Chavín de Huantar

Chavín, Ancash Region, Peru
Jun to Aug 2017

Joint Engineering & archaeology field season

WEBSITE
 

Professor John Rick has been excavating the prehistoric cult center of Chavín de Huantar in the Andes Mountains north of Lima for decades. During his work he has identified many technical problems facing the site. He did not have the right team to address these issues until 2016 when he brought a cohort of engineering students down to join his archaeologists. The program showed such promise that it has continued, and I joined the 2017 cohort to pick up where the previous students had left off.

Natural Disasters

The site of Chavín de Huantar was deliberately situated at the intersection of a powerful river and a major landslide channel in an earthquake-prone part of the world. In fact, the river was artificially diverted by the original builders. Furthermore, the mountain flanking the site is moving measurably closer each year. Purportedly, all this was done by the original builders to show their visitors their power over the natural world. Unfortunately, today that means that this archaeological wonder is at risk of sudden annihilation in a major earthquake, landslide, or flood, which have historically caused the collapse of the original society, loss of significant artifacts, and erosion of half of a major structure, respectively.

The risk of disaster is thus well-known, but not well-understood. As the site is uncovered, it is made vulnerable, and it is not at all clear how effective current river management and seismic retrofitting efforts actually are.

River Management
Write-up (PDF)

In the wake of the last major flood, concrete retaining walls were installed along the river bank. These have already been partially destroyed by a smaller flood. There is no hydrological baseline for the Mosna River, and there is at best a qualitative understanding of its flood potential. Principled river management techniques need to be employed to characterize the river such that management recommendations can be made. One other student and I worked together to measure a baseline stage and discharge of the river near the site using the modest equipment we had available.

Mortar Analysis
Write-up (PDF)

The original mortar is old, but beyond that it is subject to many different microclimates throughout the site's underground galleries. Some galleries are moist and stagnant, some are dry, some cycle between the two extremes, and several have an incredible amount of salt crystallizing on the walls. The effects all these factors have on the mortar are unknown, and they need to be understood before seismic retrofitting recommendations can be made. I worked to begin understanding the mechanical properties of the mortar throughout the site to establish methods and direction for future work on the topic.

Culture

No Chavín locals spoke any English (only Spanish and the native language of Quechua), and I was armed with only high school French and five weeks of Duo Lingo Spanish. Luckily some of the other students were excellent interpreters, but after a few weeks immersed in Andean culture I was able to fend for myself most of the time. The town moved slowly, and business were open sporadically. Restaurants and shops felt like the neighbors' houses (because they were), and there was more of a mutual respect between patrons and staff that is often lacking in the US. Beyond that, children and animals played in the streets, small bills were preferred, and pisco sours flowed freely at the bar down the street.