Models of compromise in settlement pattern studies: An example from coastal Peru

Abstract

Abstract The settlement patterns of complex societies require compromises among numerous determinants. In the case of the lower and middle Viru Valley, a provincial region of the Moche state of coastal Peru (a.D. 200–700), three of these considerations can be identified and ranked in order of increasing importance as follows: maximization of agricultural land, minimization of agricultural effort, and maintenance of sociopolitical control. This ranking is achieved by deriving the settlement pattern that would optimize each factor and then comparing those optimal site distributions to the actual configuration; the greater the similarity, the more important the factor in question as a determinant of settlement. Finally, comparative data from other provincial regions of the Moche state are presented in order to show that their settlement patterns also reflect compromises, but not necessarily the one made in Viru.