The ENDY Lecture Series will host Seth Price, PhD candidate in the Environmental Dynamics Program at the Univeristy of Arkansas. The title of his lecture is Echoes of Then or Syptoms of Nw: Raised Field Cultivation in North Coastal Peru.

This research investigates the relationship between sustainable agricultural intensification, settlement dynamics, and anthropogenic landscapes in the Casma Valley of north coastal Peru. The primary focus is to assess why Late Chimu (AC 1300-1470) societies in the Casma Valley converted seven-hundred hectares of land into raised agricultural field systems, understand the cultural processes that were key to field operation, and determine how this information can contribute to modern sustainable development. Diverse but detailed data on soil composition is used to isolate soil conditions that represent ancient human activity from modern processes, which is sorely needed in archaeological projects. This past to present spectrum is explored to look at modern anthropogenic soils and the long-term repercussions of raised field cultivation. The integration of multi-sensor geophysical methods used here has the potential to advance remote sensing approaches, and a new methodology for low-cost thermal photogrammetry is used to assess soil moisture content and field drainage system operation. Included is a discussion of the Sturgis International Fellowship.