August 5, 2025
Update from Peru
Our fieldwork was generously supported by the Elfrieda Frank Foundation. Traveling over 3,000 kilometers in our trusty Toyota Hi-Lux pickup, we navigated the central highlands of Peru—from the city of Huancayo along the Mantaro River to Lake Junin and its headwaters. Using a network of dirt roads, we accessed remote, previously unsurveyed areas. On foot, […]
Our fieldwork was generously supported by the Elfrieda Frank Foundation. Traveling over 3,000 kilometers in our trusty Toyota Hi-Lux pickup, we navigated the central highlands of Peru—from the city of Huancayo along the Mantaro River to Lake Junin and its headwaters. Using a network of dirt roads, we accessed remote, previously unsurveyed areas. On foot, we explored limestone cliff formations to identify and document potential early cave sites.
Then we were joined by our Peruvian colleague Veronica Ortiz of the National Museum of Archaeology, and we traveled north to the Dept. of Huanuco to relocate classic cave sites originally excavated by Peruvian archaeologist Augusto Cardich in the 1950s and 1960s. After much effort, we successfully relocated all of Cardich's major sites.
Next year, a CSFA-Peru team will begin excavations at three of these sites—including Lauricocha—as part of my National Science Foundation grant, Early Human Ecology and Settlement Dynamics of the Central Andean Highlands (BCS-2345169).