” new archaeological evidence shows that the statues, known as moai, were not carved by a single powerful chiefdom.”
Who’s to say that the “chiefdom” didn’t order the carving of them? Or set up the quarry “workshops” in the 1st place?
Exactly. I hate these eggheads that want to solve everything. They are as useless as critical analysis book and movie and art reviews of works done by people who are still alive.
It’s great to learn and explore and try to find out as much as possible about things don’t know for certain, but with ancient history it is likely that we will never know for certain, therefore stop pretending that you will know everything and stick to the facts available.