The red hats were built in a quarry hidden inside the crater of an ancient volcano, and then rolled by hand or on tree logs to the site of the statues, said the team from Britain.

The archaeologists examined the way the hats, each weighing several tons and made of red scoria, a pumice-like volcanic rock, were moved by the long-gone Polynesian inhabitants of the islands, between 500 and 750 years ago.

They were placed on the heads of the distinctive carved stone figures known as moai, which stand on ceremonial platforms that encircle the island's coastline. But the riddle of how the hats were raised and attached remains unsolved.

"We now know that the hats were rolled along the road made from a cement of compressed red scoria dust with a raised pavement along one side," said Colin Richards from the University of Manchester, In England. "It is likely that they were moved by hand, but tree logs could also have been used."
Source(s):
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/2984

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