-Dan Sandweiss

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Ecuador
Peru
Meetings

Tamara Bray (Wayne State University) conducted extensive archaeological test excavations during the summer of 1999 at the site of Shanshipampa in northern highland Ecuador, an area where she has worked since 1991. The National Science Foundation and the Wenner-Gren Foundation funded this summer’s research program. The site of Shanshipampa, which is named after the modern local community, is believed to be the ancient site of Chapí, described in sixteenth century sources as a gateway to the eastern lowlands and an important multi-ethnic trade center. With the help of Ecuadorian and American students from several different universities including Wayne State, a magnetometer survey of the site was undertaken, a topographic map of the area was completed, and a range of archaeological features were tested this season.

The different types of archaeological features observed on the surface of the site include terraces, small hemispherical mounds known locally tolas, long linear mounds, and a series of widely dispersed petroglyphs. Through excavations, we identified a number of possible hearths, an underground oven, a double-coursed stone wall and an extensive cobble floor. We also found a number of large complete storage vessels in situ.

Among the most interesting finds the 1999 season was the identification of at least three different types of mortuary practices at the site. The first type is fairly elaborate involving the placement of a burial pit in the center of a circular stone ring that was subsequently covered by a low hemispherical mound. While the human remains did not generally preserve in these features, one of the mounds did produce the back dentition of a single individual together with a complete Panzaleo pot.

Another type of burial practice at Shanshipampa involved the use of small caves. Two burial caves were identified at the site. Each contained multiple individuals who had apparently been interred in large funerary urns. Because of the dry conditions that prevailed, human remains in a good state of preservation were recovered from these features. Finally, it appears that residents of the site also buried individuals in funerary urns outside of these caves, possibly in association with houses. This type of mortuary data speaks to the possibility of different ethnic groups at the site.

We are currently awaiting the results from the radiocarbon lab to obtain dates for the different archaeological contexts investigated this season. Ceramic, paleo-botanical, and osteological analysis of the materials we recovered is currently underway at the Wayne State archaeology lab. The study also has an archival and ethnohistoric component that is being run by project co-PI, Dr. Cristobal Landázuri (Catholic University, Quito). The archaeological and ethnohistoric information will be integrated and presented in a book detailing the social and economic situation of the late Precolumbian era and the transformations this area underwent during the early colonial period.

Lippi has joined forces with an Ecuadorian-based environmental foundation, Fundación Maquipucuna, and will narrow the focus of much of the future archaeological work in the 6,000 square kilometer Western Pichincha region to the area within and immediately surrounding the cloud forest reserve that was established several years ago by Maquipucuna. Some of the most interesting archaeological sites in the entire region are located within this area and include two fortresses with an apparent Inca occupation, several pyramidal and conical mound complexes, physical vestiges of ancient trails, the abandoned ancient "salt town" (Cachillacta), the Tulipe pool complex, and many habitation sites spanning the Formative, Middle and Late prehispanic periods as well as the early Spanish period (ca. 1500 BC — AD 1660). While the Maquipucuna Foundation is primarily focused on cloud forest preservation and study as well as carefully developed ecotourism, it is working closely with Lippi to develop plans to protect and study various archaeological complexes and to foment "archaeo-tourism" by way of vehicular and pedestrian site tours, a field school, and a possible regional archaeology museum.

In the summer of 1999, Lippi was in the region creating topographic maps of three pyramidal mound sites and of one of the two Inca forts (Pukará de Palmitopamba) as a prelude to future research. He and Fundación Maquipucuna have negotiated the purchase of the land containing the bulk of the Pukará de Palmitopamba to ensure its preservation and to facilitate excavations at the site in the coming years.

They are also working on the very complex problem of assuring the preservation of the Tulipe pool complex. The partial restoration and limited research on the site by Museo del Banco Central personnel in the 1980s was not followed up by the construction of a site museum nor by the protection of the site, as the Banco Central abandoned most of its cultural programs in subsequent years. This unique site, first identified by Frank Salomon (University of Wisconsin–Madison) and later studied by Holguer Jara (Banco Central del Ecuador), has been deteriorating in recent years. Reaching agreement with the various property owners on the site has proven to be complicated and somewhat frustrating, but a concerted effort is underway to preserve the site.

Earl Lubensky (University of Missouri-Columbia) completed development of a typology on the part of the Ayalan cemetery collection from cuts A, B, and F on loan to the University of Missouri from the Smithsonian Institution (since returned). Those three cuts were undisturbed by burials and thus present a fair picture of the stratigraphy at the site. Lubensky has a record of the part of those three cuts that Betty Meggers held at the Smithsonian for her Chorrera study, the Ayalan site being considered a Chorrera type site. He plans to review the Chorrera portion during an upcoming visit to Washington.

Lubensky also delivered papers at the 1999 Midwest Andean meeting at Mt. Pleasant, MI and at the 1999 SAA meeting in Chicago about sourcing of obsidian from the Ayalan cemetery site, which as previously reported was from Yanaurco-Quiscatola. He compared cutting-edge/mass ratio of obsidian from Ayalan with La Florida and El Inga, revealing a much larger ratio from the Ayalan site; Ayalan is much further from the source than the other two, which obtained most of their obsidian from Mullumica, not far distant from the Yanaurco-Quiscatola site. This should indicate, according to other such studies made (e.g., Cihuatan, El Salvador by Sheets and Fowler), an increasing expense of raw obsidian with increasing distance from the source. Lubensky speculates that there may be a concurrent chronological relationship between the beginning of pottery production in the sierra (e.g., Cotocollao) and obsidian trade from the sierra to the coast, about 1500-1600 BC. He intends to produce a final report on the work at the Ayalan cemetery site, as well as at the near-by Valdivia-Machalilla Anllulla shell mound site.

A student, Jessica Aberle (University of Missouri-Columbia), is working on attribute classification of the Ferdon surface collection from the Punta Carnera site on the Santa Elena peninsular. She is almost finished, and they anticipate using these data to develop classes of ceramics involving intersection of a number of select attributes. The eventual goal is to publish this work together with similar studies already performed at the La Libertad-La Carolina sites nearby and at the Ayalan cemetery site, especially with regard to the common occurrence of Manteño Gray Ware.

In June, 1997, Dan Sandweiss, geologist Dan Belknap and graduate students Stacy Shafer and Jeff Rogers (all University of Maine) spent several weeks studying the beach ridge sets in northern Peru that emanating from the mouths of the Chira, Piura, and Santa rivers. The visit was intended to assess the hypothesis of El Niño involvement in ridge formation and provide ground-truthing for Shafer’s remote sensing-based study of ridge formation processes for her 1999 MS thesis in Quaternary Studies. In general, the field observations supported the El Niño hypothesis. One discovery concerned the anthropogenic influence on recent ridge-building at Chira. In addition to the field studies, Belknap consulted with officials from the oil industry and local utilities in Talara concerning possible geomorphic effects of the then-predicted 1997-98 El Niño. Funding came from the Peruvian Archaeology Research Fund at the University of Maine and the UMaine Institute for Quaternary Studies.

During the summer of 1999, Richard Burger and Lucy Burger (both of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University) directed the second season of excavations at Manchay Bajo, a U-shaped center on the north bank of the Lurín River across from Cardal. The investigations focused on the central staircase and atrium, the monumental wall, and the domestic area to the northwest section of the monumental architecture. The work on the main mound documented a series of superimposed atria, one of which was decorated with polychrome friezes. It also revealed a sequence of eight superimposed stairways. The research on the monumental wall confirmed that the 750-meter long construction dates to the Initial Period. The work there also provided information of its masonry construction and renovation. The massive wall appears to have functioned as a dam against debris flows triggered by El Niño Events. The work in the northwest section of the site confirmed the presence of dwellings made of perishable materials, attested to by postholes, hearths and refuse. It also provided evidence of what appears to be an area of ceramic production. Finally, work in this area and testing in the plaza allowed a sedimentary study of the flood deposits that have buried the Initial Period site.

Data analysis is underway after test excavations in July 1999 at the site of Antibál, at the head of the Chilca Valley in the central Andes. Antibál is a multi-component site with an Early Initial Period occupation and chullpas from later periods. The small excavation team consisted of Bob Benfer, Neil Duncan, Kate Pechenkina (all of University of Missouri-Columbia) and Bernardino Ojeda. Excavators expect the site will shed light on Deborah Pearsall and Lawrence Kuznar's hypothesis of a co-evolutionary relationship between herding and the cultivation of certain plant species. In addition, funding will be sought to excavate further to test the hypothesis that a treponemal infection from the Amazonian lowlands was introduced to the Andes during the Initial Period.

Donald A. Proulx (University of Massachusetts) sends the following summary of his 1998 field season. Assisted by graduate student Ana Nieves (University of Texas) and various short-term helpers including Henry Falcón Amado and Miriam Gavilán Roayza(Universidad Nacional "San Luis Gonzaga" de Ica), I undertook an archaeological survey of the lower Río Nasca, from Usaca to the confluence with the Río Grande, and then down the Río Grande, past Coyungo to the Maijo Grande oasis. This work was supported by a grant from the H. John Heinz III Charitable Trust for which I am most grateful.

The 1998 research had four major objectives. The first was to systematically record all of the sites in the survey area in an attempt to complete the coverage of all the major portions of the Nasca drainage. Second, we hoped to find evidence of Nasca habitation sites, which could lead to a better interpretation of the socio-political organization of Nasca society. These data could later be compared to other parts of the drainage to develop a better understanding of the settlement patterns and resource areas. Third, in collaboration with my colleague David Johnson, I wanted to investigate the correlation of the sites we discovered with water sources (springs or puquios), and these in turn with the "Nasca Lines" or geoglyphs. In 1996 Johnson first discovered a strong correlation between certain ground drawings or geoglyphs and subterranean aquifers that conducted water along geological faults. He argued that the ancient people in this drainage were mapping the location of water sources with the geoglyphs and that these in turn would lead to archaeological sites. Finally, we wanted to investigate the major routes connecting the interior agricultural areas with the coast to demonstrate the role of maritime resources in the Nasca diet. I hoped to find archaeological evidence to support the concept of a mixed economy based on both intensive irrigation agriculture as well as products from the ocean and river.

We purchased a set of aerial photographs at a scale of 1:10,000 from the Peruvian National Aerial Photography Service (SAN). These sheets were attached to a wooden board and covered with a transparent mylar overlay sheet on which sites were recorded as they were found. We also used a complete set of topographic maps at scales of 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 along with a GPS (Global Positioning System) instrument that provided the exact latitude and longitude of each site we recorded--information that was then transferred to the topographic maps. We also had NASA satellite maps of the entire area at a scale of 1:100,000, which provided wonderful detail on the geology and hydrology of the region.

We began the survey in the lower Río Nasca, first working our way down the valley to the confluence with the Río Grande and then returning to cover the basin as far as the Quebrada Usaca. A total of 13 sites was recorded in the Usaca area and another 51 sites in the Río Nasca proper. Later we moved to the Río Grande, gradually working our way down valley though Mal Paso, Batanes, Coyungo and Las Brujas on the way to Maijo Grande. We found 64 sites on this Río Grande segment, making a grand total of 128 sites recorded on the survey. We later discovered that a short segment of the Río Grande, from Changillo at the juncture of the Río Ingenio and the Río Grande, down to Vincente near the mouth of the Río Nasca had never been completely surveyed. Although students from the University in Ica had indicated that they had completely surveyed this sector, they had recorded only a few selected sites. Thus a little additional work needs to be done to make the survey of the drainage complete.

Surface collections of artifacts were made at each site, especially diagnostic ceramics for accurately dating the remains. These artifacts were cleaned, numbered and then photographed prior to storage in cloth bags. Nine cartons of artifacts were deposited at the Museo Regional de Ica at the end of the season.

Analysis of the survey data is continuing, and the results need to be compared and correlated to the data from the surveys conducted in other parts of the drainage. Below is an account of some of the preliminary findings and questions raised by the research. The 128 sites recorded ranged in date from the Early Horizon (900-200 B.C.) to the Late Horizon (1476-1532 A.D.).

* The numbers exceed 128 because many sites were multi-occupational

Sites were numbered sequentially as they were recorded in each of the river valleys. RN refers to sites in the Río Nasca valley while RG designates sites in the Río Grande. Early Horizon sherds in small quantities were found in a total of 13 sites, mostly in the lower Río Grande area. The majority of these vessels was utilitarian with decoration consisting of incised triangles with punctation, circles and dots, or braided handles. Whether these ceramics should be called "Paracas" or Tajo is based more on semantics than on major cultural differences. A beautiful Ocucaje 8 or 9 interior decorated bowl, found in the Atarco Valley by an agricultural worker, was covered with killer whales with incised outlines and resin paints. This piece and others like it have been found in various sites in the valley. Our survey did not reveal any major Early Horizon ceremonial sites--only several small multi-occupational habitation areas and cemeteries where Early Horizon sherds were part of the assemblage.

Of the 128 sites recorded, a majority (89) had some level of Nasca occupation. Most of these sites were cemeteries (77), but several unexpected features were noted. Previously, Nasca graves were described as unlined pits in the sand in which a seated mummy bundle and funerary offerings were place, then covered with a roof of huarango beams and/or adobes. We discovered a wide variety of Nasca grave forms, including many with adobe walls, and some with thatch roofing material. Judging from recent discoveries of very deep elite Nasca tombs made at La Muña in the Palpa Valley, it appears that there was more variation in Nasca graves than once thought. I hope that unlooted elite graves can be located and excavated in the future in order to elucidate the nature of Nasca political organization. Contrary to the expectation of finding cemeteries separate and isolated from habitation sites, many of the cemeteries were adjacent to and an integral part of Nasca settlements.

We had hoped to find several large Nasca urban centers in the course of the survey. Surprisingly, most of the 31 sites containing evidence of Nasca habitation could be described as small hamlets. The only exception was the multi-occupational complex of sites numbered RG-25, -56, -57 and -58 opposite the town of Coyungo that appears to be one huge urban center with associated cemeteries. Judging from the nature of the architecture and the prevalence of Late Intermediate Period pottery over the site in addition to occasional groupings of Nasca pottery, the majority of these structures are late (LIP), however, there appears to have been a substantial Nasca occupation here as well. Many of the smaller Nasca habitation sites were located near springs or "pukios" where water seeped from geological faults providing a year-round source of water. These sites were particularly prevalent in the lower Nasca Valley in the area around Santa Clara, Agua Dulce and Los Colorados, but there are also a number of pukios in the Coyungo basin. I need to compare my findings with the survey results of my colleagues in the other tributaries in order to ascertain whether we have an anomaly in my survey area, perhaps with the larger urban centers being situated in the more agriculturally productive portions of the drainage, or whether small settlements are the rule in Nasca society.

Another surprise was the paucity of Middle Horizon sites in the survey area. Perhaps continued analysis of the surface pottery collections and a better refinement of the ceramic collections will increase this number in the future, but sites with diagnostic "Epigonal" designs were very sparse. Eighteen Middle Horizon cemeteries were recorded, most displaying the characteristic cotton mummy wrappings that are frequently found at this time period. Several elaborate Middle Horizon tombs with white painted, plastered walls with niches were found at RN-33. The Middle Horizon sites seem to be concentrated in a small area on the west side of the lower Nasca River just down river from the confluence of the Quebrada Usaca with the Río Nasca. Only one site seemed to have Middle Horizon habitation remains. More numerous Middle Horizon sites have been found in other parts of the drainage, including the north side of the Río Grande Valley near Cabildo.

The Late Intermediate Period produced the second largest concentration of sites (after Early Intermediate Nasca sites) and the only ruins that could truly be called urban centers. David Robinson divided the Late Intermediate Period ceramics into two groups, Carrizal and Poroma. In the Ica Valley, Menzel built on her earlier designations of Chulpaca and Soniche, which were roughly comparable in time to Carrizal and Poroma, to construct a 10-phase sequence that she called the Ica style. Others, pointing to the similarity between these Late Intermediate Period ceramics and those of the Chincha Valley to the North, refer to the style as Chincha-Ica. Until the exact political relationship between these various valleys is better known, and until I can study and seriate the Late Intermediate Period pottery from the survey area, I will simply lump the variations into the category "Late Intermediate Period."

There are 31 Late Intermediate Period habitation sites in the survey area, including several covering more than one square kilometer. RN-15, RN-17, RG-9, and the complex RG-25, -56, -57 and -58 fall in this category. The huge settlements of RN-15, -17 and RG-9 are were constructed on the slopes of hills, near springs or pukios, overlooking the valley below. The Coyungo complex (RG-25, -56, -57 and —58) was built on the pampa adjacent to the river. The distinguishing feature of these late cities is the use of cobblestones as construction material. Structures of varying size along with huge open plazas are present. Obviously this was a time of population growth and the concentration of people into large centers.

In addition to the habitation sites, 58 Late Intermediate Period cemeteries were recorded, sometimes mixed with the graves of earlier cultures. Tombs tended to be large, deep and rectangular in shape, often with adobe lining. These tombs tended to have the best preserved and most numerous organic remains such as textiles, slings and mummies. Perhaps due to the increase in population, the size of Late Intermediate Period cemeteries was larger than those of earlier periods, and often earlier cemeteries were reused by LIP peoples.

We only recorded nine sites with Inca pottery. The most interesting of these sites was RG-7, at the area at the base of Cerro Colorado near the confluence of the Río Nasca with the Río Grande, where a peasant showed us a beautiful Inca Aryballoid jar found nearby. I suspect that many more of the sites we visited are Late Horizon or include Late Horizon components, but that the local people continued to make their characteristic LIP pottery even under Inca subjugation as was the case in the Ica Valley (see D. Menzel, 1976, Pottery Style and Society in Ancient Peru, Berkeley: University of California Press). The Inca controlled this drainage from the site of Paredones on the outskirts of the modern city of Nasca. Here one can see the Cuzco style stone walls and niches and find more traces of Inca elite pottery. How extensive control was over this region and how many sites they built must be sorted out from the results of the various unpublished surveys.

The second objective of the survey, to shed light on the nature of the socio-political organization of the Nasca Culture during the Early Intermediate Period, will require additional analysis of data from the other surveys undertaken in the drainage to provide valid answers to long-debated questions. However, the lack of large Nasca urban centers in the lower Río Nasca and Río Grande sectors, as noted above, supports the now widely accepted theory that the Nasca were organized into a series of local chiefdoms rather being a primitive state controlled by a central government. Sharing a common religion and symbolic system, these local political entities ruled from regional centers situated in critical locations in the various tributaries. The only possible center of such activity in my survey area would have been the large complex at Coyungo in the lower Río Grande Valley (sites RG-25, -56, -57, -58). Other centers existed in the more agriculturally dominant parts of the drainage, along the Palpa, Ingenio, middle Río Grande, Tierras Blancas, Aja and Taruga valleys. The local leaders ruling from these centers had dual functions as religious leaders (shamans) and secular warriors. The role of warrior-chief seems to have become more important beginning in Phase 5 when well-documented droughts (dating between A.D. 540-560 and 570-610) caused much social upheaval and changes in settlement patterns (see p. 251, K. Schreiber and J. Lancho Rojas, 1995, The Puquios of Nasca, Latin American Antiquity 6:229-254). Warfare took place among the many political units to obtain scarce agricultural land and water resources, as well to provide a source of victims for ritual decapitation, especially in Phases 5, 6 and 7.

My survey documented concentrations of Nasca 5 sites in the Usaca area where several geological faults conducted subterranean water to the area. My settlement pattern analysis is still ongoing, but already differences in the distribution of sites from various cultures and phases are evident. A full report on the settlement pattern analysis will be forthcoming.

The third objective of the survey was to investigate the correlation of the sites discovered with water sources, geological faults and geoglyphs in conjunction with David Johnson. This research was also highly successful. Concentrating primarily on the Nasca period sites, the location of non-riverine water sources was carefully noted by the archaeologists. Once the survey was completed, Johnson and his team of geologists plotted the location of the geological faults adjacent to each site and the presence and location of any geoglyphs. A strong correlation was found between site location, faults, springs, pukios and other non-riverine water sources, and large geometric geoglyphs. This analysis is also ongoing, but some of the data have been presented at scientific meetings (see D. Johnson 1997, The Relationship Between the Lines of Nasca and Water Resources, paper presented at the 16th Annual Northeast Conference on Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory, University of Maine, October 4-5; D. Proulx and D. Johnson, 1999, The Correlation of the Lines of Nasca with Water Sources and Archaeological Sites, paper presented at the 64th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Chicago, Illinois, March 24-28; D. Johnson, 1999, Die Nasca-Linien als Markierrungen für unteriridische Wasserkommen, in Nasca: Geheimnisvolle Zeichen im Alten Peru, ed. by Judith Rickenback, pp. 157-164. Zürich: Museum Rietberg Zürich). Johnson will be reporting on this work in detail in the future following further field research.

Last, I hoped to explore the role of the sea in Nasca society through an examination of the sites discovered in the lower portion of the Río Grande. Some researchers have questioned the importance of maritime resources in the diet of the Nasca society, correctly pointing out the distance of most Nasca sites from the ocean and the primacy of agricultural plants in their everyday lives. The ceramic iconography clearly depicts a variety of fish, sea mammals, birds and fishermen, yet some scholars have argued that these representations were symbolic rather than representational. Our research uncovered large amounts of sea shells, fish nets, sea urchins and other remains at Nasca sites all along the lower Río Grande and up into the other tributaries as well. Obviously the inhabitants of these small sites had access to the sea and were utilizing maritime resources on a regular basis. Observation of modern fisherman making regular trips to the shore, especially to the vicinity of Puerto Caballas, and a study of the routes taken to these locations have provided valuable new insights into the activities of the ancients.

In summary, the major objectives of the research were realized. We studied and documented over 128 new sites, obtaining valuable new information on settlement patterns was obtained and laying the foundation for an extensive study of the correlation between the archaeological sites, water sources and geoglyphs. Future work will concentrate on examining specific sites in the survey area and on demonstrating the validity of Johnson's hydrological theory.

The earthquake of November 12, 1996, in southern Peru devastated the facility of the California Institute for Peruvian Studies (CIPS) at Bella Union, Arequipa. Fortunately, the collections were salvageable but needed to be moved. This was accomplished in March of 1997 through the efforts of CIPS President Francis A. Riddell (e-mail: fariddell@netzero.net) assisted by archaeologists Richard Brooks, Anna Noah, Alina Aparicio and forensic anthropologist Sheilagh Brooks. Sandra Asmussen and J. Arthur Freed were supporting crewmembers. Some 200 cartons of specimens were transported to CIPS laboratory and storage facility at the Catholic University in Arequipa (UCSM). CIPS and the University operate under an agreement by which both the fieldwork and the laboratory/storage are joint endeavors.

The California Institute for Peruvian Studies had several groups in the field in 1998. One group, headed by CIPS president Francis A. Riddell returned to the Chala region on the south coast in August to continue archaeological site surveys. The team consisted of archaeologists Riddell, Marie Cottrell, Richard Brooks, Lidio Valdez, Alina Aparicio assisted by forensic anthropologist Sheilagh Brooks, crewmembers Sandra Asmussen, J. Arthur Freed and students William Fowlks and Zasha Trivisonno. Utilizing Valdez’s report (1990, Informe de los Trabajos de Campo de la Temporada de 1990 del "Proyecto Arqueológico Acarí, Yauca, Atiquipa y Cha/a" Note: this and other CIPS reports listed in italics are available for a small handling charge from CIPS, contact Fritz Riddell at: fariddell@netzero.net) a resurvey was undertaken for Quebrada de Chala and its branch, Quebrada Huanuhuanu. In the survey new sites were discovered and recorded. In addition, surveys were conducted southeast of Chala, down coast, in Quebrada Huaccyaco and in the Chaparra Valley as reported by Valdez (1998, A Field Report on the Archaeological Explorations in Chala and Vicinity, Arequipa, Peru) and by Aparicio (1998, Project Report, July-August, 1998). Although the visits were brief 10 sites were recorded in the Huaccyaco drainage. Of these, nine were aceramic and may be preceramic in age. No excavation was attempted at this time, but the surface occurrence of manos and a metate at several of the sites, as well as an abundance of basaltic debitage, indicates that the pattern of cultural content as well as geographic location deviate from the late sites that have extensive architecture, abundant midden and a heavy presence of potsherds. Rock rings at several of them suggest house remains, but this cannot be confirmed without excavation. Further investigation is planned for August 2000. In the Chaparra Valley the team recorded 15 archaeological sites, all of which appear to be of the Late Horizon, although some may be of the Colonial Period, as well. Here, too, continued investigation by CIPS field teams are scheduled for Y2000.

In February and March of 1999 members of the California Institute for Peruvian Studies returned to the south-central coast to continue site surveys and collections studies. The team was headed by CIPS President Francis A. Riddell, and was composed of archaeologists Richard Brooks, Alina Aparicio, forensic anthropologist Sheilagh Brooks, museum specialist Frances Durocher, and crew members John Schaller, J. Arthur Freed and Nathan Parker. Members of the community of Atiquipa were interviewed for site locations and ethno-historic information on the sites in that locality. The sites of Aiparipa, Jihuay, Quebrada de la Vaca and Taimara were visited and photographs made of architectural features. The local people revealed the location of a "bell rock" near Atiquipa that produces a ringing sound when struck. Local interest suggests that this feature served as a "shrine" in ancient times.

The CIPS field team also made an archaeological site survey of a portion of the Río Santa Lucía (also known as Quebrada Jahuay) which flows into the ocean at Lomas (Schaller, 1999, Archaeological Surveys in the Quebradas Jahuay, Acaville, and Chala and the Atiquipa Region of the South Coast of Peru). Several sites produced sherds of utility ware, and in some instances sherds of Nazca 3 pottery were noted. Due to a high water condition at the time of the survey it was not possible to make a more thorough review of the area.

Two members of the survey team, Schaller and Durocher, made a one-day survey of a segment of the Quebrada de Acaville, a major tributary of the Yauca River. Four sites were recorded, of which one produced Late Acarí pottery sherds. The limited review suggests the four sites were Late Intermediate and/or Late Horizon.

Another team of CIPS/UCSM investigators, Dwight Wallace, Julio Manrique and Alina Aparicio, undertook excavations at Cerrillos, Ica in May and June of 1999 (Wallace, Manrique and Aparicio, 1999, Excavations at Cerrillos, Ica). Wallace had previously excavated here in 1958; the present project was proposed because the original excavation of the earlier material had only tested an area 6 meters square. No data on early Paracas style pottery, at least in such volume, had been obtained in the 40 years since the original excavation. Textile analyses were undertaken by Wallace, Grace Katterman and Oscar Bendazu; the collections are housed in the Museo Regional de Ica (MRI).

With a view of beginning field research in the coming years Catherine Julien (Notes on Field Work in Arequipa, August, 1999), under the auspices of CIPS, made a review of archaeological sites in the Atiquipa region. She had not been in the area since 1972 and wanted to familiarize herself with the recorded and unrecorded sites in the area. She was accompanied by archaeologist Alina Aparicio and student Margaret Enrile. Their first visit was to Quebrada de la Vaca where they made a series of observations and took photos of the present condition of the architecture. Of special interest in going to Quebrada de la Vaca was to see the condition of the qochayuyo (seaweed) growing on the rocks below the tidal surge. It was abundant, thus suggesting that one of the marine products harvested, processed and stored by the Inca at Quebrada de la Vaca was qochayuyo.

The three-person team visited the ruins at Cerro Coco and took photos and notes of vaulted structures, some of which were burial chambers. One had an interior measurement of 1.5x2 m and was located inside a walled patio which, in turn, measured about 4.5x4 m. The roof of the vaulted structure was closed with slabs that span a meter at the most. There was a course of stones above the slabs of the roof and earth above that.

On a clear day the ocean can be seen from the heights of Cerro Coco. Evidence of ancient agriculture was manifested by phantom terraces upon which non-diagnostic pottery fragments were noted.

At Aiparipa more vaulted structures were noted, in one instance some 20 such structures were seen, and five in another group. A dense concentration of structures was made of a relatively fine pink-white granitic material of a better quality and more abundant than seen at Cerro Coco. The structures were rectangular and had rounded interior corners. Some have subterranean cists. A number of mortars and batanes were observed in conjunction with these ruins.

Julien and the two other team members also visited the ruins of Pueblo Viejo with local guide and informant, Juan Segura. The preservation of these ruins is quite remarkable. The architecture is quite similar to that of Quebrada de la Vaca and the other neighboring ruins in this region. At this site, the compounds seem to enclose an open space with a single opening near one end, with vaulted structures at the opposite end. There are subterranean cists within these compounds, or open areas. Some of the enclosures (compounds) have square pillar-footings like those to be found at Quebrada de la Vaca. These pillars appear to have supported roofed areas along the enclosure walls.

Upon their arrival at the site the team found small vaults that were recently opened exposing multiple burials. Abundant textile fragments and cordage were found on the surface, some of cotton and some of wool. At the time of their visit local people were there to collect qochayuyo. Juan Segura stated that people spread the qochayuyo on the ground inside the enclosures to dry.

The team's visit to nearby ruins of Ocopa demonstrated that more detailed work is needed here to fully record the somewhat dispersed architectural features. More vaulted structures were seen, some with adjoining circular enclosures with walls more than 1 m high. Evidence of agriculture was in the form of terraces with associated diversion canals, dams and small reservoirs. Rock shelters were noted, one of which had a stone wall at least 1.5 m high across its opening.

Julien and her team made a brief visit to the Chala valley that included a stop at Chala la Vieja. In the limited amount of time available it was not possible to record the extensive architectural features to be seen in this part of the valley.

Dan Sandweiss, geologist Hal Borns (both University of Maine), and archaeologist Bernardino Ojeda spent several weeks in June 1998 in and around Chivay, on the Colca river in Arequipa Department, with support from the University of Maine Vice-Provost for Research and Graduate Studies and the UMaine Institute for Quaternary Studies. Their goal was to assess the hypothesis that the Chivay obsidian source was ice-covered during the Younger Dryas period (ca.11,000-10,000 14-C years ago). This source was identified by both Richard Burger and Sarah Brooks from a location at about 5000 masl, upslope from the town of Chivay. Excavation of Younger Dryas age deposits at Quebrada Jaguay, on the coast, had found only Alca source (ca. 2850 masl) obsidian even though the Chivay source is a similar distance from Quebrada Jaguay. Had the Chivay source been ice-covered during the early occupation at Quebrada Jaguay, it would be unnecessary to seek more complex explanations for its absence at that site. Field observations in the Colca valley indicated that during the last glaciation, ice reached the town of Chivay, some 1400 below the obsidian outcrop. However, surface exposure age dating currently in process is necessary to determine the timing of ice advances. The team did note that pieces of Chivay source obsidian previously observed in the sediments underlying the town of Chivay were brought there as glacial till rather than by fluvial action.

During June and July of 1999, Dan Sandweiss (University of Maine) resumed excavations at the Early Preceramic fishing site of Quebrada Jaguay (ca. 11,100-7,500 BP) in southern Peru, near Camaná. Financial support for the research came from Dr. Thor Heyerdahl. Field work in the 1996 season showed that Sector II was Terminal Pleistocene in age and included possible post-holes. The recent excavations confirmed the presence of multiple post-holes and other features dating to several moments during the Terminal Pleistocene. The field crew included archaeologist Miguel Cabrera, undergraduate students Arturo Santos (San Marcos University) and Ted McClure (Indiana-Purdue at Fort Wayne), graduate students Ben Tanner (University of Maine) and Fred Andrus (University of Georgia), and field technician Oswaldo Chozo. The field lab was run by archaeologist Julissa Ugarte. Archaeologists Dave Sanger (University of Maine) and Bernardino Ojeda spent several days onsite as part of their related project inspecting early lithic collections in Peru and northern Chile. Ongoing analyses include work on the lithics by Dave Sanger and Ben Tanner; phytolith, starch grain, and pollen analysis by Dolores Piperno (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute); caliche analysis by Fred Andrus; faunal analyses by Heather McInnis (University of Oregon), Elizabeth Reitz (University of Georgia), and Fred Andrus; and radiocarbon dating of bulk samples by Howard Melville (Jaan Terasmae Radiocarbon Laboratory, Brock University). Bruce Smith (Smithsonian Institution) has recently completed study of three Early Holocene gourd fragments uncovered during the 1996 season.

The 17^th Annual Northeast Conference on Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory was organized by Bill Isbell and held at Binghamton University on October 17-18, 1998. The conference website is no longer available.