[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Aliska. Glad I'm not alone in remembering that these "discoveries" are not new.

[Fred Nerks]

I didn’t know...might be interesting to read:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Group_of_Easter_Islanders_Outside_the_Church_Door,_The_Mystery_of_Easter_Island,_published_1919.jpg

THE MYSTERY OF EASTER ISLAND PUBLISHED IN 1919

A Group of Easter Islanders Outside the Church Door, Mana Expedition, Easter Island

Date between 1914 and 1915
Source Katherine Routledge: The Mystery of Easter Island, 1919

[Fred Nerks]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aku-Aku

Aku-Aku: the Secret of Easter Island is a 1957 book by Thor Heyerdahl[1] published in English the following year. The book describes the 1955–1956 Norwegian Archaeological Expedition’s investigations of Polynesian history and culture at Easter Island, the Austral Islands of Rapa Iti and Raivavae, and the Marquesas Islands of Nuku Hiva and Hiva Oa. Visits to Pitcairn Island, Mangareva and Tahiti are described as well.

...Heyerdahl compared the highest-quality stonework on the island (present in very few cases) to pre-Columbian Amerindian stonework, such as at Tihuanaco. He said of Ahu Vinapu’s retaining wall, “No Polynesian fisherman would have been capable of conceiving, much less building such a wall”.[4]

[Aliska]

Update, may shed some more light on the reason for the carved statues in case you hadn't seen it.

https://www.newsweek.com/easter-island-heads-mystery-solved-rapa-nui-drinking-water-1161827

Easter Island Heads Mystery Solved? Rapa Nui Civilization Built Moai by Freshwater Locations