Easter Island Statue Project Official Website

Letters from the Director

Storms and Songs…. Rapa Nui in Focus

Dear Friends of EISP,
This is my first letter of 2021, and I am happy to report that in my home state of California there is light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. I hope you and your families and friends have weathered the pandemic and see good news on the horizon.

The past year has been busy (albeit remotely). We have published several important peer-reviewed articles about our Rano Raraku excavations, and others are in the works. I was pleased to present public programs or lectures to UCLA alumni, the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, and University of Tennessee audiences. These events offered opportunities to test ideas and concepts we are exploring in our upcoming Atlas publication. UCLA and the Rock Art Archive remain closed to normal scholarly activities, but we are in continued contact with volunteers and international colleagues in the Rock Art Network.

It was such a pleasure to work with Jeff Brown and his PBS team to explore the global issue of climate change for Rapa Nui in 2018. While filming a wide-ranging documentary about our excavations, modern challenges to site conservation, and the arts for the modern Rapa Nui community, Jeff was introduced to pianist and teacher Mahani Teave. Our segment dealt with the question “Can Easter Island’s treasures withstand the storms of climate change?” and aired before the pandemic set in. More recently, another of Jeff’s PBS Newshour segments focused on Mahani and her blossoming career and was entitled “In bringing the song of Rapa Nui to the world, pianist brings music home.”

Tourism is a basic underpinning of the Rapa Nui community, but the island has been closed now for more than a year, and the Rapa Nui landscape remains empty of tour buses. As daily life slowed many families enjoyed the beauty of their tranquil landscape, but damage done over decades by weather and human use to rock art, architecture, and habitation sites also came into sharp focus. On the plus side, we were able to respond helpfully using information in our EISP Archives and Database when conservation colleagues requested our help in researching site protections. My next letter will focus on updates about our forthcoming publication and its progress, as well as provide some information on how you can order copies in advance. Many thanks to all for your continued interest and support!

PBS Newshour Links

Can Easter Island’s treasures withstand storms of climate change?, Jun 26, 2018

Tiny Easter Island deals with giant trash problem, Oct 5, 2018

In bringing the Song of Rapa Nui to the world, pianist brings music education home, May 11, 2021

 

Mahani Teave’s Story

The Rapa Nui School of Music and the Arts

 

UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Lecture, April 9, 2021

Ritualized Stone and Public Art on Easter Island: Highlights and Insights of Recent Excavations in the Statue Quarry – Jo Anne Van Tilburg. Watch the lecture recording on YouTube.

 

Published Peer-Reviewed Papers

Mulrooney, M., Van Tilburg, J. A., Hom, A. and McCoy, P. (2021) Refining the Chronology of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Settlement, Journal of Pacific Archaeology, 12(1), pp. 72-83.

Sherwood, S., J. Van Tilburg, C. R. Barrier, M. Horrocks, R. K. Dunn, J. Huebert, and J. M. Ramírez-Aliaga (2019) New excavations in Easter Island’s statue quarry: Soil fertility, site formation and chronology,  Journal of Archaeological Science 111 104994.

Van Tilburg, J., C. Fischer, M. Bahamondez P., and C. Arévalo P. (2016)  Seeking Solutions: An Archaeological Approach to Conservation of a Threatened Heritage on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). In Finding Solutions for Protecting and Sharing Archaeological Heritage Resouces, edited by A.P. Underhill and L.C. Salazar.  Springer Briefs in Archaeology, Chapter 5.

Jo Anne Van Tilburg, Ph.D. Director, EISP | May 12th, 2021 |

Phase 2 Season 2

Easter Island Statue Project

August 12- 31, 2014

Dr. Jo Anne Van Tilburg, UCLA Project Director

Cristián Arévalo Pakarati/ Rapa Nui Project Co-director

José Miguel Ramírez A., Universidad de Valparaiso, Co-investigator

 

Introduction

This report is prepared as part of a numbered series that describes the excavations conducted by the Easter Island Statue Project in Rano Raraku Quarry Zone, Interior Region, Quarry 02, Statues RR-001-156 and RR-001-157. The team is composed of an all-Rapanui excavation staff directed by the project Co-directors. With the completion of the conservation and scientific investigations conducted by our Chilean collaborator, Monica Bahamondez P, and our UCLA collaborator Dr. Christian Fischer, we were joined this season by our new Chilean collaborator Sr. José Miguel Ramírez A., Universidad de Valparaíso. Our research agreement is contained in a Memo of Understanding between the Universidad de Valparaíso and the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA. This report summarizes our collections and investigations for the period beginning Monday, March 10 and ending Monday, March 14, 2014.  This report is part of a preliminary final report that includes some but not all of our in-process laboratory test results and collections analyses, as per our permit CMN ORD 5467-09. A final report will be published in 2015-2016 by the The Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press.

[Read More…]

Posted on October 28th, 2014 by Jo Anne Van Tilburg, Ph.D.
Categories: 2000s, AIA Partnership, Conservation Reports, EISP Excavation, Featured Articles |

Phase 2 Season 1

Easter Island Statue Project Phase 2, Season 1

August 2013

Jo Anne Van Tilburg and Cristián Arévalo P.

This report describes recent excavations beginning Phase 2 of the project and concentrating on the ventral side of Moai RR-001-156. These excavations are a continuation of limited excavations conducted on the ventral side during Phase 1, which focused on reaching the base of the statue on the dorsal side.  The excavation season commenced on August 6, 2013 and actual excavation ended on August 29, 2013. The excavation was subsequently closed to protect it from heavy rains and with the help of personnel from CONAF and CMN.

[Read More…]

Posted on October 28th, 2014 by Jo Anne Van Tilburg, Ph.D.
Categories: 2000s, AIA Partnership, Conservation Reports, EISP Excavation, Featured Articles |

Phase 1 Season 6

Easter Island Statue Project (EISP) Conservation Initiative

March 2012

Jo Anne Van Tilburg and Cristián Arévalo Pakarati have accomplished an archaeological survey and inventory of the monolithic stone sculpture (moai) of Rapa Nui. To date, we have accounted for 1,300 monolithic sculptural objects within the island-wide survey sections, in museum collections, and within the Rano Raraku quarry zone, including complete (as opposed to intact) statues, heads, torsos, fragments, shaped block. The latter are considered to be evidence of human activity in the form of incomplete or abandoned projects elucidating energy investment. The most recent object entered into our collaborative on-line database (DATASHARE) is a red stone torso submitted by Enrique Tucki M. of the Oficina Provincial, the Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF).

[Read More…]

Posted on October 28th, 2014 by Jo Anne Van Tilburg, Ph.D.
Categories: 2000s, AIA Partnership, Conservation Reports, EISP Excavation, Featured Articles |

Phase 1 Season 5

 

Easter Island Statue Project Conservation Initiative

Season V Excavation Summary

RR-001-156 and Square 4, RR-001-157

Jo Anne Van Tilburg

November 2011

Introduction

This report is another in a series of reports dealing with the excavation of statues RR-001-156 and RR-001-157 in Rano Raraku quarry, Rapa Nui, Chile. The previous reports were filed with the appropriate Chilean and Rapa Nui agencies and also provided to the general public on the Easter Island Statue Project web site (www.eisp.org). This report deals with the continuing excavation of statue RR-001-156 to the base and Square 4 of RR-001-157. These activities took place during Season V (November 2011) of the Easter Island Statue Project Conservation Initiative.
[Read More…]

Posted on October 28th, 2014 by Jo Anne Van Tilburg, Ph.D.
Categories: 2000s, AIA Partnership, Conservation Reports, EISP Excavation, Featured Articles |