Dr. Russell will conduct archaeological excavations at the site of Cerro Mayal which is located in the Chicama Valley of northern coastal Peru. The site, which dates to Moche times, consists of a ceramics workshop, a ca. 5000 square meter area with numerous piles of wasted ceramics which protrude up to one meter above the ground surface. Also associated with this is a habitation area where the remains of buildings of both masonry and adobe brick architecture can be discerned. During a single season of fieldwork, Dr. Russell and colleagues will excavate in the workshop area to identify the spatial organization of features and artifacts. They hope to reconstruct the ceramic technology and associated labor organization. Dr. Russell will also dig in the waste pile area to recover tools, molds and partially competed vessels. Finally, he will focus on the habitation zone associated with the workshop. He hopes to learn how this group was organized and how the products were distributed over a broader area. Dr. Russell will also conduct laboratory analysis of clays and ceramic materials from both Cerro Mayal as well as other Chicama Valley sites in an attempt to reconstruct the trade network. The Chicama Valley served as the focus for the Moche culture which built monumental architecture in the form of temples and associated habitation complexes. They also produced fine craft items. The Moche spread over a large area, controlled large numbers of people and dug and administered an extensive system of canals which captured water from the Andes Mountains and permitted agriculture in this extremely dry desert environment. It is unclear how large societies such as this arise and are maintained and many archaeologists believe that control of manufacturing and trade play an important role in this process. Cerro Mayal is important because its large size suggests that pottery production was under centralized control. This research will help to determine whether this hypothesis is correct. The project will produce data of interest to many archaeologists and will increase our understanding of how complex societies arise and are maintained.
