Sarah Kennedy awarded NSF grant for archaeological fieldwork in Peru
Kennedy is assistant professor of archaeology and Latin American studies at Carleton.
Sarah Kennedy, assistant professor of archaeology and Latin American studies, has received a National Science Foundation Research grant (#2516701) in support of her research project, “RUI: Inca Expansion and Native Resistance in the Peruvian Altiplano.” Funded by the Archaeology Program Senior Research Awards (Arch-SR), this project aims to improve scientific understanding of factors that contributed to Inca expansion into the high-altitude plateau surrounding Peru’s Lake Titicaca.
Throughout the research project, Kennedy and her collaborators will conduct archaeological excavations and material analysis of artifacts and structures at the sites of Asillo Incacancha and Llallagua. Kennedy’s research team has hypothesized that the structures at these locations were intended to commemorate Inca victory over local resistance, as well as to possibly serve diplomatic functions. Utilizing a range of integrated analytical techniques, radiocarbon dating, and stratigraphy, the team will investigate the chronology, use, and nature of activities at these sites, particularly feasting and ceremonial activities that may or may not have involved local participants. The project will produce a robust dataset to address key question about commemoration in early Inca imperialism, applying zooarchaeological and paleoethnobotanical methodologies to the study of feasting as an integral part of imperial commemoration of victories in the built landscape. The results of this research will contribute to the understanding of resistance and victory commemoration in early Inca imperialism.
As a Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) grant, this project will also provide unique research opportunities for undergraduate students, who will receive multi-level mentoring and training from the research team, comprised of the investigators who work at a small liberal arts college and a large R1 institution, as well as researchers at the archaeological site.