The Batan Grande-La Leche Archaeological Project: the First Two Seasons

Abstract

Batan Grande, occupying an area of some 55 sq. km. in the small coastal valley of La Leche in North Peru, is known as a mecca of grave looting that has yielded a considerable quantity of gold funerary artifacts. These destructive clandestine operations have not only prevented serious fieldwork but also effectively obscured the complexity and significance of archaeological remains that include nearly 50 extensive cemeteries and massive adobe constructions that together span some 2,500 years since the Formative period (ca. 1300 B.C.). Since 1978, the multi-year, interdisciplinary Princeton University Batan Grande-La Leche Project has been carrying out intensive field work with principal research interests in (a) evaluating the role of organized religion in cultural development, (b) establishing a regional chronology, (c) elucidating cultural interaction during the problematical Middle Horizon Period (ca. 600–1000 A.C.), and (d) documenting systemic relationships between cultural and natural processes. This paper presents the major results and interdisciplinary research strategies of the first two seasons as well as a model of the Batan Grande burial and religious tradition.