Archaeoceramics Residency: Heritage, Matter and Language

Arrival in Lima

Airport reception and private transfer to Caral, where we visit the oldest sacred city in the Americas. We then continue to Gramita beach, a small fishing cove where we will stay for two nights and visit striking archaeological sites.

Gramita, visit to Las Aldas and Chankillo

In the morning after breakfast, we walk to Las Aldas (5,000 BC), the only pyramid facing the Pacific Ocean. In the afternoon we visit the fortified temple of Chankillo in the coastal desert, and end by watching the sunset through Chankillo's solar calendar. Both date from 200 BC.

MITU Workshop in Huaraz

After breakfast we leave, crossing the Casma valley toward the capital of Ancash, Huaraz. There we visit the workshop of the archaeologist and ceramist MITU, a traditional pottery workshop run by Mirko Brito. Iconography of the Recuay culture and an introduction to local clays.

Crossing to Chavín de Huántar

From Huaraz we head to the legendary town of Chavín, cradle of the Andean worldview. Besides getting to know the town and its archaeological site, we will visit John Rick's laboratory for a scientific look at the study of the ceramics found here.

Callejón de Conchucos and Chacas

We begin an impressive journey through the striking Callejón de Conchucos, accompanied by giant mountains and landscapes, to reach one of the towns that preserves the crafts in a way rarely seen.

Chinlla Annex

Visit to Chinlla, the birthplace of pottery. We will identify clays, mix them with minerals such as shachal and learn ancestral processes in their original setting. We visit this village with one of the last potters of a thousand-year-old tradition, who will take us with his mules to the clay mines. We extract the clay there, take it to be ground in giant, millennial mortars, and carry out three processes with it: grinding, modeling and firing, before returning to our lodging.

Chacas and return to Huaraz

Free morning until midday, when we head down to Huaraz through Huascarán National Park, making the appropriate stops to appreciate the creation of life and its magnificence.

Return to Lima

Return transfer and farewell.