Mining Our Past
A Comparison of Peruvian Silver Refineries with West Virginia Coal Mines
About Me
Sarah Kennedy
I am a historical archaeologist and I research marginalized labor practices of the colonial silver mining industry in 17th-century Peru. For my doctoral research, I led archaeological excavations at the silver refining mill of Trapiche in Peru's Lake Titicaca Basin.
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This public history project is the result of a Graduate Student Assistanship in Public History at the University of Pittsburgh's World History Center, as well as a partnership with the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum and Appalachian Lost and Found, both located in Matewan, WV.
My Team
Trapiche Archaeological Project Team 2018
Our Peruvian research team included professionally trained archaeologists and anthropologists, university and high school students, and local community members. This research would not have been possible without the help of the Collacachi and Malcomayo communities.
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Special thanks to all my archaeological student volunteers from 7 different universities: Universidad Nacional del Altiplano (Puno), Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad (Cusco), Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (Lima), University of Pittsburgh, Purdue University, University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois Chicago.
My Collaborators
Karen Durand Caceres
I worked closely with Peruvian archaeologists during my project. My co-directors for excavation and laboratory analysis were Karen Durand Caceres (pictured a left) as well as Jorge Rosas Fernandez. Our research was overseen by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.