Â鶹ÊÓƵ

I am an archaeologist of the prehistoric Andes and my research explores the roles that architecture and the built environment played in the development of early complex societies.

Specifically, I investigate the design, growth, and chronology of the monumental stone temple complex at Chavín de Huántar, Perú, a UNESCO World Heritage Site central to our understanding of Andean civilization more than 2000 years before the Inca empire. I developed new methods to gather, model, and analyze spatial data from prehistoric buildings — including three-dimensional digital mapping, computer modeling, systematic spatial analyses, and architectural patterning — and used these to reveal a complex construction sequence for this important site. Additionally, I directed the Chavín Architectural Dating Project to chronometrically date the site’s expansion by directly dating the construction materials of the buildings themselves using radiocarbon and luminescence techniques. Results of these efforts have helped fundamentally rethink the growth, timeline, and role of Chavín in Andean prehistory.

My research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, National Geographic, the Howard Heinz Foundation, and Stanford University. In archaeology I publish as Silvia Rodriguez Kembel.

In addition to my research, I strive to make archaeology more inclusive and more accessible to a wider public. I work to share both the excitement of archaeological discovery and the importance of archaeological ethics and conservation through publications and presentations for a broader audience.

Publications

• 2015Ìý Silvia Rodriguez Kembel and Herbert Haas. Radiocarbon Dates from the Monumental Architecture at Chavín de Huántar, Perú. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 22(2):345-427.
• 2009Ìý John W. Rick, Christian Mesía, Daniel A. Contreras, Silvia Rodriguez Kembel, Rosa M. Rick, Matt Sayre, and John Wolf.Ìý La cronología de Chavín de Huántar y sus implicancias para el Periodo Formativo. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 13:87–132.
• 2008Ìý Silvia Rodriguez Kembel. The Architecture at the Monumental Center of Chavín de Huántar: Sequence, Transformations, and Chronology. In Chavín: Art, Architecture, and Culture, edited by W. J. Conklin & J. Quilter, pp. 35–84. Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. University of California.
• 2008Ìý James Feathers, Jack Johnson, and Silvia Rodriguez Kembel.Ìý Luminescence Dating of Monumental Stone Architecture at Chavín De Huántar, Perú. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 15, 266–296.
• 2004Ìý Silvia Rodriguez Kembel and John W. Rick. Building authority at Chavín de Huántar: Models of social organization and development in the Initial Period and Early Horizon. In Andean Archaeology, edited by Helaine Silverman. New York: Blackwell. pp 51-76.
• 2001Ìý Silvia Rodriguez Kembel. Architectural Sequence and Chronology at Chavín de Huántar, Perú. Ph.D. Dissertation. Department of Anthropological Sciences, Stanford University. (Winner of the 2002 Society for American Archaeology Dissertation Award) See for .pdf and online accompanying photos, data, computer models, and illustrations.
• 1998. John W. Rick, Silvia Rodriguez Kembel, Rosa Mendoza Rick, and John A. Kembel.Ìý La Arquitectura del Complejo Ceremonial de Chavín de Huántar: Documentación Tridimensional y Sus Implicancias. In Perspectivas Regionales del Período Formatívo en el Perú: Boletin de Arqueología PUCP 2, edited by Peter Kaulicke, pp. 181–214. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima.