This is the crew posing at Upanca. I'm in the back with the goofy hat on and looking really
short. That's Jelmer Eerkens from UC Davis in the front, first on the left, looking very
macho. After Jelmer is Aldo Noriega, Roberto Quispe, Moises Linares, Oswaldo and Pedro.

Welcome to the Proyecto Nasca
Temprano webpage. Thanks to the
support of the National Science Foun-
dation(click here to see the abstract
of the NSF grant) and the H. John
Heinz III Fund Grant Program for
Latin American Archaeology, I have
been directing the Proyecto Nasca
Temprano, or Early Nasca Craft Econ-
omy Project as it is also known, since
the summer of 2002. By directing the
project, I seek to understand the
complexities of Early Nasca (circa.
A.D. 1-450) ceramic production,
distribution, and consumption - what I
refer to as the "Nasca Craft
Economy." It is my working hypoth-
esis that polychrome pottery was an
important source of power for Early
Nasca elites as it was the vehicle for
Nasca ideology. Recent research
(Vaughn 2004; Vaughn and Neff
2000; Vaughn et al. 2006) has suggested that the pottery was produced in specialized contexts.

I also hypothesize that the distribution
of that pottery was done in feasting
and ceremonies at the ceremonial
center Cahauachi.

This project involves two interrelated
but separate objectives:

1) To conduct a raw material survey
of clays and mineral pigments to de-
termine the variability of raw
materials in the Nasca region that
were available to ancient Nasca potters. Please click here for more
information about this aspect of the
project.

2) To conduct excavations at selected
Early Nasca sites to determine the
extent to which people were con-
suming polychrome pottery. Please
click here for more information about
this aspect of the project.

I have been working with very tal-
ented and dedicated archaeologists in
Peru. My co-director is Moises David
Linares Grados, Licenciatura from the
Universidad de San Marcos in Lima.
Other members of the project
included Aldo Noriega Gutierrez,
Enrique Narcisso Belota, Roberto
Quispe, Laly Ahon Zevallos, Jose
Luis Nuñez, Fiorela Vento, Lurica
Hayakawa, Gonzalo Valencia and Jose Sereveleon (see pictures below).

Jelmer Eerkens (UC Davis) worked with us in 2002 and 2006. In 2004, Gabi Brockman and Ryan Snodgrass of PLU participated in the project. In 2006, Matthew Edwards and Stefanie Bautista (both from UCSB) joined us, and in 2007 Sarah Cross and Matt Taylor from Purdue were on the project.

 

Crew for the Proyecto Nasca Temprano
(2002) standing in front of our house in
Nasca. From left to right: Roberto Quispe,
Enrique Narcisso, Laly Ahon Zevallos,
Moises Linares Grados, Kevin Vaughn, and
Aldo Noriega Gutierrez.

Crew for the Proyecto Nasca Temprano (2004) standing in front of Formative site
Higosñoc in the Las Trancas Valley. From left to right: Moises Linares, Gabi Brockman,
Ryan Snodgrass, Fiorela Vento, Jose Luis Nuñez, Jose Sereveleon, Roberto Quispe, Jose
and Federico Garcia (kneeling).