Photos

Taken from the same circular building as my previous photo of Marcahuamachuco, this picture shows an interesting process. While this may seem like a typical guided tour of an amazing, large mountaintop archaeological site, it is anything but. My M.A. supervisor, John R. Topic (wearing the white hat) and his wife (who wasn't with us this trip) are the archaeologists who have really studied this site in more recent times (in the 1980s). By mapping it, studying the architecture, and doing some excavation, they were able to show that this was an early, major ceremonial site, which influenced Huari as much as it was influenced by Huari. This has given the people of Huamachuco great pride, and the Topics became virtual celebrities in the town. Everyone knew my supervisor, and if he wasn't with me then I just needed to tell someone who I was a student of, and they would be impressed. John and his wife were awarded the town medal this year, too.

Anyway, I am rambling. This is not a guided tour, because this is not a touristy site. Yet. Few foreigners visit the site. More Peruvians do. In either case, they are on their own. There is no admission, no guest centre, no signs, nothing. One group from Huamachuco wants to change that, improve the road into the site, set up a guest centre and museum, and encourage more people to visit this incredible site. This group had a tour of the site from my supervisor, one of the people who knows the most about it, and he advised them on various things which could be done, what should be left untouched, etc. Here the group is sitting, having a rest and a snack, before heading back to the cars, and down into town for lunch. Since John was only speaking Spanish to the group (none of whom spoke English), and my Spanish was really awful at that early point of my trip, I just wandered around and took photos...

(Disculpe por no escribé en español. ¡No se como dige todo lo esto!)