Welcome to the Easter Island Statue Project (EISP) web site!

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Mayor Petero Edmunds and Dr. Jo Anne Van Tilburg announcing the site preservation grant from the Archaeological Institute of America, Hanga Roa, Rapa Nui, 2008.

We are pleased that you have taken the time to join us, and to share in our archaeological exploration on Easter Island (Rapa Nui).

EISP practices Sustainable Archaeology through
• Field Data Collection
• Reporting and Publishing
• Data Sharing
• Entrepreneurial Innovation

Our survey is a systematic mapping and descriptive study of all of the monolithic stone statues (moai) on the island and in museums and collections world-wide. We have created the world’s largest and most complete archive of maps, photographs, drawings, measurements and other data on over 1000 statues.

We share our data with the supervising authorities in Chile and on Rapa Nui.  Our research thoughts on the comparative analyses of our data are widely published. We participate in public programs and media presentations for the public. As you read this, our massive database is being transferred into a new, web-based data filing and sharing system that will allow access to all of our collaborators and colleagues world-wide, as well as to the Rapa Nui people and the interested public.

We have established our own Mana Gallery on the island. It houses our field office and art gallery in which Rapa Nui artists show their work. They also use our data to innovate on the ancient aesthetics of their gifted ancestors. In this way, we enrich and expand our research. If you are fortunate enough to visit the island, please stop by the gallery.

We are proud and grateful to announce the latest honor accorded our project. We have received a major field work and preservation grant from the Archaeological Institute of America.  We hope you will join us often to follow our progress in the field.

Jo Anne Van Tilburg, Ph.D. Director, EISP | May 5th, 2009 |

Hoa Hakananai’a Laser Scan Project

September 2007

Background, Rationale and Goals

Laser scannning Hoa Hakananai’a at the British Museum. Photo by J. Van Tilburg.

To date, Van Tilburg and the Easter Island Statue Project (EISP) have inventoried 887 monolithic statues (moai) and compiled a metric database buttressed by 24,000 original and archived images. Some 35% of the known statues are located on or in direct relation to ceremonial sites called image ahu (Martinsson – Wallin 1994: Appendix 1 gives 164 image ahu; Van Tilburg 1986; Van Tilburg and Vargas C. 1998).

Rano Raraku, a volcanic crater on the island’s eastern plain, was the source of the sideromelane (basaltic) tuff from which 95% of the statues were carved. This source is irrefutable as there are 397 in situ statues, of which 141 in various stages of completion have recently been mapped by EISP in the interior quarries (Van Tilburg 2005; www.eisp.org). Much rarer statue lithologies are basalt (hawaiite lavas) from three named regions; trachyte and ‘red basaltic scoria’ or ‘red scoriaceous lava’ (also used as pukao or ‘topknots’ that were placed on the heads of about 75-100 statues).

There are only 20 statues (portable and non-portable) now in the EISP database which were carved of basalt. Of these, 7 are in museum collections. The British Museum holds two basalt statues, both of which are of central and very great significance to furthering our understanding of Rapa Nui history. One of them (1869.10-5.1) is re-carved on its dorsal side with bas-relief and incised petroglyphs of great iconographic significance. This re-carving is unique in its style, detail, and expertise and quality of execution. Four other statues, including 1869.10-6.1 (Moai Hava), have incised petroglyphs of lesser distinction but within clearly defined, limited typological categories. Another 30 statues still in situ on the island have applied decorations of similar styles.

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Posted on May 11th, 2009 by Jo Anne Van Tilburg, Ph.D.
Categories: 2000s, Featured Articles, Laser Scanning, Museum Objects Inventory |

The AIA selects Easter Island as its second Site Preservation project

January 5, 2009

Efforts will protect and preserve Easter Island’s Rapa Nui Moai statues

Boston – The Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), North America’s oldest and largest organization devoted to the world of archaeology, has selected the monolithic sculptures (moai) of Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile, and national park as its second site preservation project. With a $94,000 grant to the Easter Island Statue Project from the organization’s AIA Site Preservation Task Force, the Project will develop stone preservation techniques to arrest the rapid deterioration of these statues as a result of the fragile nature of their volcanic stone, climate change, and tourism. The Easter Island Statue Project is directed by UCLA archaeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg and co-directed by Cristían Arévalo Pakarati.

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Posted on April 18th, 2009 by EISP Staff
Categories: AIA Partnership, Featured Articles, Preservation |