Early Watertable Farming on the North Coast of Peru

1979 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael West

An archaeological example of simple watertable farming dating to the beginning of the Early Intermediate period in the Viru Valley, northern Peru, is reported. This technique was deployed by functionally differentiated segments of a single community, one stressing fishing and the other farming. Analyses of pollens indicate that Zea, Leguminosae, and Solonaceae were grown in two separate field systems.

1954 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis M. Stumer

This Article is intended less as a descriptive piece on the archaeology of the Rimac Valley than it is as a single-valley application of various conclusions reached by Richard P. Schaedel in his Major Ceremonial and Population Centers in Northern Peru (1951). Schaedel, in a broad synthetic study of major ruins on the North Coast of Peru, comes to several interesting conclusions on the “urban revolution” in that region. The author, who was already engaged in a survey of the Rimac, with the focus on the coastal cultures from sea level to the 1000-meter line, felt impelled to shift the emphasis of his survey from straight description to a Central Coast application of Schaedel's North Coast findings. This was a fairly easy task, as the sites were already being analyzed both architecturally and ceramically.The Rimac, the “valley of Lima,” presents sufficient of both typical and atypical features of a Peruvian coastal valley to make the application of Schaedel's theories to a single valley at least fairly indicative of their validity for the entire Peruvian coast.


Author(s):  
Megann Phillips ◽  
Vanessa Cruz ◽  
Erin Martin ◽  
Dylan Smith ◽  
Bernarda Elias ◽  
...  

Understanding pre-Hispanic Andean medical practices through skeletal evidence of surgery has been the focus of a number of bioarchaeological investigations in recent years. Amputation is an especially interesting topic of research due to the variety of social contexts in which it might have occurred. Interpretations for amputation found on the north coast of Peru have included therapeutic intervention, punitive measures, and ritualistic dismemberment. Here, we present two new cases of successful left foot amputation in young adult females excavated from Huaca Las Balsas (Late Intermediate Period, A.D. 1100–1470) and Huaca Las Abejas (Late Horizon, A.D. 1470–1535) at the ancient religious and administrative center of Túcume. Chronologically, they are the latest cases of pre-Hispanic amputation published to date. Contextual evidence supports a therapeutic motivation for the procedure, as individualized burial treatment and placement within a cemetery group of social elites is not consistent with punitive or ritualistic action. Modification of the malleoli, extensive bone proliferation covering the talar articulations, and asymmetrical cortical bone thickness of the tibiae and fibulae (revealed radiographically) suggest the return of some functional mobility using the affected limb after healing. This long-term recovery is evidence of access to quality medical care and accommodation of functional impairment within the amputees’ communities. The presented research uses the bioarchaeology of care to explore the lived experiences of these amputees and their social identities, making an important contribution to the anthropology of disability across cultures and time periods. Comprender las prácticas médicas andinas prehispánicas a través de evidencia esquelética de cirugía ha sido el foco de una serie de investigaciones bioarqueológicas en los últimos años. La amputación es un tema de investigación especialmente interesante debido a la variedad de contextos sociales en los que podría haber ocurrido. Las interpretaciones para la amputación que se encuentran en la costa norte del Perú han incluido la intervención terapéutica, las medidas punitivas y el desmembramiento ritual. Aquí, presentamos dos nuevos casos de amputación exitosa del pie izquierdo en hembras adultas jóvenes excavadas desde Huaca Las Balsas (PeríodoIntermedio Tardío, A.D. 1100–1470) y Huaca Las Abejas (Horizonte Tardío, D.C. 1470–1535) en el antiguo centro religioso y administrativo de Túcume. Cronológicamente, son los últimos casos de amputación prehispánica publicados hasta la fecha. La evidencia contextual apoya una motivación terapéutica para el procedimiento, ya que el tratamiento y la colocación individualizados del entierro dentro de un grupo cementerio de élites sociales no es consistente con la acción punitiva o ritualista. La modificación de los maléolos, la extensa proliferación ósea que cubre las articulaciones talares y el grosor óseo cortical asimétrico de las tibias y los peronés (revelados radiográficamente) sugieren el regreso de cierta movilidad funcional utilizando la extremidad afectada despuésde la curación. Esta recuperación a largo plazo es evidencia del acceso a atención médica de calidad y alojamiento de deterioro funcional dentro de las comunidades de amputados. La investigación presentada utiliza la “bioarqueología de la caridad” para explorar las experiencias vividas de estos amputados y sus identidades sociales, haciendo una contribución importante a la antropología de la discapacidad a través de las culturas y períodos de tiempo.


Author(s):  
Richard C. Sutter ◽  
Gabriel Prieto

Chapter 9 discusses ethnogenesis on the north coast of Peru from the perspective of bioarchaeology at the Initial Period site of Pampa Gramalote (1500–1200 cal B.C./3450–1350 cal BP) in the Moche valley in northern Peru. The authors examine the genetic relationship between fishing and contemporary, nearby populations using dental traits. They conclude that Gramalote contrasts sharply with preceding maritime populations of the Peruvian Preceramic Period and exchanged mates with farming populations in the adjacent valley. Ethnic identity here is not coterminous with genetics but rather a result of shared economic activities.


1987 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 832-835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa Lange Topic ◽  
Thomas H. McGreevy ◽  
John R. Topic

In presenting a case for the viability of llamas on the desert coast of northern Peru in prehispanic times, Shimada and Shimada (1985) suggest that alpacas might also have been adapted to the coastal environment. Alpacas are primarily wool producers however, best adapted to the high altitude pasturelands of central and southern Peru. Wool yarn used in coastal textiles, it is argued, was imported from the highlands. While coastal llama herding is an aspect of regional self-sufficiency, alpaca wool yarn was important in the long distance exchange networks which, in later Andean prehistory, distributed rare materials and products for elite consumption.


1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher B. Donnan

A Chimú-Inka ceramic-manufacturing center, dating ca. A.D. 1470-1532, has been located in the Jequetepeque Valley of northern Peru. An analysis of a large sample of molds and over-fired sherds from the site indicates that the potters produced both local and Inka-derived forms—primarily mold-made utility wares. Since Inka aryballoid bottles were produced here, their production, and presumably their use, was more akin to utility wares for commoners than to ceremonial/administrative ware for the elite. Although there were numerous potters involved in the production of large numbers of vessels, the production was not organized with strict division of labor, but rather with each individual potter working on most stages of production.


Art History ◽  
2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanne Pillsbury

The Chimú culture flourished on what is now the north coast of Peru from around 1000 ce to c. 1470, when the polity was conquered by the Inca. The Chimú state, sometimes referred to in the historical sources as Chimor, dominated a length of approximately one thousand kilometers of the coast, from nearly what is now the border between Peru and Ecuador to just north of the modern capital of Lima. The Chimú were the most powerful entity in the period known as the Late Intermediate period but drew upon cultural traditions developed in the same region in earlier periods, particularly the Moche and the Lambayeque (also known as Sicán). Indeed, the capital of the Chimú state, Chan Chan, was constructed just a few kilometers away from the earlier Moche center of Huaca de la Luna and Huaca del Sol, in what is now the outskirts of the modern city of Trujillo. There is a fair amount of published archaeological research on the Chimú, although in recent years, in the wake of the spectacular finds at the Moche site of Sipán, Chimú studies have been eclipsed by Moche-focused projects. The literature specifically on Chimú art and architecture, however, is far less abundant. As yet there are no dedicated journals to Chimú studies, nor are there specific bibliographies, anthologies, reference works, or textbooks.


1990 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Pozorski ◽  
Shelia Pozorski

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