How far to Conchucos? A GIS approach to assessing the implications of exotic materials at Chavín de Huántar

Abstract

Chavín de Huántar has long been recognized as a site of pan-regional importance in the first millennium bce Central Andes. Multiple lines of evidence link the site to costa, sierra and selva. Using exotic goods for which provenance is known – for example, obsidian, cinnabar, selected ceramics and marine shell – specific areas with which Chavín interacted can be identified. These interactions are considered in the context of distinct ways of thinking about Central Andean space – a least-cost transportation surface, the Inca road network and ethno-historically reconstructed territories. I argue that explicitly modeling the implications of connecting such nodes and considering distance in multiple ways facilitates a better characterization of interregional interaction.