Archaeology and History at Sta. Magdalena de Cao Viejo: Cultural Encounters at a 16th Century Church & Town in Northern Peru

FAIN: RZ-50423-05

President and Fellows of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA 02138-3800)
Jeffrey Quilter (Project Director: November 2004 to June 2010)

Three major field seasons at the site accompanied by analysis and writing. (36 months)

We will investigate the ruins of a church and town, Magdalena de Cao Viejo, in northern coastal Peru, occupied ca. 1566-1609 when the seeds of modern Peru began to sprout as the conquest period waned and the colonial period began. We will combine archaeological and archival studies to complement and inform each other. No research of this kind has been done before and little is known in the Andes of the everyday lives of people at this critical time. The exceptional preservation qualities of the coastal desert combined with a short occupation span further enhance this unique opportunity to study an important example of how two foreign cultures met, interacted, and transformed into a new phenomenon.