ARTS 1332
Archaeology in the Northern Peruvian Andes is not only about the past—it is about how memory continues to live in bodies, territories, and everyday practices. In this talk, I draw on more than a decade of research and community-based work in Cajamarca. I examine urban and community-centered archaeological projects developed in collaboration with local governments and residents, highlighting how archaeological practice participates in the construction of local and regional identities. I also explore my collaborative work with master artisan weavers and other knowledge keepers, foregrounding textiles and embodied practices as critical modes of transmitting memory, knowledge, and identity beyond written archives. I argue for an archaeology grounded in practice—one that seeks to challenge hierarchies of knowledge by recognizing community expertise as central to research, interpretation, identity-making, and shared authority.