Kate Klesner and Marcos Martinón-Torres recently travelled to Nariño with Lina Campos-Quintero – an archaeologist with the Museo del Oro and REVERSEACTION team member – to learn more about archaeology, environment, and indigenous traditions, and to begin to explore the beautiful and complex decorated ceramics found in the region. While there, they participated in a conference on Nariño archaeology hosted by the Museo del Oro Nariño, and met with several archaeologists who are conducting new and exciting excavations in the region. In addition to visiting museums and archaeological sites (facilitated by the great Carlos Guillermo López López) the team also visited indigenous communities and several local artisans to learn more about craft production in this area of the Andes. These included visits with ceramic artists, woodcarvers, and craftspeople who work in “Barniz de Pasto” which uses a native resin from the mopa mopa plant to decorate a wide range of materials. It was a very successful first trip to Nariño! Our social media posts show more details of some of the people and places we encountered.
