MOCHE-UNC ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD
SCHOOL
IN PERU
WHAT
TO BRING TO PERU
Table of
Contents for this Page
ESSENTIALS
- Lightweight cotton clothing is best for the coast. You should
bring
pants
and shorts (or dresses), long sleeve and short sleeve shirts, and a
sweater
or light jacket for mornings and evenings. Raincoats are not needed.
Temperatures
range from about 55 to 80 degrees. Remember
to bring some warm clothes for mornings and nights. The
ocean water is rather cold in
the
summer, too cold really for swimming, but you may want to bring a
swimsuit
to layout on the beach.
- Bring enough cloths so that you can go one week
without
washing
any clothes.
- Two 1-quart or two 1-liter water bottles. These are for carrying
your
drinking
water to the site.
- Daypack to carry your water, dig kit, and other stuff up to the
site.
- Lightweight hiking shoes. Heavy hiking boots tear up the floors
that we
excavate. Lightweight canvas and leather hiking shoes are good. Running
shoes are
not a good idea because they don’t provide much lateral support, which
is bad for climbing to the site.
- A money belt. Either one that goes around the waist, neck,
or
under
the shoulder. This is the safest way to carry your money, plane ticket,
credit card (Visa since MasterCard is not widely accepted), ATM card,
and
passport. Carrying money in your backpack or pockets is an invitation
to
theft. There are people in Peru who make their living picking pockets
and
slashing open backpacks.
- The usual toiletries. Soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste,
razors,
etc.
can be purchased in Peru, of course, but its more convenient to bring
enough
for the month. If you forget something, you can buy these items in
Huanchaco. .
- Sunscreen, 15 or higher is recommended.
DIG KIT
You will need to bring a dig kit with the following
things:
- A trowel. Trowels are not available in Peru.
The kind of trowel you need is a Pointing
Trowel with wood handle and a 4.5-by-2.25-inch blade. The
shorter the blade the better it is for excavating. It must have a
short, a flat blade, and wood handle. Do NOT bring a gardening
trowel.
Some people prefer a square-nosed trowel, which is known as a Margin
Trowel, with a wood handle and a 5-by-2-inch blade. The
blade
should be no longer than 5 inches. Marshaltown
makes the best trowels.
- Metric
engineers scale. A triangular-shaped ruler with six different
scales. This must be metric, NOT
inches. If you can’t find one,
bring a metric ruler.
- Line
Level. Line levels are about 2 inches long and are shaped like
a small tube with hooks on either end so that they can be hung on a
line.
They are filled with liquid and have a window in the center where you
can
see the bubble when it is level. They cost about 2 or 3 bucks and are
available
at any hardware store. They are used in archaeological
excavations
to measure elevations. A string is tied to a datum stake that has a
known
elevation, and a line level is attached to the string. Elevations can
then
be measured (for instance, the elevation of a floor that you’ve just
excavated)
by pulling the string tight, leveling the string by looking at the
bubble
in the line level window, and then measuring down from the string with
your metric tape.
- 3- or 5-meter tape. It must have a metric scale.
- Large paint brush with about a 4-inch wide brush.
Small
brushes
are useless.
- Work gloves. Essential to keep you from getting
blisters. Also useful for climbing among rocks when you are
working
on the mapping crew.
- Mechanical pencil, eraser, and a black Sharpie Magic
Marker. The
last item is for labeling bags and tags.
OTHER
THINGS TO BRING
- Travel alarm clock.
- Flashlight, for when the power goes out.
- Sandals or flip-flops for after hours.
- Books for free time.
- Music. You’ll thank yourself for this. The
lab will
have a CD & MP3 player; the restaurant at the hotel (where we eat)
also
has a CD player.
- Peruvian electric current is 220 volts, not the US 110.
You'll
need
to buy a transformer (available at Radio Shack) to run any electrical
gadgets
you bring down. Batteries are readily available in Peru.
- If you bring an optical camera, bring extra film. Film is
expensive and Peru, and
slide
film is generally unavailable. Any film speed from 64 to 200 should be
fine (400 makes for still shots inside huacas). For slides, use
Kodachrome
on the coast and Ektachrome in the mountains. Also, when you fly, carry
your camera onto your plane. I know several people who have had cameras
or other valuables stolen out of luggage that they checked in at the
counter.
- If you bring a digital camera, you bring some blank CDs and
backup
your pictures using the project laptop, which has a CD-burner.
- It’s best NOT to bring expensive jewelry to Peru, because of the
possibility
of theft. If you do bring jewelry or other valuables, it is best to
carry
them with you onto the plane.
- If you wear glasses, you may want to bring a spare pair with
you. Glasses are very cheap in
Peru (around 30 bucks for frames and lenses) so you might want to bring
your prescription down and get a spare pair made in Trujillo.
- I recommend carrying a copy of your vaccination records. Ideally,
your
vaccinations should be recorded in an International Health Certificate,
which should be available at a doctor’s office or a public health
office.
You can request one when you receive your immunizations.
- You also may want to make a list of items in your luggage in case
your
luggage is lost by the airlines.
ABOUT
BRINGING MONEY
- You should bring enough extra money for meals on Sundays, your personal
expenses, and airport departure taxes. Buying your Sunday meals at
a restaurant can cost from $6 to $16 dollars a day. Personal expenses
include
such things as soft drinks, beer, laundry, city buses, taxis, and
souvenirs.
Departure taxes cost $4 at the Trujillo airport and $25 at the Lima
airport.
Your field school fees cover all lodging, meals 6 days a week, travel
to Cajamarca, and entrance fees to museums and sites (Chan Chan, the
Moche Huacas, and local museums).
- The safest way to carry money is travelers’ checks, preferably in
small
denominations (20s and 50s). You should use an international brand,
such
as American Express. Travelers’ checks, however, limit you to
changing
money at banks (open Monday through Friday until 6:00 PM). Some
students
find this inconvenient. Cashing traveler’s checks can be a bit of
a hassle because of the long lines at banks. You also have to pay
banking
fees to cash the checks, and you get a lower exchange rate than cash.
The advantage of travelers’ checks is that if
they are stolen or lost, you can get a refund.
- You should carry your travelers check numbers and the receipt
separately
from the checks in case your checks are stolen. Also, leave a copy of
the
receipt and the check numbers at home with someone whom you can contact
if you lose your copy of the check numbers in Peru.
- Credit cards are accepted at many hotels, restaurants, and gifts
shops
in Peru. Visa is much more widely accepted than MasterCard. You
also
can use a credit card to get a cash advance at banks. They pay the cash
advance in Soles (the Peruvian currency), not in dollars. I always take
a credit card to Peru for emergencies. I keep my account number and
customer
service phone number separate from the card in case it is lost or
stolen,
and I need to cancel it.
- I also carry some money in cash, generally in small bills (5s,
10s and
20s) for after banking hours. US dollars are easy to cash anytime,
anywhere. Bring
only nice new bills with no tears. Moneychangers will refuse old
and
ripped bills. You should take enough money in cash for the
first few days in Huanchaco.
- In 2002, they opened an ATM in Huanchaco, which is very
convenient.
There also are ATM machines in Lima, Trujillo, and other major cities.
I have used my US ATM card in Lima and Trujillo with no problems. The
machines
pay in Soles or dollars and offer the option of doing the transaction
in
English.