Archaeology Dig 2007: Marcajirca, Peru

The third season of excavations of the Huari-Ancash Archaeological and BioArchaeological Project is scheduled to run next summer between 15th July and 15th August, 2007. Run by Bebel Ibarra of the University of Paris I, the excavations are focused on the funeral aspects, ancestral cults and the relationship of sites such as Marcajirca with Chavín de Huántar in the Puccha Valley of Peru. Most of the investigations to date have focused on the Late Intermediate Period (1200-1400 AD) with emphasis on the cemetery area, including above-ground tombs (called chullpas), caves and rockshelters. As a result the project has a strong bioarchaeological component as well, and includes DNA analysis, ethnohistoric research, and radiocarbon dating for information about ethnicity, family relationships and chronology of the tombs and their occupants.

The excavation will run for three weeks, with a fourth week in the lab. For more information, contact Bebel Ibarra, or see the Huari-Ancash project website.

• Huari-Ancash Archaeological and BioArchaeological Project blog, for more information and photographs of the previous season's fieldwork
• South American Digs, other ongoing research in South America
• Chavín de Huántar
• Archaeology of Peru

This photograph is of twin chullpas (tombs) at the site of Marcajirca, and is copyright and courtesy Bebel Ibarra.