Symposium: New Perspectives on Northern Gallinazo Identity, Mortuary Practice, and Bioarchaeological Methods in Northern Peru

AIA-Denver Society and CAS-Denver Joint Meeting

Saturday, March 14, 2026 - 1:00pm-3:00pm MT (Hybrid)

Speakers: Dr. Kayeleigh Sharp (kayeleigh.sharp@nau.edu), Northern Arizona University; Eowyn Ann Stojanowski, Northern Arizona University; Maegan Jankowski, George Mason University; and Kate Collette, Northern Arizona University

Our meetings are free and open to the public. Members will receive the Zoom link by email. If you are not a member and would like to attend this talk, please contact us to receive the Zoom link. Location: Englewood Public Library, Perrin Room, 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, CO 80110. The library is located on the first floor of the Englewood Civic Center Building (Google Map Link). The Civic Center Building can be reached via S. Broadway, W. Hampden Ave and S. Santa Fe Drive. There is free parking accessible from S. Inca Street (enter the building on the 1st floor) and S. Jason Street (enter the building on the 2nd floor and take

stairs/elevator to 1st floor). Public transit is also available at the nearby Englewood Light Rail Station and Bus Transfer Loop (Parking and Public Transit Link). For public transit information, please visit RTD's Trip Planner Web Page.

Symposium Abstract: Recent fieldwork in Peru's Lambayeque Region is transforming our understanding of Northern Gallinazo (NG) society during the first millennium CE. Papers in this symposium address NG as a distinct ethnic polity engaged in copper production and mutualistic exchange with Mochica groups, while bioarchaeological analysis of a juvenile burial at Huaca Letrada illuminates childhood experience and mortuary tradition.

Complementary research at Huaca Las Ventanas integrates photogrammetry, pXRF, and pigment analysis to explore intersecting social identities through funerary use of cinnabar and other red pigment. The fourth paper introduces a deep learning approach to augment traditional osteological methods, helping to reduce barriers of cost and specialized training in northern Peru and other world regions.

Program:

- Eowyn Ann Stojanowski (eas688@nau.edu), Northern Arizona University, A Comparative Case Study of the First Official Burial at Huaca Letrada (North Coast of Peru, 220-420 AD)

- Maegan Jankowski (mjankow@gmu.edu), George Mason University, Personified Pigment: Cinnabar Paint, Mortuary Patterns, and Bioarchaeology at Huaca Las Ventanas

- Kate Collette (kmc669@nau.edu), Northern Arizona University, Applying Convolutional Neural Networks to Archaeological Skeletal Analysis: Toward Open-Access Bioarchaeological Methods

- Dr. Kayeleigh Sharp (kayeleigh.sharp@nau.edu), Northern Arizona University, Copper, Clay, and Community: Redefining Northern Gallinazo in the Lambayeque Region

Full Abstracts and Speaker Biographies can be found below:

DC-CAS March 14, 2026 AIA-Denver and CAS-Denver Joint Meeting Announcement with Program Pa.

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