The Deep Dig

For a thousand years before the arrival of the Spanish in South America, the site of Pachacamac near Lima, Peru, flourished at the place where desert and ocean meet. People traveled from across the Andean region to consult the idol of the god Pachacamac, known as the “earth-maker.” They built houses, held feasts, and made offerings in temples, and many were even buried in the vast grave fields on the edge of the ceremonial center.

The Inka claimed the site—and all its cultural and supernatural importance—as their own when they conquered the area in the late 15th century. Only 50 years later, they were overthrown by the arrival of the Spanish. The conquistador Francisco Pizarro sent his brother Hernando to Pachacamac to destroy the famous idol and defile the temples as part of a larger plan to undermine indigenous religious practices. After its looting and destruction, Pachacamac was gradually buried under the desert sands until it caught the interest of archaeologists in the late 19th century. Since then, the site has been almost continuously under excavation, and now it represents one of the most important archaeological sites in the Andes.

This in-depth course covers the history of the site of Pachacamac. Explore how the site went from an important ancient Andean pilgrimage center to a Spanish occupation in the 16th century to an invaluable Penn Museum excavation site in the late 19th century. Each week we will ask what the many people who came to Pachacamac—pilgrims, conquistadors, archaeologists, tourists—found when they arrived, and what their discoveries tell us about the history of human activity in this area over the millennia. Together, we will draw from the Penn Museum’s archival and archaeological collections to investigate this ancient site.