Continuity and Change in the Peruvian North Highlands: Current Research in the Cajamarca Region

The pioneering work of Henri and Paule Reichlen in 1947 highlighted the importance of the Cajamarca region in the Andean cultural landscape, from the Archaic and Formative periods to the Inca occupation. Since then, archaeologists and ethnohistorians have added considerably to our understanding of cultural development in Cajamarca and regional interactions between Cajamarca and neighboring areas. This symposium focuses on recent investigations and ongoing projects in an effort to bring together and flesh out the current state of the archaeology of the Cajamarca region, including both the Cajamarca Tradition and its antecedents. It also seeks to look at Cajamarca archaeology both within the northern highlands and in regions with which Cajamarca was in contact. Recent investigations and themes may include, but are not limited to, the development of new models of social organization and development in the northern highlands, issues of ethnicity and social identity, local and interregional interaction, cuisine and class, mortuary patterns, artistic expression and identity, and production and consumption within and between Cajamarca communities.