Below, you can read quick synopses of some of my past, present, and future research projects. Just follow the associated links to learn more!
Exploring the Chaupiyunga: An Andean Borderland
Nestled between the soaring peaks of the Andes mountains and the wide coastal plains adjacent to the Pacific Ocean, the chaupiyunga zones are landscapes defined by being between. These same chaupiyungas were also shaped by families, communities, and polities who struggled and excelled in adapting to and taking advantage of their borderland home between the highlands and the coast. My dissertation research focused on the chaupiyungas of the Moche Valley to explore the archaeological, historical, and ethnographic records of the people who called – and still call – this region home.
Click here to learn more about the chaupiyungas of the Moche Valley.
Landscapes of the Moche Valley: From the Past to the Present
The Moche Valley in northern Peru has a deep past that is full of people. In the Andean foothills, the boulders of Quirihuac rock shelter (~10,000 BCE) served as the seasonal camps of some of the earliest settlers of South America. Down-valley and on the Pacific coastline, the UNESCO World Heritage site and ancient urban and palatial center at Chan Chan (~900 – 1450s CE) was the center of the powerful Kingdom of Chimor that rivaled the Inka Empire. Hundreds of other archaeological sites dot this landscape and countless more have been destroyed or buried by subsequent modern – and ancient – settlement in the region. For over a decade, I have spearheaded the Moche Valley Settlement Database (MVSD): an initiative focused on synthesizing a host of archaeological and historical surveys and censuses in and around the Moche Valley and its adjacent highland regions.
Click here to learn more about the Moche Valley and the MVSD.
Future Research Projects
I am currently a consultant or Principal Investigator (PI) on three additional research projects that I will be working on more closely in the future. In collaboration with Dr. Alicia Boswell (University of California, Santa Barbara), Dr. Michele Koons (Denver Museum of Nature and Science), and Dr. Gabriella Cervantes (University of Pittsburgh), I worked in 2022 as the GIS and Aerial Imagery consultant for a long-term project investigating the ancient landscapes of the Vicus in the Upper Piura region of northern Peru. In collaboration with Dr. Amedeo Sghinolfi (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières), I have been working as the Co-PI of the Carabamba Archaeological Research Project (CARP) that will explore the prehistory of some of the fortified communities of the Carabamba Highlands that would have ruled the local highlands during the height of the Kingdom of Chimor. Finally, my most recent research project is a pilot historical and archaeological investigation of the African diaspora and indigenous communities associated with the Hacienda de Menocucho (~1600s – 1800s CE) in the chaupiyunga of the Moche Valley.