July 16th - Acari and the world without internet

Hello faithful blog readers,

I'm so happy to be in a place where I can finally write. I've been in places with little or no internet since leaving Arequipa, and now I'm in Nazca again where computers make good communication devices again (as opposed to planters or paperweights). But, I'm getting ahead of myself....

In Arequipa our last day of class was Friday the 8th. We finished up mounting a few prized textiles from the Puerto Viejo site and then set out for a last quick lunch with Kate before bidding her a sad goodbye. She's off to dig in Italy instead, so we're not feeling bad for her - just for ourselves. She was great company. Saturday was a free day, and then on Saturday night we all packed up and climbed on a night bus to Puerto Inca. The bus left at 10pm or so, and we rode until just before 5am on a very comfy, cushy, swanky double decker bus. The seats reclined almost fully, and there were footrests and the bus was even heated. In fact, it was so heated that the temperature climbed to over 80 degrees at 2 in the morning. We had all dressed thinking we'd freeze, so it was an interesting striptease on the bus as everyone tried to shed as much as they could get away with. The temperature finally went back down a bit, and we slept and arrived bleary-eyed in Chala, with just a 15 minute ride in a collectivo to get us to Puerto Inca where we met up with another group of archaeology students who are working up in Acari.

Puerto Inca is a beach side resort in an area rich with archaeological sites. We had a blast. The waves crashed on the beach just below the hotel, and we spent Sunday hiking through some great sites. On Monday we set out for Tambo Viejo, a large site on the coast with extensive walls, storage facilities, and graveyard. After driving north for half an hour, then off road for 20 minutes or so, then hiking in another 20 minutes through sand dunes and wind carved canyons, we came to the site. It was really interesting, and best of all, we were with the archaeologists who work that site and helped to gather textiles of interest from the looted gravesite area. The textiles were interesting, but the bones are so much moreso. The huaqueros steal the things they consider valuable from the tombs and scatter the contents all over the sand, so we were climbing into the tombs and sifting through what remained to find representative or diagnostic examples of their work. After an hour or so of this, we had to head back for lunch, so we hiked back and climbed in for the ride home. However, our hopes of arriving soon were soon sunk in the sand, along with the rear axle of our van. We spent two hours digging and placing rocks for traction and pushing and getting 6 inches further and repeating the whole process until finally we were back on something that would hold. It was an interesting study in group dynamics as the peruvian driver, two seasoned archaeologists, an NASA engineer and assorted gringos all offered their strategies for moving the van. Eventually it all worked out and we made it back to Puerto Inca about 4pm, really dirty, really hungry, and really ready for lunch. Thankfully they had held it for us and we dived in with gusto.

The next morning we piled into the van again and headed up to Acari, which is a little more than 2 hours up the coast and then inland a bit on a road that is so bad the locals drive over the hardpacked dirt alongside it instead. Acari is a tiny mining town at the foot of a giant sand dune and at the tip of a moist river valley extending down from the mountains. There are two tiny hotels in town - we're occupying Hostal Pepe. It's basic to say the least, with simple rooms, an open air courtyard, shared bathrooms and electric showers. We arrived and the other group gave us a tour and instructions on how to shower without electrocuting yourself and we spent the rest of Tuesday settling in. In the evening we walked over to where the third archaeology group, the osteologists, are staying. They have a large international group - 16 students or so - and seem well organized and very interesting. The textile team is here to work on the textiles from their site, and on Wednesday we did just that, sorting, straightening, and noting the exceptional pieces.

On Thursday we went out to the site. The central portion dates to about 400ad, with a graveyard behind which is more like 1400ad or so (dates may be updated in a later blog). We had a site tour and then set to work, with Miriam in a pit with a mummy and Francesca and I scavenging through the looted graveyard area for textiles. The richness of this site was absolutely incredible. There were bones and textiles and bits of pottery litterally all over the place. We ended up working on hands and knees because every time I put my hand beneath the sand it touched something of interest. It was extraordinary. We collected the interesting pieces into a pile - since it's been looted there's no context anymore so pieces can be picked up and moved around. After a picnic lunch in the field we finished the day by prioritizing the pile and doing our best to fit the pieces we wanted into the few bags we had available. The pieces were all brought home and we spent Friday spreading them out and cataloging them. We have a fully intact shirt from a pre-Incan child, several other shirt fragments, several interesting examples of various weaving tecniques, three small coca leaf bags, and a very large blanket with interesting and elaborate mending on it, amongst other pieces. Next week Francesca and I will be working on cleaning it all up, flattening it, and documenting the really important pieces in the afternoons. In the morning, we'll be returning to the dig. It's going to be great.

This weekend, we're in Nazca. Which is why I finally have internet. I'm not sure when I'll be back on, but individual e-mails are working better than the blog on the satelite connection from Acari, so if you want to find me, write to my earthlink address.

I hope everyone is having a great summer. I'm having an amazing time down here and I'm learning a lot. I'll write again as soon as I can.

Karen