Ancash

As landscape art, the rock art of the central Andes offers clues regarding relationships between ancestor veneration and the negotiation of rights to water. To understand these relationships this book focuses on a large complement of rock art situated in highland Ancash, Peru, (3400 - 4250 m.a.s.l.). Regional survey excavation data from key rock art sites are synthesised to identify diachronic changes in imagery, production techniques and location, and to develop a typology and a spatio-temporal map for the rock art of the region that spans nearly 4,000 years (1800 BCE - CE 1820). These data are paired with 17th century Spanish Colonial accounts to trace back in time when specific, named groups socialised this landscape. A semiotic model, informed by interdisciplinary approaches, is applied to answer questions regarding the agency of these rock art places in socialising the land through establishing ancestral relations to water and rock features.

El proyecto analizó las colecciones líticas de Chavín de Huántar, esculturas que comprenden cabezas clavas y cornisas resguardadas por el Museo Nacional Chavín y el MNAAHP.  En la investigación se emplearon equipos multimedia que nos permitieron examinar y conocer las piedras: sus propiedades petrológicas, su procedencia foránea y restos de pigmentos, que sugieren que estas estuvieron pintadas.  En el caso de las cabezas clavas, hay residuos de una sustancia similar al pegamento, centro de los ojos y ligeros daños alrededor de las pupilas.  Estos hallazgos nos instan a repensar la experiencia del espectador de esculturas líticas durante el período Formativo.

RESUMEN En el presente artículo presentamos los resultados de las investigaciones arqueológicas desarrolladas en el anexo de Colquioc, distrito del mismo nombre. Las prospecciones arqueológicas han permitido registrar sitios arqueológicos hasta hoy desconocidos para la arqueología, de los periodos Horizonte Temprano, conformado por estructuras piramidales; pequeñas unidades domésticas y áreas funerarias del Periodo Intermedio Tardío; y el pueblo viejo de datación Colonial, correspondiente al pueblo de fundación reduccional del primer siglo de dominación hispana. La zona de Colquioc adquirió una importancia estratégica en periodos prehispánicos por su ubicación, junto a la confluencia de los ríos Fortaleza y Purísima, siendo punto de encuentro de diversos grupos a través del tinkuy. Palabras clave: arqueología, Ancash, cuenca del río Fortaleza, arqueología del territorio, arqueología histórica. Colquioc archeology, Purisima river valley, middle basin of the Fortaleza, Ancash ABSTRACT In this article we present the results of the archaeological investigations carried out in the Colquioc annex, district of the same name. Archaeological surveys have allowed to record archaeological sites hitherto unknown to archeology, from the Early Horizon periods, made up of pyramidal structures; small domestic units and burial areas of the Late Intermediate Period; and the old town of Colonial dating, corresponding to the town of reduction foundation of the first century of Hispanic domination. The Colquioc area acquired strategic importance in pre-Hispanic periods due to its location, next to the confluence of the Fortaleza and Purisima rivers, being a meeting point for various groups through the Tinkuy.

We examined patterns in bird community composition across a fragmented high-Andean Polylepis landscape currently afforded protection within the Huascaran Biosphere Reserve, Peru. Across five different locations we found significant between-site differences in all broad habitat characteristics, where Polylepis woodlands dominated the landscape, surrounded by a non-woodland puna matrix. Bird species richness and relative abundance was greatest in medium-sized woodlands whereas bird diversity was surprisingly greatest in significantly smaller woodland areas. All five sites were home to subpopulations of 14 conservation-important species, but the number and type of species varied. Our study confirms that the Huascaran Biosphere Reserve represents a critical area for high-Andean bird conservation. Further quantitative landscape evidence on the influence of the surrounding matrix, the Polylepis–matrix interface, and woodland habitat quality on bird community composition will be crucial in designing sustainable management strategies within the Biosphere Reserve.