Session 1: May 17 - June 27 Choose between one of the two following concentrations: 1. Excavation-Intensive Field School 2. Laboratory-Intensive Field School APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED! We now have a rolling deadline for Sessions 2 and 3. New applications will be reviewed as they are received. | 
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Welcome to the 2012 PIARA Archaeological Field School at Hualcayán Join
PIARA this summer for one of three exciting archaeological field school sessions in
the spectacular Andean highlands of Peru! You will live and work in the rural Quechua
village of Hualcayán (located in the Huaylas province of Ancash) and as part of the field school you will travel to other important archaeological sites and museums in three cities and
see stunning natural features likes high altitude lagoons and glaciers. In 2011, sixty-two students completed the PIARA archaeological field school at Hualcayán. These students came from all over the world including the United States, Canada, England, Venezuela, and Australia. In addition, thirty-one Peruvian archaeology students from UNASAM university in Huaraz and two from San Marcos University in Lima did practicum training at Hualcayán, and five UNASAM students completed their final year projects with PIARA. Hualcayán is a large archaeological complex situated in the northern Callejón de Huaylas valley, located in the highland Andes of north-central Peru. This valley is formed by two prominent mountain ranges on either side of the Santa River: the glaciated Cordillera Blanca to the east and the Cordillera Negra to the west. Hualcayan is situated in the Cordillera Blanca, below the famous Alpamayo mountain peak in the Parque Nacional del Huascarán, a UNESCO World Heritage Site protected for its extreme beauty and rare ecosystem. PIARA invites students to come experience this amazing landscape, its people, and its ancient past.
PIARA History and Research Objectives In 2011, PIARA had its biggest excavation season to date at Hualcayán, and we will continue this investigation during the 2012 field school. Our recent data indicate that Hualcayán was a place for habitation, religious ceremonies and mortuary rites for more than two thousand years, from the late Formative or “Early Horizon” Period (900-200 BC) to the Late Horizon (AD 1450-1532). A primary focus of the current study is focused on Perolcoto, the oldest confirmed ritual sector at Hualcayán, dating at least as early as the Early Horizon. Although cultural traditions changed dramatically after the Formative Period, this sector continued to be used as ritual space throughout the subsequent Huarás and Recuay cultural phases until the end of the Early Intermediate Period (~AD 600). Perolcoto consists of a large ceremonial platform mound and several plazas that are associated with stone terraces and canals. During the 2012 field season we will continue excavations in these features to understand how and when this early ceremonial and agricultural landscape was constructed and what religious and economic significance it held for ancient Hualcainos. Hualcayán also has over one hundred tombs in the Perolcoto, Panchucuchu and Ichic Tzacpa sectors, and although many are looted, 2011 excavations revealed a great deal of skeletal, textile, ceramic and botanical data that we are using to reconstruct mortuary practices in the Early Intermediate (AD 1-600), Middle Horizon (AD 600-1000) and Late Intermediate (AD 100-1450) periods. In addition to providing skeletal data for the analysis of ancient health and lifestyles, these tombs provide important insight into the changing beliefs about the afterlife in a single community over an extended period of time. In 2012, we will continue bioarchaeological excavations in Early Intermediate Period tombs intrusive to the Formative Period mound in Perolcoto as well as Middle Horizon and Late Intermediate Period mountainside tombs in the Ichic Tzapa sector. We will also begin excavations in the Panchucuchu household sector this year with the aim to document domestic practices and reconstruct the ancient Hualcayan community structure through time. Field School Activities Students will choose to enroll in the excavation-intensive component or the laboratory-intensive component of their session. Living and working together at Hualcayán allows students enrolled in either component to participate in all aspects of fieldwork and labwork. This arrangement will enable a constant communication between field and lab students for comprehensive training in the collection, processing and analysis of archaeological data. Students will complete a final project in which field-intensive and lab-intensive students collaborate in groups to present their findings after combining the architectural and artifact data they processed from a single excavation unit at Hualcayán. The end result will demonstrate to students how each component of archaeological fieldwork in the field and laboratory is designed to answer specific research questions about ancient Hualcayán. Field school students enrolled in either concentration will participate in lectures and hands-on demonstrations both on site and in the laboratory. Weekly assigned readings and lectures as a group will provide introductory knowledge on Andean prehistory as well as PIARA's research objectives. Excavation-Intensive Component The
Excavation-Intensive Component involves four complete weeks in the
field conducting excavations, one week of laboratory training, and one
week of travel to archaeological sites, museums, and natural features at
the beginning and end of the field school. Laboratory-Intensive Component The Laboratory-Intensive Component involves four complete weeks conducting artifact analysis and other laboratory skills, one week of excavation training, and one week of travel to archaeological sites, museums, and natural features at the beginning and end of the field school. What You Will Learn All
students will receive training in both the Series 1 and Series 2
activities listed below. Field-intensive students will receive in-depth
training and experience in Series 1 topics and participate in workshops
for the activities listed in Series 2. Lab-intensive students will
receive in-depth training and experience in Series 2 topics and
participate in workshops for the activities listed in Series 1. Instructional Series 1 (Field activities)
Instructional Series 2 (Laboratory activities)
Schedule of Activities You will fly into Lima the day your session begins. Depending on what time you fly in, this day can be spent relaxing, acclimating to your new environment, or exploring the Miraflores neighborhood on your own. The second day we will spend in Lima visiting the Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología e Historia del Perú and the archaeological site Pachacamac as well as shopping for any last minute necessities. To kick off the field season we will also treat you to a large banquet-style lunch at El Bolivariano where students can try virtually every typical Peruvian dish. We will spend the third day busing to Caraz (10 hours, located at 2285 m/7497 ft) and the fourth day students will visit the Preceramic ritual mound of Tumshukayko, attend an artifact identification workshop in the Caraz Museum, and have time to explore the busy Sunday market before heading up to Hualcayán on day five (1.5 hours from Caraz, located at 3150 m /10,335 ft). Caraz is a beautifully preserved colonial town with a pleasant atmosphere and warm climate. Caraz is known for it's bakeries, sweets, and ice cream, and there are pharmacies and internet cafes to do last minute shopping and emailing before heading to Hualcayán. In Caraz you will experience the coming together of rural and city life: people from the surrounding countryside come down to Caraz daily to sell their goods in the local market. All field and laboratory activities will take place within the small village of Hualcayán. We will work Monday through Friday each week between 8 am and 4:30 pm with an hour break for lunch, and Saturdays will be half days from 9 am to 1 pm, often dedicated to workshops. We will have a cook who serves breakfast at 7 am and dinner at 7 pm each day. Sundays will be a day of rest to do as you please, such as hike to nearby natural or archaeological features, wash clothes, watch or play soccer games in the plaza, watch movies, or just read and relax. At the end of the project we will have a party featuring a pachamanca feast, a traditional Andean-style barbecue cooked in an earth oven with hot stones. This will give you an opportunity to thank community members for their hospitality and celebrate all the hard work accomplished! After this we will take a 3 day mini tour of the region as a group. We will visit the beautiful Lagunas Llanganuco and the monumental archaeological site of Chavín de Huántar. We will also visit the Archaeological Museum in Huaraz and the thermal mineral baths and swimming pools of Monterrey. We will use the Ancash capital of Huaraz as our base during this break, where there is exciting nightlife and a wide and eccentric range of bars and restaurants with local and international food as well as several cafes. Huaraz is always filled with adventure travelers from all over the world, and you will have some free time to explore the city. We will have an end-of-season celebration in Huaraz with alpaca burgers at Creperie Patrick.Room and Board Arrangements Hualcayán
is a traditional rural Quechua community totaling around
300 people, composed of bilingual Quechua/Spanish-speaking farmers
growing quinoa, potatoes, beans and wheat, and raising animals such as
pigs, cows, chickens
and guinea pigs (called cuy).
The community has generously provided
us
space in their concrete, brick and adobe community building (within
a five
minute walk from the archaeological site) which will serve as our home,
kitchen, classroom (with projector) and some laboratory activities. We
will have access to flush toilets and luke-warm electric showers to be
used on a rotating basis. All
participants are required to bring their own sleeping
bag and sleeping mat for the floor. Hualcayan has a beautiful view of the Callejón de Huaylas valley,
and has several other archaeological and natural features within a short
walking distance from the village including a waterfall, and students are encouraged to explore the area. Chores in Hualcayan will rotate and include helping our cook prepare dinner, dishwashing, boiling water, getting lunch ready for the field, and sweeping. Participants must be willing to live in close quarters with others and have a general attitude of cooperation...and be willing to have fun while working hard! In the evenings at Hualcayán we will have a movie projector and a wide array of movies and shows to choose from. We also have a courtyard where you can socialize. Notice: this is not your typical hotel-stay field project! You will be living in the heart of a traditional Quechua community in a rural setting so be ready for a true cultural experience. No internet will be available to students except in emergency situations; however, occasional email updates will be sent out to friends and family. Prior Spanish or Quechua language training will enrich this experience, but this is not a requirement. Cost Session 1: May 17 – June 27 $2850 (six weeks) Session 2: July 5 - August 15 $2850 (six weeks) Session 3: August 23 - Sept 30 $2750 (five and a half weeks) PIARA is proud to remain one of the most economical field schools per week while including as part of its fee many extra experiences seldom offered as part of a field school. The PIARA program fee includes not only archaeological field training, but university course credits, travel within Peru to important archaeological landmarks and museums in three different cities, and all hotels stays while traveling to these destinations. Fees include:
PIARA Field School Scholarships The PIARA Field School Scholarship is now available to outstanding student applicants who are accepted into any of the three field school sessions in 2012. These awards will be based on the student's brief scholarship essay and their overall academic performance as reflected in their letter of recommendation and GPA. Financial need will also be considered, however academic promise will most heavily weigh decisions. Students enrolled full-time in a college or university from any country are eligible for this scholarship. Successful applicants will receive one of two available $1000 scholarships or one of four available $500 scholarships. To be considered for either of these scholarships, please fill out the optional essay section found at the end of the application for the 2012 PIARA Archaeological Field School at Hualcayan. A phone interview may also be requested of top candidates before final selection is made. Scholarship recipients will be notified between March 26th-30th. Students receiving this award will be required to mail in official transcripts at a later date. The
Archaeological Institute of America also offers a few competitive
scholarships for field school participants: http://www.archaeological.org/grants/708, and PIARA applicants are encouraged to apply.
Also, please inquire within your own university about summer research travel funding; deadlines for competitions often occur in early spring. How To Apply Applicants must be at least 18 years or older and have successfully completed one year of full-time college or university studies to apply. 1. Download, fill out, and email the application form. All applications, recommendations, and unofficial transcripts must be sent electronically to field school director Rebecca Bria at info@piaraperu.org. APPLICATION DEADLINE EXTENDED! The original March 20 priority deadline has past, and we now have a rolling deadline. New applications will be reviewed as they are received. Sessions are filling up, so apply today! Completing steps 1-3 by March 20 will
ensure your application is considered for a spot in the field school.
Notifications of acceptance for students applying by March 20 will go out by March 26, and late applicants will hear about their acceptance within a week's time. PIARA may request a phone interview with applicants before acceptance. If you are
accepted, completing Step 4 will secure your place in the field school. You
may send in your application before your recommendation has been sent
in by your professor, but please contact your recommender well in
advance so they have time to meet the March 20 deadline. Incomplete
applications cannot be considered for the initial selection process but will be put on a waiting list until all of the student's materials are received. Applicants wishing to apply to the
field school after the March 20 deadline may do so, but will be put on a
waiting list if a session is listed as FULL. Please check this webpage for updates: once a
session is listed as CLOSED, please do not send in application
materials for that session. Space is limited in the program, so be sure to apply early. Students and recent graduates in archaeology or anthropology will be given priority but students from other disciplines and non-student applicants are also welcome to apply. For all participants applying by March 20, the final balance is due by April 25,
2012. To complete this payment, click here. Extensions to this deadline will be made only in special
cases if financial aid arrangements delay funds. Such a case must be
discussed with PIARA director Rebecca Bria in advance of the deadline or you risk loosing your spot in the field school. If any late applicants are notified of acceptance after March 26, they must send their deposit within seven days of
acceptance and their final payment within four weeks of acceptance. If you already have
significant
excavation
experience and would like to volunteer as a crew chief, please send an
email to Rebecca Bria at
rebecca.e.bria@vanderbilt.edu
describing your interest along with your
CV and
the name, email and phone number of a reference who can speak to your
prior
experience in the field. Crew chief positions will be offered at the discretion of the project
director. All application materials are required to be submitted electronically to info@piaraperu.org. However, general correspondence may also be directed to: Rebecca E. Bria, PIARA Director |
All PIARA artwork, photos, and web and flier designs are copyright
© Rebecca E. Bria.
