develop effective farming and engineering practices amazed me!

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Presentation was clear and understandable--given the material being read, it was a good performance.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Super educational value, and the only way I would have learned about these mysterious statues.

Any additional comments?

xxx

Two Words: Boring and Misleading

I wish I didn't spend money on this book. I thought it would be about the statues, call me crazy. It's actually a brief and very dull summary of a small civilization, who whether through ignorance, bad circumstance or stupidity, cut down all their trees, had lousy soil, failed and died out. Oh, and they made some statues, almost a side note in this book. End of story. Seriously. Don't waste your money or time on this. And this is coming from someone who is normally fascinated by ancient cultures, history, stories of earlier civilization, etc. This book is just dull and went NO WHERE.