Time May Change Heritage, but We Can Trace Time: Changes in the Archaeological Heritage of the Cañete Valley (Peru) between the1960s and Today

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Cultural heritage worldwide is at immediate risk, ranging from minor damage to the complete disappearance of archaeological sites. The causal factors underlying risk increase include human environmental impacts, such as urban expansion and agricultural growth. This problem is critical in Peru, where the Ministry of Culture has identified the existence of 25,000 archaeological sites (2020). However, it is difficult for Peruvian public institutions to monitor sites’ up-to-date preservation and protection status due to budget constraints and limited technical capacity. For this reason, we conducted relevant research using remote sensing data in the Cañete valley (Lima, Peru). First, we used aerial images of Cañete taken in the 1960s to locate the presence of archaeological sites in the area and observe their preservation status at that moment. We georeferenced these aerial images using the ArcGIS Pro software. We then compared the quality of the archaeological sites in the area in the 1960s and today, to characterize the presence of risk factors. We assessed the rate of destruction of the archaeological sites identified in the area. This study provides information on the preservation status of archaeological sites in this region and contributes to Peru’s national action plan to protect its cultural heritage.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37629.0