Field Research in Archaeology will be held in the framework of the San José de Moro Archaeological Project (SJMAP), a program of excavations at the site of San José de Moro, a ceremonial and funerary complex located in the north coast of Peru.

This site is one of the only Moche cemetery currently under research, which has yield some of the most complex elite burial and ritual settings pertaining to a continuous, 1000 years occupation. Work in the site started in 1991, and is continued to date extending its activities to the northern Jequetepeque valley.

Excavations at SJM are conducted in July, during four weeks. In addition to doing field archeology, the students will have the chance to visit some of the remarkable archeological sites of the region (Sipán, Túcume, Huaca de la Luna, Huaca el Brujo, Pacatnamú, Chan Chan).

Field School students will assume responsibilities in the scientific work required by the archaeological excavations. Each excavation unit at SJMAP has a qualified person who is in charge of directing and instructing students of that unit. Furthermore, participating students are also encouraged to make significant decisions which will lead to a better understanding of the archaeological events that take place at the research site.

The SJMAP is led byProfessor Luis Jaime Castillo (Ph.D.C. UCLA), and a team of young archaeologists from Peru, US and Spain. The Project has to date produced numerous publications and is recognized as one of the most outstanding research done in South America.

Luis Jaime Castillo Butters

Luis Jaime Castillo Butters is Master in archaeology in the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, where he has also followed some doctoral courses. He is graduate in Archaeology by the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, where nowadays he is Principal Professor of the Humanities Department  and Director of the International Relations and Cooperation Department. Since 1991, he is also Director of the San Jose de Moro Archaeological Program, a collaboration project between the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, the UCLA (1991-1992), the California State University of Northridge and the University of Western Notario (1995-1997).
He has publicated several articles and he has been invited to give lectures in both peruvian and foreign universities. In 1998 he was honoured with the Julio C. Tello Award for the best thesis in archaeology, which is given by the Concejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONCITEC).
He was recently appointed Latin American Antiquity consultant.