Under the direction of Dr. Richard Burger, Mr. Ivan Ghezzi will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct archaeological excavations at the site of San Diego, located in the lower Casma Valley on the northern coast of Peru. The site itself dates to the Early Horizon period, from ca. 800 - 200 BC and consists of a series of interconnected architectural compounds made up by rooms, corridors, courtyards and low platform mounds. These compounds are arranged around large plazas up to eight hectares in size. Because of the dry desertic conditions preservation of organic remains, rare in most archaeological sites, is excellent. Occupational layers are thin and relatively near the surface and thus it is possible to excavate broad areas quickly. Mr. Ghezzi will take advantage of this fact to expose domestic structures and the space around them. Over the course of two seasons of fieldwork he will conduct a systematic stratified sampling in domestic units and refuse deposits to elucidate the basic patterns of socioeconomic variability. On the basis of materials collected it will be possible to provide a representative picture of the community at San Diego and to examine the extent to which hierarchical differentiation in wealth between domestic units is present. The Early Horizon in Peru is marked by the appearance of a stylistic horizon which appears strongest in the Northern Highland area yet spreads across much of Peru. Termed `Chavin` it is unclear what it actually represents. Given that a series of later empires united, for temporary periods of time, much of this same area, archaeologists tend to interpret `Chavin` in this same context and view it as the first of Peru's empires. However the distribution of Chavin materials is spotty and it is unclear the extent of actual social and political integration which took place. Mr. Ghezzi will examine this question. San Diego is located outside, yet not far from the Chavin heartland and preliminary survey indicates relatively little Chavin influence. Through an analysis of the site it should be possible to determine whether it exhibits an independent hierarchical system or whether it is best understood as an under-developed part of a Chavin periphery. The research will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and assist in training a promising young scientist.
