Position and Home Institution

Director of International Research, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA

Research Interests

Complex societies, particularly the relationships between power, ideology and economy. The politics of archaeology with special emphasis on the Middle East and Andean South America. The interaction and use of science in archaeology with keen interest in textile dyes.

Research Summary

The Tarapaca area in Chile contains extensive and diverse archaeological remains in one the driest regions of South America. The valley is located at the heart of the Pampa del Tamarugal (Atacama Desert), approximately 100 kilometers north-east of Iquique, a modern city of 200,000. The Tarapaca area is a beautiful desert oases with a classic southern Andean river cutting through the desert. The area is also home to one of the densest concentration of ancient landscape art anywhere in south America– forming both anthropomorphic and geometric designs in various scales, from miniature rock art to geoglyphs covering entire hillsides. The Tarapaca Archaeological Project is a multi national research project and has its field headquarters at San Lorenzo de Tarapaca, the colonial capital of the Tarapaca region.

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