Hello and Welcome to the blog for the WCC Anthropology study abroad. For the past 3 years, Dr. Christopher Barrett has been taking a group of students to Peru to do research at the Centro Mallqui facility located near Ilo in southern Peru. Centro Mallqui roughly translates to “Mummy Center”.
My name is Liz Barrett and I’m very excited to join the group this year! (Full disclosure: I’m married to Dr. Barrett.) I will have a fellow blogger, Courtney Caroen. Between the two of us, we should manage at least one posting a day. We have 2 more Anthropology students with us, Jessica Lacerte and Ashley Kennard, who will chime in on occasion. Jessica had so much fun last year that she decided to come back for a second trip!
Additionally, Jim Skufis from the Radiography Departments is bringing a group of 5 students. (If you’re keeping score, that brings us to a total of 11 travelers.) The Radiography Department has taken students to Peru for about 15 years.
In preparing for the trip, the Anthropology students went through an intensive 2-week “Bone Boot Camp” where we learned how to lay out skeletal remains in Standard Anatomical Position, take a series of about 200 measurements, determine sex and approximate age and look for pathology. We also studied the culture and prehistory of the region.
We are currently sitting in the Miami airport waiting for our flight to Peru. We will land in Lima tonight and then head for Ilo tomorrow where we will spend 3 weeks. After that, we will spend a week doing some sightseeing, including a visit to Machu Picchu. I hope you’ll follow our adventures on this blog! Feel free to ask any questions and we will do our best to respond.