Archaeological excavations and reconstruction of Ahu Tongariki - Easter Island

Abstract

This paper is a brief summary of the presentation at one of the sessions and a field visit to Ahu Tongariki during the Second International Congress on "Easter Island and Eastern Polynesian Archaeology" held at Hanga Roa, Easter Island in October 1996. Final results of this on-going research project and full presentation of the archaeological data, chronology and conservation and reconstruction procedures of the site await completion. Most of the preliminary conclusions presented, regarding the character and archaeological evolution of the monument, should be considered with reservation, although we think that they will not significantly change after the data analysis of this profoundly disturbed site are completed.