Chavín de Huántar is a monumental World Heritage archaeological site in the Peruvian highlands predating Inca society by over 2000 years. The complex is renowned for its graphic and iconic works, intensively decorated material culture, and the massive and sophisticated stone architecture that envelops a labyrinthine underground system of galleries, corridors, shafts and drains. The site and its features figure in the definition of the Early Horizon (ca. 1000-300 B.C.), the first period of highly developed cultural and symbolic coherence in the Central Andes. A leading hypothesis for the purpose and function of the Chavín complex, developed by Stanford archaeologist John W. Rick, is that it was strategized and constructed, at enormous cost in labor, to establish social hierarchy through sensory manipulation in the context of religious ritual.

Since 1995, Dr. Rick and his teams have conducted field work at Chavín, uncovering architectural features and artifacts, many of which relate to sound and acoustics. Their 2001 discovery of twenty engraved Strombus galeatus shell trumpets, intact but with extensive use-wear, provides recent and compelling evidence for a sonic dimension to ritual practice, supporting the idea that the acoustic properties of the site had functional importance.

Since a focal area of research at CCRMA is computational physical modeling of acoustic sources and reverberant spaces, we saw the opportunity to develop an interdisciplinary project that could extend Rick's team's findings and site mappings to new research tools. We have begun the process of measuring and archiving site acoustics, and will use this data as the basis for acoustic simulation and virtual restoration. The digital simulation tools we develop will allow flexibility in data-driven archaeological hypothesis testing, and will also form the basis for novel public interfaces. We anticipate the application of our methodologies and tools in other archaeological contexts.

Although the intact architecture of underground spaces at Chavín provides the conditions necessary to make objective acoustic measurements, prior to our project, no comprehensive study of site acoustics has been conducted. Such an opportunity to research and archive architectural structures that reflect ancient conditions is rare and timely: Chavín de Huántar is an important tourist attraction, and upcoming required site conservation work will inevitably cause irreversible alteration of its acoustics. It is imperative that on site measurements be made soon, precisely, and thoroughly. Our team began this acoustic field work in September 2008.