Interpreting the Colonial Experience at Magdalena de Cao Viejo, Chicama Valley, Peru, 1578-1770

FAIN: RZ-51150-10

President and Fellows of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA 02138-3800)
Jeffrey Quilter (Project Director: November 2009 to April 2017)

Analysis and interpretation of artifacts and other remains recovered from previous excavations at a colonial period town and church complex in Peru. (24 months)

The proposed project will analyze the extensive, varied, and rich collection of artifacts and other remains recovered from archaeological investigations in 2004-2008, at an early Colonial Period town and church complex in Peru. The research will concentrate on key aspects of the site and collection (chronology, architecture, subsistence & technology, bioanthropology, dress & textiles, ceramics) to investigate the daily lives of indigenous peoples forced to live under Spanish rule. This research offers a different perspective on the Colonial Period, the Early Modern Era, Colonialism, and other topics and issues previously available primarily through the writings of the ruling classes. Our work will help to understand the lived experiences of indigenous people and how they resisted, accommodated, and hybridized practices and beliefs of European colonizers.