Under the direction of Dr. Richard Burger, Mr. George Lau will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct archaeological fieldwork at the site of Chinchawas which is located in the northern highlands of Peru. Chinchawas lies on the western slopes of the Andes atop an isolated ridge which affords a strategic position over the primary pass between two major valleys. Although the site is relatively small, the architecture shows variability in form, quality of manufacture and function, including defensive, residential burial and ceremonial buildings. Included are high status mortuary structures and numbers of carved stone sculptures which, because of extensive looting, are rarely found in primary context. While prior work indicates that the site dates to the Early Intermediate period very little is known about either it or the Recuay culture of which it forms a part. Through excavation and analysis of recovered materials Mr. Lau will add significantly to understanding this entity. The research has five primary goals: 1. to develop a local chronology for the Early Intermeidate period; 2. to describe the prehistoric occupation and spatial configuration of Chinchawas; 3. to reconstruct the local subsistence system; 4. to determine the extent and character of coast-highland interaction; 5. to model local social organization at Chinchawas and evaluate hypotheses on the trajectory and complexity of Recuay political developments. To accomplish these goals Mr. Lau will conduct a program of both surface mapping and excavation. In addition to lithics and ceramics the work should yield both faunal and floral remains which permit dietary reconstruction. Through the analysis of `exotic materials` such as sea shells and non-local stone it will be possible to reconstruct larger interaction networks. Peru provides an example of pristine development of civilization. Over the course of several thousand years, groups proceeded from small hunting and gathering societies to large units such as the Inca empire which covered thousands of square miles and integrated many diverse peoples into a single state. It appears that this process took place without influence from other parts of South or Middle America and archaeologists wish to understand how this occurred. Although much information is available on the more accessible coastal regions of Peru, relatively little research has been conducted in the highland Andean region. It is clear from the architectural material as sites such as Chinchawas that such highland areas played an important role is the early stages of this process and Mr. Lau's research will help to fill an important gap. The research is also important because it will help to train a promising young scientist.
