Peruvian North Coast Research Articles

Ancient urban morphology in the Virú Valley, Peru: Remote sensing work at the Gallinazo Group (100 B.C.–A.D. 700)

Research on the Early Intermediate period (100 B.C.–A.D. 700), which witnessed the emergence of states and urban life along the coast of northern Peru, has been hampered by a lack of information regarding settlement size and population estimates. This paper presents the results of an integrated program of excavation, sub-soil probing, and magnetometer survey at the Gallinazo Group in the Virú Valley that shed light on the size of the ancient settlement. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of this integrated approach in assessing the extent of ancient settlements in the region and indicate that the Group was possibly the largest city of its kind on the Peruvian north coast during the centuries that preceded the rise of Huacas de Moche.

“Los Olleros no son del Inka”, Especialización Artesanal y Economía Política en Los Andes: El Caso de los Alfareros de la Pampa de Burros

Recent archaeological approaches to specialization in early complex societies portray craft specialization as a profoundly political phenomenon. In this view, elites employed specialized craft products to further their political agendas and strengthen their political control; politics is given primacy over economics. In the Andes, this model -partially based on ethnohistoric data on the Inca- has been applied to societies quite distant in time and space from the Inca, commonly without primary evidence from excavated production contexts. This article reviews concrete, primary evidence for the political role of pottery production in the Andes. Using data from the excavations of a Chimú pottery workshop on the Pampa de Burros and a regional study of the distribution of its products in the Lambayeque Valley, it shows that the political model proposes an overly narrow model of the division of labor. On the Peruvian North Coast, independent specialists manufactured consumer goods for direct exchange, without intervention from Chimú elites or the state. Modeling the Andean past in the image of the Inca prevents us from perceiving the actual social and economic variability that characterized the Prehispanic Andes.Key Words: Pottery production, craft specialization, division of labor, Peruvian north coast.

The Art and Archaeology of the Moche: An Ancient Andean Society of the Peruvian North Coast; Moche Art and Visual Culture in Ancient Peru

The Art and Archaeology of the Moche: An Ancient Andean Society of the Peruvian North Coast; Moche Art and Visual Culture in Ancient Peru

Primary State Formation in the Virú Valley, North Coast of Peru

The origins of urban life and functioning states are two of the most fascinating research problems in anthropological archeology and a topic that has intrigued generations of scholars working on the Peruvian north coast. In this region, Andeanists have documented the rise of Moche as a dominant culture during the first millennium A.D., and the emergence of urban life and stately institutions at this society's principal center. Although there is a broad consensus that Moche represents an archaic state, it is still unclear whether it is an example of primary state formation or a case of a second-generation state. To document this question, archaeological excavations were recently carried out at the Gallinazo Group site in the Virú Valley. Results from a radiocarbon dating program indicate that a functioning state probably emerged in this valley during the second century B.C., possibly preceding Moche by a few centuries. These results necessarily raise question regarding the nature of state development on the north coast of Peru and, in particular, whether there was a single center of state development in this region or multiple sites where similar conditions and processes led to the parallel emergence of functioning states.

Naming a phantom – the quest to find the identity of Ulluchu, an unidentified ceremonial plant of the Moche culture in Northern Peru

The botanical identification of Ulluchu, an iconic fruit frequently depicted in the art of the pre-Columbian Moche culture that flourished from A.D. 100–800 on the Peruvian north coast, has eluded scientists since its documentation in ceramics in the 1930s. Moche fine-line drawings of Ulluchu normally depict seed-pods or seeds floating in the air in sacrificial scenes, associated with runners and messengers or intoxicated priests. It is a grooved, comma-shaped fruit with an enlarged calyx found mainly in fine-line scenes painted on Moche ceramics. The term first appeared without linguistic explanation in the work of pioneer Moche scholar Rafael Larco Hoyle, and the identification of the plant was seen as the largest remaining challenge in current archaebotany at the Peruvian North coast. The name Ulluchu seems to have been coined by Larco. According to his description, the name originated in the Virú River valley, and is supposedly of Mochica origin. However, there is no linguistic evidence that such a term indeed existed in the Mochica or Yunga language.We conclude that Ulluchu can be identified as a group of species of the genus Guarea (Meliaceae) based on morphological characteristics. In addition, the chemical composition of the plant's compounds supports the thesis that it was used in a sacrificial context to improve the extraction of blood from sacrificial victims. We also suggest that a ground preparation of Guarea seeds, when inhaled, may have been used as a hallucinogen. However, more detailed phytochemical research is needed to corroborate the latter hypothesis.

Excavations at Huaca Herederos Chica, Moche Valley, Peru

Detailed results of excavations from 1970 to 1973 at the site of Huaca Herederos Chica in the lower Moche Valley, Peru are presented. This now partially destroyed monumental site belongs to the Caballo Muerto Complex, a series of mound sites that span both the Initial Period (2100–1200 CAL B.C.) and the Early Horizon (1200–200 CAL B.C.). The existing mounds were constructed sequentially over a period of some 1000 years; some mounds, like Huaca Herederos Chica, are the result of the superposition of several phases of occupation and building over that long time period, each separated by phases of abandonment. The older remains, dating from the Initial Period, testify to the presence in this coastal region of Peru of architectural features such as small quadrilateral rooms with rounded corners and somewhat circular rooms reminiscent of similar features of the Kotosh Religious Tradition at the highland sites of La Galgada and Huaricoto as well as in the coastal Casma Valley. Huaca Herederos Chica was abandoned from 1200–400 CAL B.C. only to be reoccupied and rebuilt in the late Early Horizon (400–200 CAL B.C.). Architectural changes seen at the site and at the Caballo Muerto Complex as a whole probably reflect important social and political changes along much of the Peruvian north coast.

The Manipulation of Human Remains in Moche Society: Delayed Burials, Grave Reopening, and Secondary Offerings of Human Bones on the Peruvian North Coast

AbstractA careful reexamination of funerary contexts suggests that Moche (ca. A.D. 100–800) graves were not simply spaces for the disposal of decaying corpses, but contexts periodically revisited by certain members of Moche society. The dynamic nature of funerary practices is documented through an examination of delayed burials. It is argued that these were the product of two distinct ritual processes, one of which involved the storage of corpses to be used as retainers in subsequent rituals. The practice of grave reopening is also explored, leading to the identification of different types of rituals. At least some graves were reopened to remove skeletal parts of possible potent ancestors. Related ideology is addressed by examining cases of bone destruction and the more common secondary offerings of human remains. This study highlights the dynamic nature of Moche mortuary activity while stressing the important role of those in charge of manipulating ancestors’ remains. Finally, it is argued that the Moche shared with their highland neighbors a common vision of the eternal character of human remains, comparable ritual practices involving the human body, and a similar belief in the capacity of the living to influence the course of their destiny through periodic manipulation of ancestors’ remains.

AMPUTACIÓN DEL MIEMBRO INFERIOR POR PIE DIABÉTICO EN HOSPITALES DE LA COSTA NORTE PERUANA 1990 - 2000: CARACTERÍSTICAS CLÍNICO-EPIDEMIOLÓGICAS

Objective: To identify the characteristic clinical-epidemiology of the amputation of the inferior member (AIM) by diabetic foot (DF) in patients of the peruvian north coast during years 1990-2000. Materials and methods: Study descriptive, retrospective, that collected information of patients taken care of 5 hospitals of 4 capitals of department of the peruvian north coast. Demographic data and the disease were collected (diagnosis and handling). Results: 250 patients were included: 21(8.4%) Hospital JAMO of Tumbes, 100 (40.0%) Hospital Cayetano Heredia of Piura, 45 (18%) Hospital Regional Docente Las Mercedes of Lambayeque, and 61 (24.4%) Hospital Belen and 23 (9.2%) Hospital Regional Docente of La Libertad 61.2% were men and the age average was 63.5±10 years. 98.4% presented DM type 2, 56.5% underwent greater amputations (p<0.05). 10.4% were sequential greater amputations. The time of reamputacion he was ≤ 24 months in 71.3% (p<0.05). Stage of DF was identified according to Wagner in 44 (11.8%), with a Wagner fourth degree in 45.0%. The time of DM until first amputation was of 11-20 years (31.2%), empha- sizing 13.6% cases with DF as first form of presentation of DM and 2.5% with sintomatologia of long data but that lacked DM. Of the amputations, single 8,3% were put under debridaciones and 4.4% to revascularizacion Conclusions: Was an important frequency of DF and its complication of greater impact in the quality of life (amputation), emphasizing the deficiency of comple- mentary diagnosis, as well as of previous procedures of salvataje to the amputation, those that would have to be improved looking for to diminish unnecessary amputations.

Household and Family at Moche, Peru: An Analysis of Building and Residence Patterns in a Prehispanic Urban Center

The Moche was the last complex society to develop on the Peruvian north coast during the Early Intermediate Period (200 B. C.-700 A. D.). While archaeological research on the Moche has traditionally concentrated on the impressive marks of political and religious power, we know relatively little about Moche household organization and patterns of residence. In this research, conducted at the eponymous site of Moche, I identify three types of architectural organization relating to both residential and nonresidential spaces. An analysis of building materials and architectural superposition suggests a close relationship among construction quality, household size, and occupational continuity, in the case of residential architecture. The observed differences, I argue, reflect strategies of household social reproduction among Moche's urban population that depend largely on socioeconomic status. I also contend that different forms of labor were responsible for the construction of residential compounds and other specialized areas, the function of which may not be primarily residential. This research emphasizes the great potential of studying domesticity in prehistory as well as the dynamics of urban construction and suggests methods effective for the reconstruction of household forms and change in sedentary societies.

The Embodied Sacrifice

The interest in the study of the body that is emerging in European archaeologies has not yet penetrated Americanist approaches to prehistoric iconography. Nevertheless, American materials provide an excellent data base with which to work. This article employs the complex human representational imagery of the Moche (Peruvian North Coast, c.AD 100–800) to explore how the body was situated within the context of ritual sacrifice. Employing both the Foucauldian concept of the disciplined body and the work of Mary Douglas, two forms of bodily representation are discussed: the naked male prisoner and the spread-eagled female sacrifice. These bodies are defined iconographically not only by their sex, but also by their qualities of anonymity or individuality. While the sacrificed female represents an individual who is notable because of who she is (i.e. who she embodies), the male prisoners represent an undifferentiated and anonymous group. These two examples suggest that the body can be read as an individual symbolic field (the female body) and, alternatively, can serve as an undifferentiated forum (the bodies of prisoners) for sacrificial discourse. Despite these differences in representation, both forms of the body present potentially liminal sites within the context of sacrificial ritual. This liminality is essential for the discursive re-ordering of the body politic to occur.

The Production of Copper–Arsenic Alloys (Arsenic Bronze) by Cosmelting: Modern Experiment, Ancient Practice

Cosmelting experiments to produce copper–arsenic alloys were carried out by Lechtman in 1984. The experiments included crucible and furnace smelting techniques utilizing ores collected in the Peruvian Andes. Smelting charges consisted of mixtures of copper oxide ore with either copper sulpharsenide or iron sulpharsenide ore. The experimental furnaces were constructed to resemble furnaces excavated at Batán Grande, a large ore smelting site on the Peruvian north coast where copper–arsenic alloys were produced during the Middle Horizon and later.The cosmelting experiments yielded coherent copper–arsenic alloy ingots over a wide range of oxide: sulpharsenide ore mixtures. Crucible/furnace charges containing ratios of between 2:1 and 4:1 oxide:sulpharsenide mineral produced clean metal, fully separated from slag or matte byproducts. The sulphide ores were not roasted prior to smelting; no flux was added to the charges.Study of the metal ingots, mattes, and slags helps determine the chemical and thermodynamic reactions and the phase separation mechanisms that took place inside the smelting enclosures. The copper–arsenic alloys found in ancient artefacts could have been made easily, deliberately or accidentally, by cosmelting procedures.

Mid-Holocene Cultural Interaction between the North Coast of Peru and Ecuador

Incised pebbles found at the mid-Holocene, Middle Preceramic period Ostra Base Camp site on the Peruvian north coast demonstrate long-distance links to coastal Ecuador, 700 km to the north. The artifacts belong to a northwestern Andean pebble-figurine tradition associated with the tropical coast. Environmental indicators at the Ostra site show a warm-water lagoonal environment, unlike the modern cold-water conditions of northwestern Peru but similar to modern Ecuador. The Ostra site dates between ca. 5500 and 6250 B.P. (3550 and 4300 B.C.), during a hiatus in the coastal Ecuadorian record, so the link to Ecuador provides the earliest evidence of long-distance cultural interaction between these regions. Until contemporary sites are found in Ecuador, the Ostra Base Camp site provides our only example for this time of tropical coastal cultures of the northwestern Andean interaction sphere.

Redes sociales en una economía étnica: los artesanos de la costa norte del Perú

Social networks in an ethnic econom : artisans of the peruvian north coast Conventional wisdom conceives precapitalist social networks, based on kin or ethnic relations, as mere survival strategies and/or obstacles for economic progress. In this article, taking as an example artisans of the Peruvian North Coast, we'd like to present those kind of networks as a specific model of development and growth which leads, in certain circumstances, to ethnic economies.

The Structural Paradox: Moche Culture as Political Ideology

In this article I demonstrate the utility of an historical study of social change by examining the development of political authority on the Peruvian north coast during the Moche period through its symbols of power. We too often equate the material record with “archaeological culture,” assume that it reflects broad cultural reality, and interpret it by reference to general evolutionary models. Here I reassess Moche society within its historic context by examining the relationship between underlying social structure and short-term processes that shaped Moche political formation, and reach very different conclusions. I see the “diagnostic” Moche material record primarily as the symbolic manifestation of a distinctive political ideology whose character was historically constituted in an ongoing cultural tradition. Aspiring rulers used ideology to manipulate cultural principles in their interests and thus mediate the paradox between exclusive power and holistic Andean social structure which created the dynamic for change. A historic study allows us to identify the symbolic and ritual mechanisms that socially constituted Moche ideology, and reveals a pattern of diversity in time and space that was the product of differential choice by local rulers, a pattern that cannot be seen within a theoretical approach that emphasizes general evolutionary or materialist factors.

The Archaeology of Dual Organization in Andean South America: A Theoretical Review and Case Study

The concept of dualism has become a major theme in archaeological, ethnohistoric, and ethnographic studies of native South American societies. This article reviews use of the concept by archaeologists and ethnohistorians in the Andes, and considers an ethnohistoric and archaeological case from the Nepeña Valley of the Peruvian North Coast. The review shows that various ideas have been described by the terms “dualism” or “dual organization,” and that archaeologists have interpreted paired sets of remains as the material expressions of dualism. The Nepeña Valley data document a paradoxical case in which the power of local lords, who shared rule, was based on dual organizations, and yet the settlement pattern is clearly hierarchical. This suggests that although dual principles may have formed the social syntax of authority, political power—particularly access to labor—was asymmetric, suggesting, in turn, the need to reconsider the relationship between material remains and complex social principles such as dualism in archaeological approaches to prehistoric social and political organizations.

The Moche Revolt of the Objects

Stories involving the death of the sun and a subsequent revolt of objects against humans are variants of a common and ancient Native American myth, and it is argued that a number of art works from the Moche culture of the Peruvian north coast depict a variant of this myth. The “Revolt of the Objects” theme is part of a narrative sequence representing an important epic of the late Moche culture that is linked to other Moche art, larger symbolic concepts, and sociopolitical events. Now that simple diffusionistic explanations are no longer applicable, the occurrence of similar themes in myths and art throughout the Americas is a subject that should be reexamined.

Pre‐Hispanic Beer in Coastal Peru: Technology and Social Context of Prehistoric Production

The native Andean beer, chicha, played a variety of roles in pre‐Hispanic Peruvian societies. Commonly made from maize, chicha was both the everyday beverage and an essential element in ritual and social interactions. Most important, political leaders had to reward corvée labor groups with chicha and food as part of the “hospitable repayment” lords were obligated to provide their subjects. The article describes an archeological investigation of chicha production in a non‐elite residential sector at Manchan, the Chimu Empire's (A.D. 900–1470) regional center in the Casma Valley of the Peruvian North Coast. Two issues are considered: the technical process and the social context of chicha‐making. In both cases, ethnohistoric and ethnographic data are used to develop archeological correlates for different aspects of the technology and social context of chicha‐making. The archeological data indicate that (1) the equipment for chicha‐making was generally available, (2) different households episodically produced large quantities of chicha, and (3) this production took place within a self‐sufficient household and without extensive state involvement by the Chimu Empire.

Some Thoughts on Sican Marked Adobes and Labor Organization

This paper explores the applicability of the segmentary construction-labor tax model of marked adobe distribution proposed for the solid adobe Mochica pyramids in the Moche Valley on the Peruvian North Coast for Middle Sican monumental architecture in Batan Grande farther north. The model is found inadequate to account for the Middle Sican brick-marking pattern characterized by, among other things, a very high frequency of marking and lack of a one-to-one correspondence between brick size/shape and mark. The difference seems due in part to the chamber-fill building technique of the Middle Sican pyramids which required large scale, unitary construction. Cluster analysis was carried out to assess the relative merits of various alternative models. The most plausible models are those that posit a relatively complex labor organization and specify the role of local, lower-level administrators.

Junius Bouton Bird (1907-1982)

Junius Bird, who died at his home in New York City on April 2, 1982, after a brief bout with cancer, had been a guiding force in American archeology for nearly half a century. His work on the early occupation of South America and on numerous aspects of Andean technology, especially textiles, set new standards of excellence and innovation. There were major projects in south Chile (Bird 1938), north Chile (Bird 1943), and at Huaca Prieta on the Peruvian North Coast (Bird 1948). He also maintained an active interest in the archeology of North America and, in his last years, conducted research in Panama. He was a pioneer in the development and use of absolute chronologies. His unending curiosity about the world around him made him one of

Imperialist Expansion in Peruvian Prehistory: Chimu Administration of a Conquered Territory

The expansion of prehistoric empires has been an important feature in the development of civilizations throughout the world. Yet, archaeological research directed towards the study of imperial expansion and conquest of territory has rarely been attempted. Building on previous fieldwork, the program of investigation described in this paper is aimed at demonstrating the impact of imperialistic expansion on a foreign territory.The research forming the focus of this paper was undertaken in the Jequetepeque Valley on the Peruvian North Coast. The Jequetepeque Valley is one of several valleys known from ethnohistoric sources to have been conquered by the Chimu Empire, a militaristic, expansionist state dating to the Late Intermediate Period (1000–1476 A.C.). With its capital at the urban center of Chan Chan in the Moche Valley, some 100 km. south of the Jequetepeque Valley, the Chimu eventually expanded their control over 1,000 km. of the Peruvian coast. Fieldwork in the Chimu heartland of the Moche Valley has led to the development of a model of politico-economic organization characterized by state control over land, water, and labor resources. It is argued that, following the pattern identified in the Moche Valley region, the reorganization of the Jequetepeque Valley after the Chimu conquest represented the imposition of an extractive enterprise designed to increase the flow of tribute and labor service to the Chimu capital. In support of this argument, the sites of Farfan, an intrusive Chimu provincial center, and Talambo, a Chimu rural administrative center subordinate to Farfan, are described in detail, their similarities with structures in the Moche Valley region examined, and the model of Chimu politico-economic organization discussed.