John Rick from Stanford University will be at UCSC on February 13th (Wednesday, February 13th, 12:30 pm, Soc Sci 1 − Rm 110) for a talk entitled:

When Religion Was Radical: The Very Formative Site of Chavin de Huantar, Peru.

Abstract: The Formative Period (1800-200 B.C.) in the Central Andes was a time of major socio-political reorganization, and although there is some evidence of economic and subsistence change, the major differences are based in the activity of the major ceremonial centers scattered throughout the region. At Chavin de Huantar, the World Heritage ‘type site’ for much of this period, long-recognized, dramatic and enigmatic features are now making new sense. After 20 years of investigation using methods capable of revealing some of the planning, innovation, and ritual activity that developed there, the radical nature of these religious systems becomes very apparent, hinting at both a highly strategized manipulative ideology, and perhaps more than a bit of historical consciousness. [from Cameron Monroe, Anthropology, UCSC]