Cornell’s long history of Andean studies was celebrated at the 40th Annual Northeast Conference on Andean and Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory (NCAAE) held Nov. 4-5 in Klarman Hall.

“The conference was actually founded here at Cornell in 1982 and is part of a much longer history of Andean research at our university, stretching back to the Vicos Project in highland Peru in the 1950s and 60s,” said Matthew Velasco, assistant professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences and co-organizer of the conference.

The initial impetus for the creation of the conference in 1982 was to provide a more accessible venue for sharing current research and works-in-progress, said Ananda Cohen-Aponte, associate professor of history of art and visual studies (A&S) and conference co-organizer. “Since its founding, the NCAAE has grown into a vibrant intellectual community encompassing multiple research institutions and independent scholars in the Northeast, and beyond,” she said.

The 75 conference attendees included noted alumni; the keynote address, “An Orphan, Three Terrorists, and the Origin of Patrimonial Khipus” was delivered by renowned anthropologist Frank Salomon Ph.D. ’78. He said his time at Cornell gave him “freedom and opportunity that were the beginning of everything.”

Read the full story on the College of Arts and Sciences website.