While clay vessels can be found throughout the archaeological record, in certain times and places... more While clay vessels can be found throughout the archaeological record, in certain times and places pottery took on an extraordinarilyimportant role as a primary bearer of meaning. In ancient Peru, for example, a region where writing as we understand it was not practiced, ceramic vessels became the expressive medium par excellence, essential for both ritual practice and the exchange of ideas. The evocative works featured in this Bulletin explore some 2,500 years of creative exploration in the Andes, taking a close look at remarkably imag- inative works that served as conduits to worldly and divine power.
Global Perspectives on Landscapes of Warfare examines the effects of conflict on landscapes and t... more Global Perspectives on Landscapes of Warfare examines the effects of conflict on landscapes and the ways landscapes have shaped social and political boundaries over time. Contributors from different archaeological traditions introduce a variety of methodologies and theories to understand and explain how territories and geographies in antiquity were modified in response to threat.
Drawing from eleven case studies from periods ranging over eight thousand years in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, contributors consider how social groups moved and concentrated residences, built infrastructure, invested resources, created alliances and negotiated with human and nonhuman entities for aid, formed and reformed borders, and memorialized sites and territories. Because landscapes of warfare deal with built environments, chapters are presented with rich graphic documentation—detailed maps, site plans, and artifacts—to support the analysis and interpretations.
Territories that have been appropriated and transformed by communities at war illustrate how built landscapes not only reflect immediate events but also influence subsequent generations. With a diverse array of case studies and an explicit focus on landscapes, Global Perspectives on Landscapes of Warfare will be of great interest to students and scholars of conflict archaeology and the anthropology and history of violence across the globe.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology , 2023
Between 1400 and 500 BCE, communities of the central Andes gradually adopted a visual culture dom... more Between 1400 and 500 BCE, communities of the central Andes gradually adopted a visual culture dominated by images of predation in nature. Fangs became pervasive in images and were incorporated into beings that naturally lacked them, such as humans and birds. Composite beings, articulating parts of different predators, became popular, being depicted in multiple media. This shared visual culture resulted from the expansion, adoption, and local adaptation of the Cupisnique-Chavín religious tradition, one of the earliest and most clear cases of religious integration in the Andes.
The results of archaeological research in the 20th and 21st centuries have provided abundant information to approximate the ritual practices associated with this religious tradition. In the ceremonial centers—designed to accommodate large audiences—friezes and sculptures depict nonhuman beings with attributes of predators. During ceremonies, people feasted, played music, shared knowledge and experiences, and interacted with these images of supernatural characteristics. The middens surrounding these temples are filled with the remains of these activities, such as broken ceramics, food remains, ritual paraphernalia, and even friezes—discarded during work feasts dedicated to architectural renovation.
Traditionally, these images depicted in sculptures and friezes have been considered representations of a pantheon of divinities. These interpretations were based on theoretical assumptions about the relationship between sacred and profane, nature and culture, human and nonhuman, and personhood. In theoretical frameworks that reevaluate the ontology of Indigenous people of the Ancient Americas—such as adaptations of Viveiros de Castro’s multinatural perspectivism and theory on Andean huacas—these stone sculptures, buildings, and landscape features can be considered powerful nonhuman persons and important members of the communities.
These ancient Andean beings must have acquired power from their relationship with the community and local landscapes. This sets them apart from the view of omnipresent divinities in modern world religions. In a world where one’s knowledge is acquired through experiencing the world, a way to acquire new knowledge may have involved seeing the world through the eyes of other beings. In the Cupisnique-Chavín world, the most powerful and wise of these nonhuman entities may have been those stone beings with multispecies abilities housed in the temples. The institution of pilgrimage may have emerged because of the need to acquire new knowledge from these extraordinary beings believed to dwell throughout the central Andes.
While scholarly research is thriving in the first decades of the 21st century, there are obstacles in the way of sharing these results with the nonscholarly public. Involuntarily, the reconstruction of the ceremonial temples has created solemn and sterile images of these ancient ceremonial temples, very far from the archaeological description of the findings in these places. This creates a continuing gap between what is known about these Cupisnique-Chavín ritual practices—and the role of the nonhuman in them—and the perception of the public as to this tradition.
The focus of this article centers on monumental ceremonial buildings that were planned but either... more The focus of this article centers on monumental ceremonial buildings that were planned but either left partially constructed or were completed in a fashion that differed from their original design. Instead of using these buildings to study the formation of collectivities and the consolidation of authority, I rely on their unfinished or altered character to study the crisis of institutions and organizations. This article uses the case of the middle Nepeña Valley (Peru) during the first millennium BCE to illustrate the wealth of information that can be obtained from this kind of archaeological remains if archaeologists are able to put them in historical context. Moreover, the studied case, from the transition between the demise of the Cupisnique/Chavín religious complex and the warlike Salinar era, suggests the existence of a legitimation crisis derived from the contradiction between traditional forms of social integration and new priorities emerging within a climate of violence and conflict.
Americae: European Journal of Americanist Archaeology, 2018
In this article, co-authored by Matthew Helmer, David Chicoine, Hugo Ikehara, and Koichiro Shibat... more In this article, co-authored by Matthew Helmer, David Chicoine, Hugo Ikehara, and Koichiro Shibata, we evaluate the relationships between plaza settings, ritual performances, and modes of sociopolitical integration in coastal Ancash during the Formative Period (local Cerro Blanco, Nepeña, and Samanco phases, 1100-150 cal BC). We chronicle shifts in the forms, dimensions, arrangements, and use of plaza settings to investigate deeper sociopolitical transformations in the Nepeña Valley. Recent field research in the region suggests the development of polities and communities of different levels of integration. This process coincides with the abandonment of Chavín and Cupisnique related ceremonial centers between 800 and 500 cal BC. Our respective field projects have brought detailed archaeological information on the organization of plaza settings, their location within each community, as well as their ritual use. In particular, we analyze data from the sites of Cerro Blanco, Caylán, Huambacho, Samanco, and Kushipampa. By comparing plaza settings and associated assemblages, we delineate different modes of sociopolitical integration and evaluate longitudinal changes in regional politics. The analysis of proxemic data, ritual paraphernalia, and feasting remains suggest the existence of three clusters of ritual life in Nepeña during the Formative Period. Results further suggest that after the demise of Chavín-Cupisnique centers, and at least in some areas of coastal Ancash, ritual practices became more decentralized and appropriated by multiple competing groups. At that time major geopolitical differences appear to have existed between the lower and middle portions of the coastal drainage. The Nepeña research confirms the value of regional and comparative approaches to study broader relationships between political authority, ritual performance, and public spaces in ancient complex societies.
Dans cet article, nous évaluons les relations entre les espaces publics (places), les performances rituelles et les modes d’intégration sociopolitique dans la zone côtière du département d’Ancash au Pérou durant la période formative (phases locales Cerro Blanco, Nepeña et Samanco, 1100-150 cal. av. J.-C.). Nous nous intéressons aux formes, dimensions, organisations et fonctions de ces espaces dans le but d’explorer les profondes transformations sociopolitiques qui secouèrent la vallée de Nepeña durant la période formative. Des fouilles archéologiques récentes dans la région suggèrent le développement d’entités politiques et de communautés à différentes échelles d’intégration. Ce processus coïncide avec l’abandon des centres cérémoniels associés aux phénomènes Chavín et Cupisnique entre 800 et 500 cal. av. J.-C. Nos projets de terrain respectifs fournissent des données archéologiques sur l’organisation des places, leur positionnement au sein de chaque communauté, de même que leurs fonctions rituelles. Nous analysons en particulier les données provenant des sites de Cerro Blanco, Caylán, Huambacho, Samanco et Kushipampa. En comparant les places et les caractéristiques des artefacts qui y ont été recueillis, nous identifions des modes distincts d’intégration sociopolitique et évaluons les changements diachroniques au niveau politique et régional. L’analyse de données proxémiques, des objets rituels et des restes de festin suggère l’existence de trois types ou groupes de vie rituelle dans la vallée de Nepeña durant la période formative. Nos résultats indiquent qu’à la suite du déclin des centres Chavín et Cupisnique, les pratiques rituelles devinrent, pour le moins dans certaines régions côtières d’Ancash, décentralisées et sous le contrôle de multiples groupes en compétition les uns avec les autres. À cette époque, des différences géopolitiques majeures existaient entre les basses et moyennes vallées côtières. Nos recherches à Nepeña confirment l’utilité des approches régionales et comparatives dans le cadre plus vaste de l’étude des relations entre l’autorité politique, les performances rituelles et les espaces publics au cours du développement des sociétés complexes anciennes.
En este artículo, evaluamos las relaciones entre los contextos espaciales públicos (plazas), las actuaciones rituales, y los modos de integración sociopolítica en la costa del Departamento de Ancash en Perú durante el Período Formativo (las fases locales Cerro Blanco, Nepeña y Samanco, 1100-150 cal. a.C.). Analizamos la variabilidad en formas, dimensiones, organización espacial, y funciones de las plazas con el objetivo de explorar las profundas transformaciones sociopolíticas que marcaron el valle de Nepeña durante el Período Formativo. Recientes investigaciones arqueológicas en la región sugieren el desarrollo de entidades políticas y comunidades de diferentes escalas de integración. Este proceso coincide con el abandono de los centros ceremoniales asociados con los fenómenos Chavín y Cupisnique entre 800 y 500 cal. a.C. Nuestros proyectos de investigación respectivos brindan datos arqueológicos sobre la organización de las plazas, su ubicación dentro de cada comunidad, así como sus funciones rituales. En particular, analizamos los datos de los sitios de Cerro Blanco, Caylán, Huambacho, Samanco y Kushipampa. A través de la comparación de las plazas y los artefactos excavados en sus espacios, delimitamos distintos modos de integración sociopolítica y evaluamos los cambios diacrónicos al nivel político y regional. El análisis de los datos proxémicos, de los objetos rituales y de los restos de festines sugiere la existencia de tres tipos o grupos de vida ritual en el valle de Nepeña durante el Período Formativo. Nuestros resultados indican que después de la caída de los centros Chavín y Cupisnique, las prácticas rituales cambiaron, a lo menos en ciertas regiones de la costa ancashina, hacia patrones más descentralizados y bajo el control de múltiples grupos en competencia entre ellos. Diferencias geopolíticas significativas aparecen entre el valle bajo y medio. Nuestras investigaciones en Nepeña confirman la utilidad de los enfoques regionales y comparativos en el estudio de las relaciones entre la autoridad política, las actuaciones rituales, y los espacios públicos en el desarrollo de las sociedades complejas prehispánicas.
Fortifications are special kinds of public construction projects because they must be erected bef... more Fortifications are special kinds of public construction projects because they must be erected before enemies attack. Thus, their design and construction reflect the coordination and cooperation of multiple segments of society under time pressure. In this article, we analyze the fortifications at Pucarani, a large hillfort in the Northern Titicaca Basin, to help understand the specifics of how fortifications were built in this region during the Late Intermediate Period.
Las fortificaciones son proyectos públicos de construcción peculiares en cuanto tienen que ser erigidas antes del ataque del enemigo. Por esto, el diseño y construcción de estas deben reflejar la coordinación y cooperación de múltiples segmentos de la sociedad bajo presión de tiempo. En este artículo, analizamos las defensas en Pucarani, un asentamiento fortificado en la cima de un cerro de la cuenca norte del Titicaca, para poder entender las especificidades de cómo las fortificaciones fueron construidas en esta región durante el Periodo Intermedio Tardío.
This contribution examines feasting strategies in Early Horizon Nepeña (800–200 BC), coastal Anca... more This contribution examines feasting strategies in Early Horizon Nepeña (800–200 BC), coastal Ancash, north-central Peru. Through the analysis of volumetric capacities of vessels, we estimate scales of food and drink production at three coeval sites of Caylán, Huambacho, and Samanco. Production scales at those communities are used as proxies for domestic economies, their prosperity and ability to sponsor feasts. We compare and analyze scales of domestic production in light of the complex relationships between the different settlements, including variations in their overall functions and place within regional geopolitics. Results shed light on variations in scales of potential commensal hospitality, size of feasting events, and amplitude of commensal communities. The study informs on foodways in incipient urban contexts, and suggests economic asymmetries between households from different settlements. The larger town of Caylán and elite center of Huambacho appear to have had the most important capacity to store, cook, and brew food and drink, while residents of the coastal village of Samanco, involved more closely with marine exploitation and industrial production, appear lesser equipped to hold large scale and/or numerous feasts. We hypothesize that those differences shaped local politics and played significant roles in the trajectory of the Early Horizon system. Esta contribución examina festines durante el Horizonte Temprano (800-200 aC) en Nepeña, Perú norcentral. A través del análisis volumétrico de las vasijas, estimamos las escalas de producción de alimentos y bebidas en tres sitios contemporáneos: Caylán, Huambacho y Samanco. Las escalas de producción en esas comunidades se utilizan como representantes de las economías domésticas, su prosperidad y su capacidad para patrocinar fiestas. Comparamos y analizamos escalas de producción a la luz de las complejas relaciones entre los asentamientos, incluyendo las variaciones en sus funciones generales y su lugar dentro de la geopolítica regional. Los resultados arrojan luz sobre las variaciones en la hospitalidad comensal, el tamaño de las fiestas y la amplitud de las comunidades comensales. El estudio informa sobre vías alimentarias en contextos urbanos incipientes, y sugiere asimetrías económicas entre los diferentes asentamientos. La ciudad más grande de Caylán y el centro de élite de Huambacho parecen haber tenido la capacidad más importante para almacenar, cocinar y preparar alimentos y bebidas, mientras que los residentes de la aldea costera de Samanco, involucrados más estrechamente con la explotación marina y la producción industrial, parecen estar menos equipados para celebrar fiestas a gran escala. Esas diferencias dieron forma a la política local y jugaron un papel importante en la trayectoria del sistema de Nepeña durante el Horizonte Temprano.
During violent times, the defence of the community can be a powerful motivation for cooperation. ... more During violent times, the defence of the community can be a powerful motivation for cooperation. This goal can outweigh other needs, and depending on the frequency and scale of the threat, people may even modify their daily habitus. Changes in settlement patterns and infrastructure are manifestations of these behavioural shifts as well as evidence of the modification of the networks of cooperation and the formation of new collectivities. Using the case of the transition between the Late and Final Formative in the Nepeña Middle Valley, North Coast of Peru, I explore and analyse the relationship between escalated conflict and the formation of new social identities and political coalitions. During this time, multiple interests, including different sources of threat, were shaping various nested systems of cooperation in the same region.
This article, co-authored by David Chicoine and Hugo Ikehara, examines the development of urban f... more This article, co-authored by David Chicoine and Hugo Ikehara, examines the development of urban forms of community organization on the north-central coast of Peru during the 1st millennium B.C. Recent mapping and excavation fieldwork at the Early Horizon center of Caylán, Nepeña Valley, brings insights into the nucleation of human groups at an extensive valley floor complex. Results indicate the establishment of an urban core around cross-cutting avenues while architectural data from the different stone-and-mud walled compounds point towards the existence of multi-functional residential citadels. The density of architectural remains combined with the abundance of refuse is interpreted as indicative of a significant urban population. The Caylán research shed light on the development of urban forms of community planning after the demise of the Chavín sphere of interaction.
This work reports the presence of Zea mays microremains in three feasting episodes performed duri... more This work reports the presence of Zea mays microremains in three feasting episodes performed during the Middle and Late Formative Period in the North Coast of Peru. The remains of the Cerro Blanco de Nepeña feasts may represent a step toward the intensification of Zea mays consumption in ritual contexts, related to changes in the ceramic assemblages, and parallel to the transformation of ritual spaces during the second half of the Formative Period.
The following article, co-authored by Matthew Helmer, David Chicoine, and Hugo Ikehara, examines ... more The following article, co-authored by Matthew Helmer, David Chicoine, and Hugo Ikehara, examines ancient Andean performance at the Early Horizon site of Caylán (800-1 BC), Nepeña Valley, North-Central Coast of Peru. Caylán, a hypothesized early urban polity, was organized around a series of monumental enclosure compounds, each dominated by a plaza. Our research considers public performance from one of Caylán’s largest and best preserved plazas, Plaza-A. Results indicate a spatially exclusive, neighborhood-based plaza environment. Public activities included spectacles with music, processions, and architecture entombment. Patterns of small-scale plaza interactions are also discussed. At Caylán, regular public interactions structured and maintained group identities in a new residential environment. These results highlight the role of public performance in the maintenance and reproduction of community during periods of social transformation associated with the emergence of urban lifeways.
El presente dossier del Boletín de Antropología (BDA) de la Universidad de An-tioquía está dedica... more El presente dossier del Boletín de Antropología (BDA) de la Universidad de An-tioquía está dedicado a presentar diversas aproximaciones arqueológicas al estudio de la organización de comunidades locales. La elección de este tema, quizás uno de los más relevantes para la arqueología, se basó en tres razones: la primera es que no abundan los volúmenes de carácter comparativo que incluyan casos que por distanciarse espacial, cultural y temporalmente permitan observar similitudes y diferencias en la forma en que las personas se organizan para formar colectividades. La segunda es que, a pesar de la gran cantidad de bibliografía especializada en el tema, esta se encuentra en su mayoría en inglés, por lo que consideramos necesario tener la exposición de la discusión en castellano para un mayor impacto en el mundo académico latinoamericano. Y finalmente la tercera razón, tiene que ver con el hecho que una mirada del tema en otros países puede contribuir en la discusión del mismo
While clay vessels can be found throughout the archaeological record, in certain times and places... more While clay vessels can be found throughout the archaeological record, in certain times and places pottery took on an extraordinarilyimportant role as a primary bearer of meaning. In ancient Peru, for example, a region where writing as we understand it was not practiced, ceramic vessels became the expressive medium par excellence, essential for both ritual practice and the exchange of ideas. The evocative works featured in this Bulletin explore some 2,500 years of creative exploration in the Andes, taking a close look at remarkably imag- inative works that served as conduits to worldly and divine power.
Global Perspectives on Landscapes of Warfare examines the effects of conflict on landscapes and t... more Global Perspectives on Landscapes of Warfare examines the effects of conflict on landscapes and the ways landscapes have shaped social and political boundaries over time. Contributors from different archaeological traditions introduce a variety of methodologies and theories to understand and explain how territories and geographies in antiquity were modified in response to threat.
Drawing from eleven case studies from periods ranging over eight thousand years in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, contributors consider how social groups moved and concentrated residences, built infrastructure, invested resources, created alliances and negotiated with human and nonhuman entities for aid, formed and reformed borders, and memorialized sites and territories. Because landscapes of warfare deal with built environments, chapters are presented with rich graphic documentation—detailed maps, site plans, and artifacts—to support the analysis and interpretations.
Territories that have been appropriated and transformed by communities at war illustrate how built landscapes not only reflect immediate events but also influence subsequent generations. With a diverse array of case studies and an explicit focus on landscapes, Global Perspectives on Landscapes of Warfare will be of great interest to students and scholars of conflict archaeology and the anthropology and history of violence across the globe.
Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology , 2023
Between 1400 and 500 BCE, communities of the central Andes gradually adopted a visual culture dom... more Between 1400 and 500 BCE, communities of the central Andes gradually adopted a visual culture dominated by images of predation in nature. Fangs became pervasive in images and were incorporated into beings that naturally lacked them, such as humans and birds. Composite beings, articulating parts of different predators, became popular, being depicted in multiple media. This shared visual culture resulted from the expansion, adoption, and local adaptation of the Cupisnique-Chavín religious tradition, one of the earliest and most clear cases of religious integration in the Andes.
The results of archaeological research in the 20th and 21st centuries have provided abundant information to approximate the ritual practices associated with this religious tradition. In the ceremonial centers—designed to accommodate large audiences—friezes and sculptures depict nonhuman beings with attributes of predators. During ceremonies, people feasted, played music, shared knowledge and experiences, and interacted with these images of supernatural characteristics. The middens surrounding these temples are filled with the remains of these activities, such as broken ceramics, food remains, ritual paraphernalia, and even friezes—discarded during work feasts dedicated to architectural renovation.
Traditionally, these images depicted in sculptures and friezes have been considered representations of a pantheon of divinities. These interpretations were based on theoretical assumptions about the relationship between sacred and profane, nature and culture, human and nonhuman, and personhood. In theoretical frameworks that reevaluate the ontology of Indigenous people of the Ancient Americas—such as adaptations of Viveiros de Castro’s multinatural perspectivism and theory on Andean huacas—these stone sculptures, buildings, and landscape features can be considered powerful nonhuman persons and important members of the communities.
These ancient Andean beings must have acquired power from their relationship with the community and local landscapes. This sets them apart from the view of omnipresent divinities in modern world religions. In a world where one’s knowledge is acquired through experiencing the world, a way to acquire new knowledge may have involved seeing the world through the eyes of other beings. In the Cupisnique-Chavín world, the most powerful and wise of these nonhuman entities may have been those stone beings with multispecies abilities housed in the temples. The institution of pilgrimage may have emerged because of the need to acquire new knowledge from these extraordinary beings believed to dwell throughout the central Andes.
While scholarly research is thriving in the first decades of the 21st century, there are obstacles in the way of sharing these results with the nonscholarly public. Involuntarily, the reconstruction of the ceremonial temples has created solemn and sterile images of these ancient ceremonial temples, very far from the archaeological description of the findings in these places. This creates a continuing gap between what is known about these Cupisnique-Chavín ritual practices—and the role of the nonhuman in them—and the perception of the public as to this tradition.
The focus of this article centers on monumental ceremonial buildings that were planned but either... more The focus of this article centers on monumental ceremonial buildings that were planned but either left partially constructed or were completed in a fashion that differed from their original design. Instead of using these buildings to study the formation of collectivities and the consolidation of authority, I rely on their unfinished or altered character to study the crisis of institutions and organizations. This article uses the case of the middle Nepeña Valley (Peru) during the first millennium BCE to illustrate the wealth of information that can be obtained from this kind of archaeological remains if archaeologists are able to put them in historical context. Moreover, the studied case, from the transition between the demise of the Cupisnique/Chavín religious complex and the warlike Salinar era, suggests the existence of a legitimation crisis derived from the contradiction between traditional forms of social integration and new priorities emerging within a climate of violence and conflict.
Americae: European Journal of Americanist Archaeology, 2018
In this article, co-authored by Matthew Helmer, David Chicoine, Hugo Ikehara, and Koichiro Shibat... more In this article, co-authored by Matthew Helmer, David Chicoine, Hugo Ikehara, and Koichiro Shibata, we evaluate the relationships between plaza settings, ritual performances, and modes of sociopolitical integration in coastal Ancash during the Formative Period (local Cerro Blanco, Nepeña, and Samanco phases, 1100-150 cal BC). We chronicle shifts in the forms, dimensions, arrangements, and use of plaza settings to investigate deeper sociopolitical transformations in the Nepeña Valley. Recent field research in the region suggests the development of polities and communities of different levels of integration. This process coincides with the abandonment of Chavín and Cupisnique related ceremonial centers between 800 and 500 cal BC. Our respective field projects have brought detailed archaeological information on the organization of plaza settings, their location within each community, as well as their ritual use. In particular, we analyze data from the sites of Cerro Blanco, Caylán, Huambacho, Samanco, and Kushipampa. By comparing plaza settings and associated assemblages, we delineate different modes of sociopolitical integration and evaluate longitudinal changes in regional politics. The analysis of proxemic data, ritual paraphernalia, and feasting remains suggest the existence of three clusters of ritual life in Nepeña during the Formative Period. Results further suggest that after the demise of Chavín-Cupisnique centers, and at least in some areas of coastal Ancash, ritual practices became more decentralized and appropriated by multiple competing groups. At that time major geopolitical differences appear to have existed between the lower and middle portions of the coastal drainage. The Nepeña research confirms the value of regional and comparative approaches to study broader relationships between political authority, ritual performance, and public spaces in ancient complex societies.
Dans cet article, nous évaluons les relations entre les espaces publics (places), les performances rituelles et les modes d’intégration sociopolitique dans la zone côtière du département d’Ancash au Pérou durant la période formative (phases locales Cerro Blanco, Nepeña et Samanco, 1100-150 cal. av. J.-C.). Nous nous intéressons aux formes, dimensions, organisations et fonctions de ces espaces dans le but d’explorer les profondes transformations sociopolitiques qui secouèrent la vallée de Nepeña durant la période formative. Des fouilles archéologiques récentes dans la région suggèrent le développement d’entités politiques et de communautés à différentes échelles d’intégration. Ce processus coïncide avec l’abandon des centres cérémoniels associés aux phénomènes Chavín et Cupisnique entre 800 et 500 cal. av. J.-C. Nos projets de terrain respectifs fournissent des données archéologiques sur l’organisation des places, leur positionnement au sein de chaque communauté, de même que leurs fonctions rituelles. Nous analysons en particulier les données provenant des sites de Cerro Blanco, Caylán, Huambacho, Samanco et Kushipampa. En comparant les places et les caractéristiques des artefacts qui y ont été recueillis, nous identifions des modes distincts d’intégration sociopolitique et évaluons les changements diachroniques au niveau politique et régional. L’analyse de données proxémiques, des objets rituels et des restes de festin suggère l’existence de trois types ou groupes de vie rituelle dans la vallée de Nepeña durant la période formative. Nos résultats indiquent qu’à la suite du déclin des centres Chavín et Cupisnique, les pratiques rituelles devinrent, pour le moins dans certaines régions côtières d’Ancash, décentralisées et sous le contrôle de multiples groupes en compétition les uns avec les autres. À cette époque, des différences géopolitiques majeures existaient entre les basses et moyennes vallées côtières. Nos recherches à Nepeña confirment l’utilité des approches régionales et comparatives dans le cadre plus vaste de l’étude des relations entre l’autorité politique, les performances rituelles et les espaces publics au cours du développement des sociétés complexes anciennes.
En este artículo, evaluamos las relaciones entre los contextos espaciales públicos (plazas), las actuaciones rituales, y los modos de integración sociopolítica en la costa del Departamento de Ancash en Perú durante el Período Formativo (las fases locales Cerro Blanco, Nepeña y Samanco, 1100-150 cal. a.C.). Analizamos la variabilidad en formas, dimensiones, organización espacial, y funciones de las plazas con el objetivo de explorar las profundas transformaciones sociopolíticas que marcaron el valle de Nepeña durante el Período Formativo. Recientes investigaciones arqueológicas en la región sugieren el desarrollo de entidades políticas y comunidades de diferentes escalas de integración. Este proceso coincide con el abandono de los centros ceremoniales asociados con los fenómenos Chavín y Cupisnique entre 800 y 500 cal. a.C. Nuestros proyectos de investigación respectivos brindan datos arqueológicos sobre la organización de las plazas, su ubicación dentro de cada comunidad, así como sus funciones rituales. En particular, analizamos los datos de los sitios de Cerro Blanco, Caylán, Huambacho, Samanco y Kushipampa. A través de la comparación de las plazas y los artefactos excavados en sus espacios, delimitamos distintos modos de integración sociopolítica y evaluamos los cambios diacrónicos al nivel político y regional. El análisis de los datos proxémicos, de los objetos rituales y de los restos de festines sugiere la existencia de tres tipos o grupos de vida ritual en el valle de Nepeña durante el Período Formativo. Nuestros resultados indican que después de la caída de los centros Chavín y Cupisnique, las prácticas rituales cambiaron, a lo menos en ciertas regiones de la costa ancashina, hacia patrones más descentralizados y bajo el control de múltiples grupos en competencia entre ellos. Diferencias geopolíticas significativas aparecen entre el valle bajo y medio. Nuestras investigaciones en Nepeña confirman la utilidad de los enfoques regionales y comparativos en el estudio de las relaciones entre la autoridad política, las actuaciones rituales, y los espacios públicos en el desarrollo de las sociedades complejas prehispánicas.
Fortifications are special kinds of public construction projects because they must be erected bef... more Fortifications are special kinds of public construction projects because they must be erected before enemies attack. Thus, their design and construction reflect the coordination and cooperation of multiple segments of society under time pressure. In this article, we analyze the fortifications at Pucarani, a large hillfort in the Northern Titicaca Basin, to help understand the specifics of how fortifications were built in this region during the Late Intermediate Period.
Las fortificaciones son proyectos públicos de construcción peculiares en cuanto tienen que ser erigidas antes del ataque del enemigo. Por esto, el diseño y construcción de estas deben reflejar la coordinación y cooperación de múltiples segmentos de la sociedad bajo presión de tiempo. En este artículo, analizamos las defensas en Pucarani, un asentamiento fortificado en la cima de un cerro de la cuenca norte del Titicaca, para poder entender las especificidades de cómo las fortificaciones fueron construidas en esta región durante el Periodo Intermedio Tardío.
This contribution examines feasting strategies in Early Horizon Nepeña (800–200 BC), coastal Anca... more This contribution examines feasting strategies in Early Horizon Nepeña (800–200 BC), coastal Ancash, north-central Peru. Through the analysis of volumetric capacities of vessels, we estimate scales of food and drink production at three coeval sites of Caylán, Huambacho, and Samanco. Production scales at those communities are used as proxies for domestic economies, their prosperity and ability to sponsor feasts. We compare and analyze scales of domestic production in light of the complex relationships between the different settlements, including variations in their overall functions and place within regional geopolitics. Results shed light on variations in scales of potential commensal hospitality, size of feasting events, and amplitude of commensal communities. The study informs on foodways in incipient urban contexts, and suggests economic asymmetries between households from different settlements. The larger town of Caylán and elite center of Huambacho appear to have had the most important capacity to store, cook, and brew food and drink, while residents of the coastal village of Samanco, involved more closely with marine exploitation and industrial production, appear lesser equipped to hold large scale and/or numerous feasts. We hypothesize that those differences shaped local politics and played significant roles in the trajectory of the Early Horizon system. Esta contribución examina festines durante el Horizonte Temprano (800-200 aC) en Nepeña, Perú norcentral. A través del análisis volumétrico de las vasijas, estimamos las escalas de producción de alimentos y bebidas en tres sitios contemporáneos: Caylán, Huambacho y Samanco. Las escalas de producción en esas comunidades se utilizan como representantes de las economías domésticas, su prosperidad y su capacidad para patrocinar fiestas. Comparamos y analizamos escalas de producción a la luz de las complejas relaciones entre los asentamientos, incluyendo las variaciones en sus funciones generales y su lugar dentro de la geopolítica regional. Los resultados arrojan luz sobre las variaciones en la hospitalidad comensal, el tamaño de las fiestas y la amplitud de las comunidades comensales. El estudio informa sobre vías alimentarias en contextos urbanos incipientes, y sugiere asimetrías económicas entre los diferentes asentamientos. La ciudad más grande de Caylán y el centro de élite de Huambacho parecen haber tenido la capacidad más importante para almacenar, cocinar y preparar alimentos y bebidas, mientras que los residentes de la aldea costera de Samanco, involucrados más estrechamente con la explotación marina y la producción industrial, parecen estar menos equipados para celebrar fiestas a gran escala. Esas diferencias dieron forma a la política local y jugaron un papel importante en la trayectoria del sistema de Nepeña durante el Horizonte Temprano.
During violent times, the defence of the community can be a powerful motivation for cooperation. ... more During violent times, the defence of the community can be a powerful motivation for cooperation. This goal can outweigh other needs, and depending on the frequency and scale of the threat, people may even modify their daily habitus. Changes in settlement patterns and infrastructure are manifestations of these behavioural shifts as well as evidence of the modification of the networks of cooperation and the formation of new collectivities. Using the case of the transition between the Late and Final Formative in the Nepeña Middle Valley, North Coast of Peru, I explore and analyse the relationship between escalated conflict and the formation of new social identities and political coalitions. During this time, multiple interests, including different sources of threat, were shaping various nested systems of cooperation in the same region.
This article, co-authored by David Chicoine and Hugo Ikehara, examines the development of urban f... more This article, co-authored by David Chicoine and Hugo Ikehara, examines the development of urban forms of community organization on the north-central coast of Peru during the 1st millennium B.C. Recent mapping and excavation fieldwork at the Early Horizon center of Caylán, Nepeña Valley, brings insights into the nucleation of human groups at an extensive valley floor complex. Results indicate the establishment of an urban core around cross-cutting avenues while architectural data from the different stone-and-mud walled compounds point towards the existence of multi-functional residential citadels. The density of architectural remains combined with the abundance of refuse is interpreted as indicative of a significant urban population. The Caylán research shed light on the development of urban forms of community planning after the demise of the Chavín sphere of interaction.
This work reports the presence of Zea mays microremains in three feasting episodes performed duri... more This work reports the presence of Zea mays microremains in three feasting episodes performed during the Middle and Late Formative Period in the North Coast of Peru. The remains of the Cerro Blanco de Nepeña feasts may represent a step toward the intensification of Zea mays consumption in ritual contexts, related to changes in the ceramic assemblages, and parallel to the transformation of ritual spaces during the second half of the Formative Period.
The following article, co-authored by Matthew Helmer, David Chicoine, and Hugo Ikehara, examines ... more The following article, co-authored by Matthew Helmer, David Chicoine, and Hugo Ikehara, examines ancient Andean performance at the Early Horizon site of Caylán (800-1 BC), Nepeña Valley, North-Central Coast of Peru. Caylán, a hypothesized early urban polity, was organized around a series of monumental enclosure compounds, each dominated by a plaza. Our research considers public performance from one of Caylán’s largest and best preserved plazas, Plaza-A. Results indicate a spatially exclusive, neighborhood-based plaza environment. Public activities included spectacles with music, processions, and architecture entombment. Patterns of small-scale plaza interactions are also discussed. At Caylán, regular public interactions structured and maintained group identities in a new residential environment. These results highlight the role of public performance in the maintenance and reproduction of community during periods of social transformation associated with the emergence of urban lifeways.
El presente dossier del Boletín de Antropología (BDA) de la Universidad de An-tioquía está dedica... more El presente dossier del Boletín de Antropología (BDA) de la Universidad de An-tioquía está dedicado a presentar diversas aproximaciones arqueológicas al estudio de la organización de comunidades locales. La elección de este tema, quizás uno de los más relevantes para la arqueología, se basó en tres razones: la primera es que no abundan los volúmenes de carácter comparativo que incluyan casos que por distanciarse espacial, cultural y temporalmente permitan observar similitudes y diferencias en la forma en que las personas se organizan para formar colectividades. La segunda es que, a pesar de la gran cantidad de bibliografía especializada en el tema, esta se encuentra en su mayoría en inglés, por lo que consideramos necesario tener la exposición de la discusión en castellano para un mayor impacto en el mundo académico latinoamericano. Y finalmente la tercera razón, tiene que ver con el hecho que una mirada del tema en otros países puede contribuir en la discusión del mismo
Rituals of the Past: Prehispanic and Colonial Case Studies in Andean Archaeology, 2017
This chapter, co-authored by David Chicoine, Hugo Ikehara, Koichiro Shibata, and Matthew Helmer, ... more This chapter, co-authored by David Chicoine, Hugo Ikehara, Koichiro Shibata, and Matthew Helmer, takes a regional and comparative approach to explore variations in religious constructions and their visual perception in the Nepeña Valley, coastal Ancash, Peru. We are interested in the perception of religiously significant places, landscapes, and monuments. More specifically, we evaluate the level of sociopolitical variability between local communities as viewed through the design of public monuments, their visual impact, and placement within the Nepeña landscape.
This chapter, co-authored by Hugo Ikehara and David Chicoine, examines the transition between the... more This chapter, co-authored by Hugo Ikehara and David Chicoine, examines the transition between the final stages of the Formative Period in Nepeña and focuses on the relevance and place of the Salinar phenomenon in our understanding of social and cultural developments. The Salinar phenomenon has been ascribed as a ceramic style, a culture, and a network of interrelated polities. Although it has also been used to investigate the origins of urbanism, very little is currently about the Salinar phenomenon, especially south of the Virú Valley. This article offers a reassessment of the Salinar phenomenon as viewed through recent investigations in the Nepeña Valley, coastal Ancash, where different patterns of community organization have been reported. It is hypothesized that Salinar corresponds to a phenomenon of changing conditions that include increase of inter-community tensions and armed conflicts, the emergence of centralized settlements with defensive architecture and high population densities, as well as innovations in architecture and ceramic vessels, which roots can be traced into the Late Formative.
This research focuses on the transformation of political leadership in the North Coast of Peru. S... more This research focuses on the transformation of political leadership in the North Coast of Peru. Specifically, it explores how crises create contexts in which existing leadership structures weaken, giving scope to the development of alternative, even competing, modes of authority and power. This dissertation presents a multi-scalar analytical approach, at levels ranging from the community to the regional, of demographic, political, and socioeconomic changes following the disintegration of the Cupisnique-Chavín Religious Complex (750-500 B.C.) in the Nepeña Middle Valley. This loss of an overarching ideology and social order can be construed as a cultural crisis. The fieldwork on which this study is based consisted of a full coverage pedestrian regional survey of 87.8 km2 of territory, and was followed by a GIS (Geographic Information System)-based reconstruction and analysis of demography, economic organization, resources, ceremonial architecture and warfare. After 500 B.C., the survey area saw explosive population growth, multiple supra-local communities were formed, and leadership was constituted in a varied of ways. Several new power and authority bases, such as control of access to ritual spaces, dominance of certain craft production, population nucleation, and war leadership made their appearance during the Final Formative Period. During the following period, as part of a second crisis in the form of a dramatic demographic collapse, some leading households consolidated power bases, including dominance of irrigation systems and long-distance exchange networks in exotics, allowed their districts to exercise hegemony in the survey zone. These findings make it possible to explore the causes and importance of the multiple factors shaping societal outcomes in dealing with each crisis, from both agency and evolutionary perspectives.
Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2014
In this paper, co-authored by David Chicoine, Koichiro Shibata, Hugo Ikehara, and Matthew Helmer,... more In this paper, co-authored by David Chicoine, Koichiro Shibata, Hugo Ikehara, and Matthew Helmer, we evaluate plaza performances and sociopolitical integration in coastal Ancash during the Formative Period (local Cerro Blanco, Nepeña, and Samanco phases, ~1100-150 cal BC). Recent field research in the region suggests the development of polities and communities of different levels of integration based on settlement patterns and the distribution of ceramic styles. These developments coincide with the abandonment of Chavín and Cupisnique-related religious centers in the region between 800 and 500 BC. We explore the shift in patterns of ritual practices and built ritual settings after the demise of large regional centers in coastal Ancash. The Late Formative marked the emergence of a multitude of community that seems to vary in scale, complexity and modes of social integration. Through a comparison of plaza settings and associated material assemblages, we delineate different nodes of sociopolitical integrations. Results suggest that the demise of Middle Formative regional ceremonial centers and the development of Late Formative settlements marked, at least in some areas of coastal Ancash, a decentralization of ritual practices. Rather than being limited to large-scale gatherings at regional centers, the fragmentation of the ritual landscape – and especially the integration of plaza settings within exclusive residential environments – point toward the appropriation of ritual practices by multiple competing groups.
Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2012
In this paper, co-authored by Matthew Helmer, Hugo Ikehara, and David Chicoine, we examine the tr... more In this paper, co-authored by Matthew Helmer, Hugo Ikehara, and David Chicoine, we examine the transformation of ritual spaces during the Late-Final Formative period at the site of Caylán in the Nepeña valley. At this time, groups abandon open mound-plaza complexes in favor of enclosure compounds with numerous sunken plazas. This transformation, we argue, is related to a shift in political behavior associated with the emergence of urban contexts. We present excavation and mapping data at one of Caylán’s plazas which are discussed through performance. We argue that Caylán plaza settings were used during large-scale festivals as well as smaller-scale day-to-day social interactions in exclusive, neighborhood-based contexts.
Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, 2011
This paper is co-authored by David Chicoine and Hugo Ikeahra. Carol Mackey’s work contributed sig... more This paper is co-authored by David Chicoine and Hugo Ikeahra. Carol Mackey’s work contributed significantly to our understanding of urbanism in ancient Peru. In Nepeña, a coastal valley in Ancash, our recent work has brought insights into early forms of enclosure compounds and lifestyles during the first millennium BC. Here, we review enclosure designs ascribed to the Salinar phenomenon. By considering and comparing variations at the regional level, we suggest that Salinar is best understood in terms of situated historical processes that included increased intergroup conflicts, and differential political patterns of integration and fragmentation, both linked to the demise of the Chavín sphere and the emergence of dense settlements.
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Drawing from eleven case studies from periods ranging over eight thousand years in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, contributors consider how social groups moved and concentrated residences, built infrastructure, invested resources, created alliances and negotiated with human and nonhuman entities for aid, formed and reformed borders, and memorialized sites and territories. Because landscapes of warfare deal with built environments, chapters are presented with rich graphic documentation—detailed maps, site plans, and artifacts—to support the analysis and interpretations.
Territories that have been appropriated and transformed by communities at war illustrate how built landscapes not only reflect immediate events but also influence subsequent generations. With a diverse array of case studies and an explicit focus on landscapes, Global Perspectives on Landscapes of Warfare will be of great interest to students and scholars of conflict archaeology and the anthropology and history of violence across the globe.
The results of archaeological research in the 20th and 21st centuries have provided abundant information to approximate the ritual practices associated with this religious tradition. In the ceremonial centers—designed to accommodate large audiences—friezes and sculptures depict nonhuman beings with attributes of predators. During ceremonies, people feasted, played music, shared knowledge and experiences, and interacted with these images of supernatural characteristics. The middens surrounding these temples are filled with the remains of these activities, such as broken ceramics, food remains, ritual paraphernalia, and even friezes—discarded during work feasts dedicated to architectural renovation.
Traditionally, these images depicted in sculptures and friezes have been considered representations of a pantheon of divinities. These interpretations were based on theoretical assumptions about the relationship between sacred and profane, nature and culture, human and nonhuman, and personhood. In theoretical frameworks that reevaluate the ontology of Indigenous people of the Ancient Americas—such as adaptations of Viveiros de Castro’s multinatural perspectivism and theory on Andean huacas—these stone sculptures, buildings, and landscape features can be considered powerful nonhuman persons and important members of the communities.
These ancient Andean beings must have acquired power from their relationship with the community and local landscapes. This sets them apart from the view of omnipresent divinities in modern world religions. In a world where one’s knowledge is acquired through experiencing the world, a way to acquire new knowledge may have involved seeing the world through the eyes of other beings. In the Cupisnique-Chavín world, the most powerful and wise of these nonhuman entities may have been those stone beings with multispecies abilities housed in the temples. The institution of pilgrimage may have emerged because of the need to acquire new knowledge from these extraordinary beings believed to dwell throughout the central Andes.
While scholarly research is thriving in the first decades of the 21st century, there are obstacles in the way of sharing these results with the nonscholarly public. Involuntarily, the reconstruction of the ceremonial temples has created solemn and sterile images of these ancient ceremonial temples, very far from the archaeological description of the findings in these places. This creates a continuing gap between what is known about these Cupisnique-Chavín ritual practices—and the role of the nonhuman in them—and the perception of the public as to this tradition.
Dans cet article, nous évaluons les relations entre les espaces publics (places), les performances rituelles et les modes d’intégration sociopolitique dans la zone côtière du département d’Ancash au Pérou durant la période formative (phases locales Cerro Blanco, Nepeña et Samanco, 1100-150 cal. av. J.-C.). Nous nous intéressons aux formes, dimensions, organisations et fonctions de ces espaces dans le but d’explorer les profondes transformations sociopolitiques qui secouèrent la vallée de Nepeña durant la période formative. Des fouilles archéologiques récentes dans la région suggèrent le développement d’entités politiques et de communautés à différentes échelles d’intégration. Ce processus coïncide avec l’abandon des centres cérémoniels associés aux phénomènes Chavín et Cupisnique entre 800 et 500 cal. av. J.-C. Nos projets de terrain respectifs fournissent des données archéologiques sur l’organisation des places, leur positionnement au sein de chaque communauté, de même que leurs fonctions rituelles. Nous analysons en particulier les données provenant des sites de Cerro Blanco, Caylán, Huambacho, Samanco et Kushipampa. En comparant les places et les caractéristiques des artefacts qui y ont été recueillis, nous identifions des modes distincts d’intégration sociopolitique et évaluons les changements diachroniques au niveau politique et régional. L’analyse de données proxémiques, des objets rituels et des restes de festin suggère l’existence de trois types ou groupes de vie rituelle dans la vallée de Nepeña durant la période formative. Nos résultats indiquent qu’à la suite du déclin des centres Chavín et Cupisnique, les pratiques rituelles devinrent, pour le moins dans certaines régions côtières d’Ancash, décentralisées et sous le contrôle de multiples groupes en compétition les uns avec les autres. À cette époque, des différences géopolitiques majeures existaient entre les basses et moyennes vallées côtières. Nos recherches à Nepeña confirment l’utilité des approches régionales et comparatives dans le cadre plus vaste de l’étude des relations entre l’autorité politique, les performances rituelles et les espaces publics au cours du développement des sociétés complexes anciennes.
En este artículo, evaluamos las relaciones entre los contextos espaciales públicos (plazas), las actuaciones rituales, y los modos de integración sociopolítica en la costa del Departamento de Ancash en Perú durante el Período Formativo (las fases locales Cerro Blanco, Nepeña y Samanco, 1100-150 cal. a.C.). Analizamos la variabilidad en formas, dimensiones, organización espacial, y funciones de las plazas con el objetivo de explorar las profundas transformaciones sociopolíticas que marcaron el valle de Nepeña durante el Período Formativo. Recientes investigaciones arqueológicas en la región sugieren el desarrollo de entidades políticas y comunidades de diferentes escalas de integración. Este proceso coincide con el abandono de los centros ceremoniales asociados con los fenómenos Chavín y Cupisnique entre 800 y 500 cal. a.C. Nuestros proyectos de investigación respectivos brindan datos arqueológicos sobre la organización de las plazas, su ubicación dentro de cada comunidad, así como sus funciones rituales. En particular, analizamos los datos de los sitios de Cerro Blanco, Caylán, Huambacho, Samanco y Kushipampa. A través de la comparación de las plazas y los artefactos excavados en sus espacios, delimitamos distintos modos de integración sociopolítica y evaluamos los cambios diacrónicos al nivel político y regional. El análisis de los datos proxémicos, de los objetos rituales y de los restos de festines sugiere la existencia de tres tipos o grupos de vida ritual en el valle de Nepeña durante el Período Formativo. Nuestros resultados indican que después de la caída de los centros Chavín y Cupisnique, las prácticas rituales cambiaron, a lo menos en ciertas regiones de la costa ancashina, hacia patrones más descentralizados y bajo el control de múltiples grupos en competencia entre ellos. Diferencias geopolíticas significativas aparecen entre el valle bajo y medio. Nuestras investigaciones en Nepeña confirman la utilidad de los enfoques regionales y comparativos en el estudio de las relaciones entre la autoridad política, las actuaciones rituales, y los espacios públicos en el desarrollo de las sociedades complejas prehispánicas.
Las fortificaciones son proyectos públicos de construcción peculiares en cuanto tienen que ser erigidas antes del ataque del enemigo. Por esto, el diseño y construcción de estas deben reflejar la coordinación y cooperación de múltiples segmentos de la sociedad bajo presión de tiempo. En este artículo, analizamos las defensas en Pucarani, un asentamiento fortificado en la cima de un cerro de la cuenca norte del Titicaca, para poder entender las especificidades de cómo las fortificaciones fueron construidas en esta región durante el Periodo Intermedio Tardío.
Drawing from eleven case studies from periods ranging over eight thousand years in the Americas, Asia, and Europe, contributors consider how social groups moved and concentrated residences, built infrastructure, invested resources, created alliances and negotiated with human and nonhuman entities for aid, formed and reformed borders, and memorialized sites and territories. Because landscapes of warfare deal with built environments, chapters are presented with rich graphic documentation—detailed maps, site plans, and artifacts—to support the analysis and interpretations.
Territories that have been appropriated and transformed by communities at war illustrate how built landscapes not only reflect immediate events but also influence subsequent generations. With a diverse array of case studies and an explicit focus on landscapes, Global Perspectives on Landscapes of Warfare will be of great interest to students and scholars of conflict archaeology and the anthropology and history of violence across the globe.
The results of archaeological research in the 20th and 21st centuries have provided abundant information to approximate the ritual practices associated with this religious tradition. In the ceremonial centers—designed to accommodate large audiences—friezes and sculptures depict nonhuman beings with attributes of predators. During ceremonies, people feasted, played music, shared knowledge and experiences, and interacted with these images of supernatural characteristics. The middens surrounding these temples are filled with the remains of these activities, such as broken ceramics, food remains, ritual paraphernalia, and even friezes—discarded during work feasts dedicated to architectural renovation.
Traditionally, these images depicted in sculptures and friezes have been considered representations of a pantheon of divinities. These interpretations were based on theoretical assumptions about the relationship between sacred and profane, nature and culture, human and nonhuman, and personhood. In theoretical frameworks that reevaluate the ontology of Indigenous people of the Ancient Americas—such as adaptations of Viveiros de Castro’s multinatural perspectivism and theory on Andean huacas—these stone sculptures, buildings, and landscape features can be considered powerful nonhuman persons and important members of the communities.
These ancient Andean beings must have acquired power from their relationship with the community and local landscapes. This sets them apart from the view of omnipresent divinities in modern world religions. In a world where one’s knowledge is acquired through experiencing the world, a way to acquire new knowledge may have involved seeing the world through the eyes of other beings. In the Cupisnique-Chavín world, the most powerful and wise of these nonhuman entities may have been those stone beings with multispecies abilities housed in the temples. The institution of pilgrimage may have emerged because of the need to acquire new knowledge from these extraordinary beings believed to dwell throughout the central Andes.
While scholarly research is thriving in the first decades of the 21st century, there are obstacles in the way of sharing these results with the nonscholarly public. Involuntarily, the reconstruction of the ceremonial temples has created solemn and sterile images of these ancient ceremonial temples, very far from the archaeological description of the findings in these places. This creates a continuing gap between what is known about these Cupisnique-Chavín ritual practices—and the role of the nonhuman in them—and the perception of the public as to this tradition.
Dans cet article, nous évaluons les relations entre les espaces publics (places), les performances rituelles et les modes d’intégration sociopolitique dans la zone côtière du département d’Ancash au Pérou durant la période formative (phases locales Cerro Blanco, Nepeña et Samanco, 1100-150 cal. av. J.-C.). Nous nous intéressons aux formes, dimensions, organisations et fonctions de ces espaces dans le but d’explorer les profondes transformations sociopolitiques qui secouèrent la vallée de Nepeña durant la période formative. Des fouilles archéologiques récentes dans la région suggèrent le développement d’entités politiques et de communautés à différentes échelles d’intégration. Ce processus coïncide avec l’abandon des centres cérémoniels associés aux phénomènes Chavín et Cupisnique entre 800 et 500 cal. av. J.-C. Nos projets de terrain respectifs fournissent des données archéologiques sur l’organisation des places, leur positionnement au sein de chaque communauté, de même que leurs fonctions rituelles. Nous analysons en particulier les données provenant des sites de Cerro Blanco, Caylán, Huambacho, Samanco et Kushipampa. En comparant les places et les caractéristiques des artefacts qui y ont été recueillis, nous identifions des modes distincts d’intégration sociopolitique et évaluons les changements diachroniques au niveau politique et régional. L’analyse de données proxémiques, des objets rituels et des restes de festin suggère l’existence de trois types ou groupes de vie rituelle dans la vallée de Nepeña durant la période formative. Nos résultats indiquent qu’à la suite du déclin des centres Chavín et Cupisnique, les pratiques rituelles devinrent, pour le moins dans certaines régions côtières d’Ancash, décentralisées et sous le contrôle de multiples groupes en compétition les uns avec les autres. À cette époque, des différences géopolitiques majeures existaient entre les basses et moyennes vallées côtières. Nos recherches à Nepeña confirment l’utilité des approches régionales et comparatives dans le cadre plus vaste de l’étude des relations entre l’autorité politique, les performances rituelles et les espaces publics au cours du développement des sociétés complexes anciennes.
En este artículo, evaluamos las relaciones entre los contextos espaciales públicos (plazas), las actuaciones rituales, y los modos de integración sociopolítica en la costa del Departamento de Ancash en Perú durante el Período Formativo (las fases locales Cerro Blanco, Nepeña y Samanco, 1100-150 cal. a.C.). Analizamos la variabilidad en formas, dimensiones, organización espacial, y funciones de las plazas con el objetivo de explorar las profundas transformaciones sociopolíticas que marcaron el valle de Nepeña durante el Período Formativo. Recientes investigaciones arqueológicas en la región sugieren el desarrollo de entidades políticas y comunidades de diferentes escalas de integración. Este proceso coincide con el abandono de los centros ceremoniales asociados con los fenómenos Chavín y Cupisnique entre 800 y 500 cal. a.C. Nuestros proyectos de investigación respectivos brindan datos arqueológicos sobre la organización de las plazas, su ubicación dentro de cada comunidad, así como sus funciones rituales. En particular, analizamos los datos de los sitios de Cerro Blanco, Caylán, Huambacho, Samanco y Kushipampa. A través de la comparación de las plazas y los artefactos excavados en sus espacios, delimitamos distintos modos de integración sociopolítica y evaluamos los cambios diacrónicos al nivel político y regional. El análisis de los datos proxémicos, de los objetos rituales y de los restos de festines sugiere la existencia de tres tipos o grupos de vida ritual en el valle de Nepeña durante el Período Formativo. Nuestros resultados indican que después de la caída de los centros Chavín y Cupisnique, las prácticas rituales cambiaron, a lo menos en ciertas regiones de la costa ancashina, hacia patrones más descentralizados y bajo el control de múltiples grupos en competencia entre ellos. Diferencias geopolíticas significativas aparecen entre el valle bajo y medio. Nuestras investigaciones en Nepeña confirman la utilidad de los enfoques regionales y comparativos en el estudio de las relaciones entre la autoridad política, las actuaciones rituales, y los espacios públicos en el desarrollo de las sociedades complejas prehispánicas.
Las fortificaciones son proyectos públicos de construcción peculiares en cuanto tienen que ser erigidas antes del ataque del enemigo. Por esto, el diseño y construcción de estas deben reflejar la coordinación y cooperación de múltiples segmentos de la sociedad bajo presión de tiempo. En este artículo, analizamos las defensas en Pucarani, un asentamiento fortificado en la cima de un cerro de la cuenca norte del Titicaca, para poder entender las especificidades de cómo las fortificaciones fueron construidas en esta región durante el Periodo Intermedio Tardío.