USI Anthropology Speaker Series to present Dr. Richard Lunniss

The University of Southern Indiana’s Anthropology Speaker Series will present a lecture and Q&A by Dr. Richard Lunniss at noon Tuesday, November 12 in Rice Library Room 0017. This event is open to the public at no charge.

Lunniss earned his bachelor’s degree from the University Cambridge and a doctorate in archaeology from the University of London. He arrived in Peru in 1979. Since 1982, he has been working in Ecuador and is currently a Research Professor at Universidad Técnica de Manabí.

After many years dedicated to the excavation, analysis and interpretation of archaeological evidence, first in highland Peru near Machu Picchu and then at Salango and other sacred sites of the central coast of Ecuador, Lunniss has more recently been drawn to participate in certain contemporary ritual and religious practices in both Peru and Ecuador where he lives and works.

In the lecture, he will discuss some of this trajectory and how the different strands of his long-term professional and personal interactions with landscape and people have contributed to his understanding of Andean being in the past and present.

“The Anthropology Speaker Series is an opportunity for us to highlight the diversity and relevance of Anthropology” says Dr. Daniel Bauer, Professor of Anthropology. “We are excited to have Dr. Richard as the first speaker in the series. He is one of the most prominent contributors to Andean archaeology and our understanding of sacred sites and landscapes.”