Moche Foodways Archaeological Project Homepage
Beginning in 1997 and continuing through the summer of 2000, Dr. George Gumerman from Northern Arizona University, his students, and Peruvian colleagues have focused archaeological research on the awe-inspiring site of El Brujo. The El Brujo Site Complex is located in the Chicama River valley about 50 kilometers north of Trujillo on the North Coast of Peru. Excavations in 1997 at Ciudad de Dios and Santa Rosa-Quirihuac, can now be compared to our ongoing explorations at El Brujo, a Moche political and ceremonial center. Surrounding the two principal Moche pyramids of Huaca Cao Viejo and Huaca Cortada are numerous habitation areas where prehistoric inhabitants lived and worked. These habitation areas are the current focus of archaeological excavations.
The air photo below shows the principal features of the El Brujo Site Complex, primarily the huacas (adobe pyramids) and other topographic features that make up the geographic and environmental landscape. Click on the smaller insert pictures for more details of excavations in four different areas of El Brujo.
Desiccated corn, beans, and peanuts, as well as fish, small mammals and birds, attest to the prosperity of El Brujo's prehistoric farming and fishing populations and to the incredible preservation of organic material found along the North Coast. In 1998, two Northern Arizona University Masters students were able to examine these well preserved faunal and botanical remains to define changes in prehistoric diet over time (see Graduate Research Projects). The overall research objectives of the Moche Foodways Archaeological Project are to explore the nature of El Brujo habitation areas with an emphasis on defining how the Moche lived and worked at the site.
The El Brujo Site Complex has received considerable archaeological attention including the pioneering research of Junius Bird in 1946. Bird's research at El Brujo aided in defining the Preceramic Period for the Andes and drew attention to the antiquity of sedentary coastal settlements. The ongoing research at El Brujo is especially valuable because of close collaboration with our experienced Peruvian colleagues and workmen who have excavated at El Brujo for years.
