ARCHAEOLOGY—LOST CIVILIZATIONS:
THE PUZZLE OF THE MANTENO-HUANCAVILCA

Odie Ayaga, Debbie Brooks, Julie Eubank, Kelsie Frank, Vani Kilakkathi, John Lee, Christine Marshall, Laurel Pellegrino, Jayme Ranalli, Sharmin Shahnaz, Yu-Ann Wang

Advisor: Dr. Maria Masucci
Teaching Assistant: Jean Barmash

The ancient culture of the Manteño people of Ecuador has been lost over time. Very little is known about them beyond their name, which was recorded by the Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century. Five soil samples were excavated from a site in Ecuador that was believed to have been an important trading center for the Manteño people. The goal of our team project was to discover the lost culture of the Manteño people by analyzing these soil samples and identifying microscopic remains preserved in the soils. Because there were virtually no visible artifacts at the site, light and scanning electron microscopes were used to detect and identify micro-artifacts hidden in the soil samples. Items such as ceramics and shells that were discovered in the samples helped us to interpret the function of the site and its meaning for the Manteño people.

Paper

(Acrobat pdf file: 608 kb)

Presentation

(Acrobat pdf file: 3.4 Mb)

Team Project Picture (jpg: 297 kb)

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