Top-down archaeology: High resolution satellite images of Rapa Nui on Google Earth™

The archaeological record is, by its very nature, nonrenewable. Each aspect of the record comprises unique information, the sum of which provides the only testament for vast amounts of human history in pace and time. The recognition of the nonrenewable character of the archaeological record has led to the compelling rationale for a "conservation ethic" (Lipe 1974).