Under the supervision of Dr. John Rick, Daniel Contreras will carry out excavations at the site of Chavin de Huantar, in the Central Andean highlands. Chavin, one of the earliest monumental sites in the Peruvian highlands, dates to the Initial Period and Early Horizon, roughly 1200-500 BCE. The site's monumental stone architecture and distinctive art style have been a focus of archaeological research in the Andes since the 1930s, and a draw for travelers for centuries before that. The extent of the site, and its relationship to a hazardous local environment, is not yet well understood, due to the extremely active local geomorphology. That geomorphologic activity, and the reactions of Chavin's builders to it, is the subject of this research.
The relationship between human societies and their environments has historically been one of the fundamental preoccupations of anthropological archaeology, and in an age when "sustainability" has become a common concern, that preoccupation is more relevant than ever. Chavin, located in an area rife with environmental risk, is an excellent venue for studying prehistoric approaches to environmental problems. Excavations in Chavin's near periphery will generate datable evidence of prehistoric geomorphologic activity-principally landslides and debris flows-that may overlap chronologically with both the florescence and decline of the site. In addition, these excavations are designed to clarify the dating and extent of the massive projects of landscape engineering (i.e. megalithic terracing, river canalization, and land reclamation) that current research at the site has documented. Ultimately, the project aims to understand how those projects of landscape engineering related to the social changes which accompanied Chavin's development.
The geoarchaeological perspective that will make this analysis possible will also provide fairly unique training to the undergraduate and graduate students involved. Both Peruvian and North American students will be trained in excavation and analytic techniques. Furthermore, as well as forming a key part of Contreras' graduate training in archaeology, this research will contribute to conservation and development in the modern town of Chavin de Huantar. The archaeological monument is a source of tourist revenue for the town, and the conservation of the circum-monument areas of archaeological importance has become a major political issue in recent years. Moreover, Peru's Instituto Nacional de Cultura is concerned about the conservation of the site itself, which is one of Peru's handful of UNESCO-recognized world heritage sites. Modern environmental threats to the monument are only beginning to be understood. This research, in addition to shedding light on prehistoric interaction with the local environment, will define local environmental risks and allow informed conservation planning for the site.
