In 1955, Thor Heyerdahl recruited American archaeologist William Mulloy and his Chilean associate, Gonzalo Figueroa García-Huidobro, who restored the statues to their original position; they had found them in knocked down condition in 1960. Mulloy's work on the Akivi-Vaiteka Complex was supported by the Fulbright Foundation and by grants from the University of Wyoming, the University of Chile and the International Fund for Monuments. Ahu Akivi also gives its name to one of the seven regions of Rapa Nui National Park.