‘Delighted to have successfully completed the first season of the ‘Proyecto de Investigación Arqueológica Ayacucho-Huamanga (PIAYAH)/ 50 años después: Ayacucho y los orígenes de la interacción entre humanos, plantas y animales en los Andes’. This project is a collaborative initiative involving LASTJOURNEY, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), and Universidad Nacional de San Cristóbal de Huamanga (UNSCH).
Special thanks to colleagues Antonio Pérez Balarezo (PUCP), Jahl Dulanto (PUCP), Javier Aceituno (Universidad de Antioquia), Gaspar Morcote Rios (Universidad Nacional de Colombia), and Marcellus de Almeida (Universidade Federal do Pará). Heartfelt appreciation goes to our colleagues at Huamanga University for their extensive support, and to Paul Gonzales and Tina Sarken (Royal Botanical Gardens) for their expert management of the botanical collections. Crisostomo Yupanqui for his friendship and support while digging Jaywamachay.
Honoured and humbled to follow in the footsteps and hopefully build upon the legacy of Scotty McNeish, whose pioneering work in Ayacucho since 1969 (when I was born)—documenting over 500 archaeological sites—has greatly advanced our understanding of early plant and animal domestication in the Americas. The close superimposition of environments in this inter-Andean valley, from montane and seasonal tropical forests to the puna and scrub forests, is truly remarkable.
We look forward to sharing our preliminary results soon and contributing further to the outstanding body of scholarship on early human occupation and domestication processes in the Andes, developed by many Andeanist colleagues.
Superb archaeology and good times among friends and colleagues!’