Life Outside the Temple: Chavín de Huántar and Its People

Archaeologists Dr. Matthew Sayre and Dr. Silvana Rosenfeld of High Point University will discuss their project investigating the emergence of institutionalized social inequality through the lens of ritual practice at Chavín de Huántar, a major Formative Period site in the central Andes of Peru (ca. 1500–200 BCE). While the monumental core of Chavín has long been recognized as a ceremonial and political center, their research focuses on the domestic sector of La Banda, located across the Mosna River from the temple. Through archaeological excavation and material analysis, the project explores the relationships between ritual production, economic provisioning, and social differentiation. Preliminary findings suggest that La Banda residents were involved in crafting symbolic and ritual paraphernalia for use in the ceremonial core, providing a unique opportunity to study bottom-up processes in early complex societies. By integrating analyses of domestic architecture, ceramics, botanical and faunal remains, and craft production, the research seeks to reconstruct intra- and inter-household variability and assess patterns of inequality in a formative context.
This lecture is sponsored by the WFU Department of Anthropology, Latin American and Latino Studies, and Cultural Heritage and Preservation Studies. Admission is free.

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