Natural History Museum Assistant Curator Karen Wise, an archaeologist, directs an archaeological excavation on the south coast of Peru. Working at the site of Kilometer 4, she and her colleagues and students investigate the origins of sedentary village life, early architecture, the development of specialized fishing communities, and the evolution of mortuary practices between 8000 and 3000 years ago. This research is conducted under permit from the Peruvian government, and it has been funded by Southern Peru Copper Corporation and the Asociacion Contisuyo, and by grants from the American Philosophical Society, the Margaret Cullinan Wray Trust through the American Anthropological Association, the H. John Heinz III Charitable Trust, the Taylor Science Fund of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, and the Weiler Foundation, as well as by private donations and by the Arco Foundation.

Click below to view photographs of the Kilometer 4 site, and of some of the artifacts that have been recovered from the site to date.

- Photographs of the Kilometer 4 site

- Photographs of some examples of artifacts found at Kilometer 4