Preceramic Period Research Articles

A monumental stone plaza at 4750 B.P. in the Cajamarca Valley of Peru.

We report one of the earliest known circular plazas in Andean South America and one of the earliest examples of monumental, megalithic ceremonial architecture in the Americas. The example presented here is constructed of large free-standing and vertically placed megalithic stones and is located in the Cajamarca basin of the northern Peruvian Andes. This construction method has never before been reported in the Andes and is distinct from other monumental circular plazas in the region. We present three radiocarbon dates associated with the initial construction of the plaza which average to approximately 2750 calibrated years before the common era (cal BCE), corresponding squarely to the Late Preceramic period, which saw the first monumental construction in the Andes. This is one of the earliest examples of monumental, megalithic architecture in the Americas.

Astronomical Alignments from Structures Surrounding Giant Animal Effigy Mounds at El Paraiso, Peru

Abstract We previously reported astronomical alignments with the principal temple of the archaeological site of El Paraiso in coastal Peru. Here we describe a new investigation of nine small platform mounds associated with the two giant animal effigy mounds at the site. A total station map of the site permits possible astronomical alignments to be measured directly from the AutoCAD map by Pixelstick or AutoCAD. We corrected alignments for obliquity and for the apparent curvature of the sun and moon over the crest of nearby ridges. Azimuths for astronomical events were obtained from Starry Night Pro Plus 6.4.3. We found that 13 of 14 alignments were within 1° of the predicted astronomical values (and all 14 were within 1.5°). To account for these findings and those of the giant animal platform effigy mounds at the site, we propose a cosmology in the Late Preceramic period of solar and lunar alignments and the linkage of supernatural animals to dark cloud constellations. The building of these mounds was directed by astronomer priests. A shared belief in a cosmology that included a punishing force may have eased transactions by engendering trust among individuals living across river valleys and at different altitudes.

Features of the dwelling in the pre-ceramic period of the Neolithic (territory of Syria)

Features of the dwelling in the pre-ceramic period of the Neolithic (territory of Syria)

The oldest civilization in South America? Phenomenon of Norte Chico: approaches and research problems

The article is devoted to the analysis of approaches to the study of Norte Chico culture (3000 – 1800 BC) located in in the north of the central part of the Pacific coast of Republic of Peru. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of paleoeconomic processes and politogenesis in the Late Preceramic Period of Peru to determine the nature of the origin of early civilizations in the region. Substantiates compliance paleoeconomic model Norte Chico atypical way "Neolithic revolution" in the region and offers a hypothesis about the characteristics of the type of political organization. The article substantiates the correspondence of the Norte-Chico paleoeconomic model to the atypical way "Neolithic revolution" in the region and offers a hypothesis about the characteristics of the type of political organization.

Following white-tailed deer to the hilltop: A zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of deer hunting at Cerro Mangote, a Late Preceramic (7800-4600 cal yr BP) site in central Pacific Panama

The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann 1780) was an apex species for Precolumbian subsistence in the anthropogenic savannas and tropical dry forests bordering Parita Bay on the central Pacific coast of Panama. This paper focusses on Late Preceramic Cerro Mangote, a multi-component site whose domestic occupation corresponds to a maximum time-period of 7900 and 4600 cal BP. At this time, this site's inhabitants developed mixed subsistence strategies including farming and hunting, along with coastal fishing and invertebrate collection. Communities across the seasonally dry and windy plains and foothills of the central Pacific practiced swidden agriculture – a variety of plant food production that would have favored “garden hunting” (sensu Linares 1976), which, in this region, most likely involved white-tailed deer because of this species' acknowledged attraction to cultivated plots. Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses of white-tailed deer bone, tooth and antler samples from Cerro Mangote are based on two sequential Late Preceramic occupation layers. Results reveal that the same strategies for white-tailed deer hunting and for the treatment of their carcasses continued without change throughout the Late Preceramic period at Cerro Mangote.

Maize and dietary change in early Peruvian civilization: Isotopic evidence from the Late Preceramic Period/Initial Period site of La Galgada, Peru

The Late Preceramic Period (3000–1700 BCE) and Initial Period (1700–800 BCE) in Peru was a time of emergent social complexity as illustrated by the construction of ceremonial architecture and permanent settlements. A long-standing debate centers on the nature of the subsistence economies that supported this incipient complexity. Though some scholars consider maize to have been an agricultural staple at this time, a growing body of archaeological research indicates that the use of maize spread irregularly throughout Peru and did not become a dietary staple until sometime after c. 800 cal BCE. Using stable isotope analysis (δ13C and δ15N) of human bone and dentine, together with radiocarbon dating, this study estimates dietary composition, as well as changing subsistence strategies among 32 individuals interred within the ceremonial center of La Galgada (2300–1300 cal BCE). Our data suggests that maize was not a dietary staple in either the Late Preceramic or the Initial (1700–800 cal BCE) Period occupations at La Galgada. Instead the modeled diet (SIAR Mixing Model) suggests a continued reliance on locally available food sources (i.e. primarily C3, legumes and grazing fauna). This finding combined with archaeological evidence indicates that diet remained relatively similar during the site’s occupation. Three radiocarbon dates generated for this study also indicate the re-use of La Galgada as a cemetery during the Late Intermediate Period (LIP) (1150–1450 cal CE). Diet during the LIP exhibits a significant change, with a decrease in the proportion of C3 and legumes and an increase in the proportion of meat. This study highlights the utility of mixing models to reconstruct past human diet, allowing for a more comprehensive understanding of potential differences in the proportions of food types over time.

Behind white-tailed deer teeth: A micro- and mesowear analysis from three Panamanian pre-Columbian archaeological sites

The white tailed-deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann 1780) is one of the largest mammals in Holocene America. It was a primary resource for pre-Columbian communities in the wooded savannas of Panama for several millennia. The oldest remains yet found refer to the Late Preceramic period (6000-4500 cal yr BP), when people were already farming (i.e. at Cerro Mangote). Deer bones, antlers, and inferentially, sinews and skins, were used for tools, ornaments, musical instruments, and furniture. A prominent role in regional (i.e., Greater Coclé) symbolism is evidenced by the frequent representation of these cervids on ceramic, gold, and bone art objects at hierarchized villages and burial grounds during the period 2300-500 cal yr BP. We infer the duration and seasonality of human-deer interactions across a region characterized climatically by ~4 month intense dry seasons, and ~8 month unpredictable wet seasons. We combine microwear and mesowear analyses of deer teeth at three pre-Columbian sites with different time spans –Cerro Mangote (AG-1) (5900-3020 cal yr BP), Sitio Sierra (AG-3) (2300-500 cal yr BP), and Cerro Juan Díaz (LS-3) (2300-400 cal yr BP)–. The two dental wear methods indicate that the white-tailed deer was a browser at these sites. The microwear results, based on the degree of variability in the numbers of microwear traits such as scratches and pits, show that white-tailed deer hunting was restricted to wet seasons at Cerro Mangote and Cerro Juan Díaz while, at Sitio Sierra, different kinds of occupational events involving white-tailed deer occurred throughout the year.

Acts of Neolithic ritualization associated with Levantine bovine figurines

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates a corpus of Neolithic clay bovine figurines recovered from archaeological sites in the Central and Southern Levant. Despite numerous investigations, their function as utilitarian versus ritual objects is still unclear. In order to assess this issue, the depositional contexts and physical characteristics of just over 500 figurines were examined. The results reveal formalized and repetitive contextual data for the majority of the figurines studied, as well as commonality in their form and modifications. With reference to analogues from later Mesopotamian anti-witchcraft texts, support is found for the identification of the bovine figurines as objects associated with acts of ritualization, especially sacrifice, tied to the veneration of aurochs in Pre-Ceramic Neolithic periods. Furthermore, a symbolic structure linking bulls, sun, fire, ash, purification, fertility and rebirth was identified, possibly tying the bovine figurines to later fire rituals that are celebrated worldwide.

Micro-remains, ENSO, and environmental reconstruction of El Paraíso, Peru, a late preceramic site

The transition from the Middle Preceramic (8000–4500calBP) to the Late Preceramic Period (4450–3800calBP) in coastal Perú witnessed a dramatic change in both resource management and subsistence practices: lomas environments were abandoned in favor of riparian and littoral ecozones, while hunting and gathering was increasingly replaced by agriculture. The reason behind this transition remains a subject of debate; it has been attributed to population pressure, the development of domesticates, especially maize, environmental degradation or climate change. A recent regional study (Beresford-Jones et al., 2015) supports the 1960s Edward Lanning hypothesis that a combination of environmental and climate change forced Middle Preceramic occupants to move toward the river estuaries on the South Coast. Here, microbotanical data from the Late Preceramic site of El Paraíso on the Central Coast of Peru tests the Lanning hypothesis at the site-scale. The data demonstrate that inhabitants practiced a seasonal, Broad-Spectrum strategy by taking advantage of an ENSO-related florescence. Meanwhile, a trend toward increased salinity of nearby marshlands impacted the continued occupation of the site.

Archaeological Textiles of Sechín Bajo – a formative Site of the North Coast of Peru: Preliminarily Results

In spring 2014, I took part in an archaeological project carried out by a German-Peruvian team of archeologists in the Sechín Valley, next to the Valley of Casma, on the North Coast of Peru. The project started more than ten years ago and has been taking place parallel to some other important archaeological projects on the North Coast. Its aim was to unearth the temple mounds and to reconstruct the parts of the various phases. The earliest layers date back to the Pre-Ceramic Period. During the wall construction of the temple, many textile fabrics such as nets and ropes were used and some very early textile fabrics were found. The site was abandoned after thousands of years and a cemetery was placed on top of it. The cemetery comes from a later time period and contains tombs from different phases of cultures of the north Coast i.e. Moche and Chimú. My task was to examine these archeological textiles. The aim was to classify the textile objects and create an initial source of data. In this article I will present the textiles of the excavation and some particular examples with their typical characteristics. The textile artifacts were excavated in a small but very concrete area and the fabrics reflect a very long period of time.

Refining the Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization: How Plant Fiber Technology Drove Social Complexity During the Preceramic Period

Moseley’s (1975) Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization hypothesis challenges, in one of humanity’s few pristine hearths of civilization, the axiom that agriculture is necessary for the rise of complex societies. We revisit that hypothesis by setting new findings from La Yerba II (7571–6674 Cal bp) and III (6485–5893 Cal bp), Río Ica estuary, alongside the wider archaeological record for the end of the Middle Preceramic Period on the Peruvian coast. The La Yerba record evinces increasing population, sedentism, and “Broad Spectrum Revolution” features, including early horticulture of Phaseolus and Canavalia beans. Yet unlike further north, these changes failed to presage the florescence of monumental civilization during the subsequent Late Preceramic Period. Instead, the south coast saw a profound “archaeological silence.” These contrasting trajectories had little to do with any relative differences in marine resources, but rather to restrictions on the terrestrial resources that determined a society’s capacity to intensify exploitation of those marine resources. We explain this apparent miscarriage of the Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization (MFAC) hypothesis on the south coast of Peru by proposing more explicit links than hitherto, between the detailed technological aspects of marine exploitation using plant fibers to make fishing nets and the emergence of social complexity on the coast of Peru. Rather than because of any significant advantages in quality, it was the potential for increased quantities of production, inherent in the shift from gathered wild Asclepias bast fibers to cultivated cotton, that inadvertently precipitated revolutionary social change. Thereby refined, the MFAC hypothesis duly emerges more persuasive than ever.

Design and Function of Lowe and Sawmill Points from the Preceramic Period of Belize

To date, 81 stemmed and barbed preceramic (Archaic) points (8000–900 B.C.) have been identified in Belize. Fifty-four are Lowe points; 21 are Sawmill points. Four more are provisionally classified as Allspice and two as Ya’axche’ points. These stemmed bifaces are frequently beveled on alternate-opposite edges and demonstrate variable degrees of resharpening and reworking, which affects blade shape and tool size. Numerous functions have been attributed to these artifacts; specifically, they have been called spear points, dart points, harpoons, and knives. Metric data from these bifaces, limited macrowear and microwear analyses, and design features, such as barbs and alternate-opposite edge beveling, have been used to interpret likely tool functions. Results suggest that Lowe points were affixed to throwing/thrusting spears and also served as knives, whereas the Sawmill points were used as spear-thrower dart points and as knives. New dating information suggests that alternate-opposite edge beveling and consequently beveled bifaces may be much older than 2500–1900 B.C., which is the date currently assigned to these specimens.

Re-evaluating the resource potential of lomas fog oasis environments for Preceramic hunter–gatherers under past ENSO modes on the south coast of Peru

Lomas – ephemeral seasonal oases sustained by ocean fogs – were critical to ancient human ecology on the desert Pacific coast of Peru: one of humanity's few independent hearths of agriculture and “pristine” civilisation. The role of climate change since the Late Pleistocene in determining productivity and extent of past lomas ecosystems has been much debated.Here we reassess the resource potential of the poorly studied lomas of the south coast of Peru during the long Middle Pre-ceramic period (c. 8000–4500 BP): a period critical in the transition to agriculture, the onset of modern El Niño Southern Oscillation (‘ENSO’) conditions, and eustatic sea-level rise and stabilisation and beach progradation.Our method combines vegetation survey and herbarium collection with archaeological survey and excavation to make inferences about both Preceramic hunter–gatherer ecology and the changed palaeoenvironments in which it took place. Our analysis of newly discovered archaeological sites – and their resource context – show how lomas formations defined human ecology until the end of the Middle Preceramic Period, thereby corroborating recent reconstructions of ENSO history based on other data.Together, these suggest that a five millennia period of significantly colder seas on the south coast induced conditions of abundance and seasonal predictability in lomas and maritime ecosystems, that enabled Middle Preceramic hunter–gatherers to reduce mobility by settling in strategic locations at the confluence of multiple eco-zones at the river estuaries. Here the foundations of agriculture lay in a Broad Spectrum Revolution that unfolded, not through population pressure in deteriorating environments, but rather as an outcome of resource abundance.

Development of sedentary communities in the Maya lowlands: Coexisting mobile groups and public ceremonies at Ceibal, Guatemala

Our archaeological investigations at Ceibal, a lowland Maya site located in the Pasión region, documented that a formal ceremonial complex was built around 950 B.C. at the onset of the Middle Preclassic period, when ceramics began to be used in the Maya lowlands. Our refined chronology allowed us to trace the subsequent social changes in a resolution that had not been possible before. Many residents of Ceibal appear to have remained relatively mobile during the following centuries, living in ephemeral post-in-ground structures and frequently changing their residential localities. In other parts of the Pasión region, there may have existed more mobile populations who maintained the traditional lifestyle of the preceramic period. Although the emerging elite of Ceibal began to live in a substantial residential complex by 700 B.C., advanced sedentism with durable residences rebuilt in the same locations and burials placed under house floors was not adopted in most residential areas until 500 B.C., and did not become common until 300 B.C. or the Late Preclassic period. During the Middle Preclassic period, substantial formal ceremonial complexes appear to have been built only at a small number of important communities in the Maya lowlands, and groups with different levels of sedentism probably gathered for their constructions and for public rituals held in them. These collaborative activities likely played a central role in socially integrating diverse groups with different lifestyles and, eventually, in developing fully established sedentary communities.

La Época Precerámica en la zona arqueológica de Churajón, sur del Perú

Churajón (Departamento de Arequipa), el mayor complejo prehispánico del sur del Perú, ha sido investigado de 1993 a 2002 y 2011 por la Universidad de Wroclaw y la Universidad Católica de Santa María de Arequipa. El artículo presenta los resultados de trabajos realizados en el valle de Corabaya/ Tasata y en el extremo noroeste del complejo de Churajón, donde se localizaron varios sitios del Período Precerámico andino. Entre los materiales Uticos provenientes del área se registró una punta tipo cola de pescado, característica de contextos culturales del Pleistoceno Tardío y Final. Se encontraron además varias puntas foliáceas, raspadores, útiles denticulados y desechos de talla. Durante las excavaciones en el Abrigo III, dentro del estrato superior, se hallaron dos esculturas de hueso que representan cabezas de animales de la familia Canidae.

The Food System during the Formative Period in West Mesoamerica1

The Food System during the Formative Period in West Mesoamerica. How was the food system structured in West Mesoamerica during the Formative Period (2400 B.C.E.–100 C.E.)? The answer is important to understanding the high cultural development accomplished by the Mesoamerican civilizations throughout the Early Classic Period (100–400 C.E.). In the same native communities of Nahuatl origins for which we previously reconstructed their putative pre–ceramic food system, we investigated the ancient dishes that could have been developed in the Formative Period; we cooked using wild, cultivated, and domesticated native plants; and we employed ceramic technologies from that time. We also recorded the ceramic objects from the Formative Period and Early Classic Period exhibited in local museums that had representations of plants, animals, and foods. We found that the Formative Period food system could have included more than 66 dishes and drinks with 29 cultivated and domesticated native plants. Compared with the putative Archaic Period food system, its nucleus continued to be composed by Zea mays, Phaseolus spp., Cucurbita argyrosperma, Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme, Physalis philadelphica, Capsicum annum, Hyptis suaveolens, and Spondias purpurea. These plants probably had more variants than in the pre–ceramic period, and maize gained greater relevance. The most important innovations were cooking in water and vapor, nixtamalization (soaking and cooking with water that contains lime), and possibly distillation. The elaboration of food using ceramics could have facilitated the transformation of the ingredients, raised their quality and the number of dishes, and introduced new selective pressures on the cultivated plants, all of which probably had an impact on their diversification, domestication and productivity, and on the complexity of the agro–food system.

A Devastating Plinian Eruption at Tungurahua Volcano Reveals Formative Occupation at ~1100 cal BC in Central Ecuador

Based on archaeological and radiometric constraints, previous studies have divided pre-Columbian times of Ecuador into a succession of cultural periods. The Paleoindian and Preceramic periods encompass the time from the first Amerindian occupation to about 4000 BC. The Formative period extends from ∼4000 to ∼300 BC, while the Regional Development (∼300 BC to ∼AD 700) and Integration periods predate the Columbian period, which starts in AD 1533 in Ecuador. The Formative cultural period is poorly known from earlier studies. Here, we bring the first documentation of Formative age occupation around Tungurahua Volcano, 120 km SW of Quito, and show that local settlements were devastated by a violent eruption around 1100 cal BC. Recent volcanological works combining lithostratigraphic, petrologic, and geochronologic analyses reveal that the steep-sloped Tungurahua edifice suffered a major Late Holocene flank failure. We show that the failure event resulted from a major explosive eruption triggered by massive magma intrusion inside the volcano. Decompression of the magma due to a flank collapse resulted in a violent, high-velocity directed blast explosion, which deposited charcoaland sherd-rich ash layers upon and near the volcano. Our 14C results range from 2225 ± 30 to 5195 ± 45 BP, but most cluster between 2640 ± 45 and 3195 ± 45 BP. A calibration analysis indicates that the event took place at ∼1100 cal BC, in the Formative period. We gathered 38 pottery sherds from 3 localities. The sherds show a diversity of size, shape, color, and ornamentation. Examination of pastes, surface finish, and firing indicates that our material shares many common features from site to site. The material from Tungurahua shares affinities with the Cotocollao tradition, which developed in the Quito region between 1500 and 500 BC, and with the Machalilla tradition (coastal region of Ecuador), with the occurrence of carinated bowls with punctuate decorations at 1500–1000 BC. Our study reveals that the ∼1100 cal BC Plinian eruption of Tungurahua Volcano is among the oldest known volcanic disasters in the Andes.

A Devastating Plinian Eruption at Tungurahua Volcano Reveals Formative Occupation at ∼1100 cal BC in Central Ecuador

Based on archaeological and radiometric constraints, previous studies have divided pre-Columbian times of Ecuador into a succession of cultural periods. The Paleoindian and Preceramic periods encompass the time from the first Amerindian occupation to about 4000 BC. The Formative period extends from ∼4000 to ∼300 BC, while the Regional Development (∼300 BC to ∼AD 700) and Integration periods predate the Columbian period, which starts in AD 1533 in Ecuador. The Formative cultural period is poorly known from earlier studies. Here, we bring the first documentation of Formative age occupation around Tungurahua Volcano, 120 km SW of Quito, and show that local settlements were devastated by a violent eruption around 1100 cal BC. Recent volcanological works combining lithostratigraphic, petrologic, and geochronologic analyses reveal that the steep-sloped Tungurahua edifice suffered a major Late Holocene flank failure. We show that the failure event resulted from a major explosive eruption triggered by massive magma intrusion inside the volcano. Decompression of the magma due to a flank collapse resulted in a violent, high-velocity directed blast explosion, which deposited charcoaland sherd-rich ash layers upon and near the volcano. Our 14C results range from 2225 ± 30 to 5195 ± 45 BP, but most cluster between 2640 ± 45 and 3195 ± 45 BP. A calibration analysis indicates that the event took place at ∼1100 cal BC, in the Formative period. We gathered 38 pottery sherds from 3 localities. The sherds show a diversity of size, shape, color, and ornamentation. Examination of pastes, surface finish, and firing indicates that our material shares many common features from site to site. The material from Tungurahua shares affinities with the Cotocollao tradition, which developed in the Quito region between 1500 and 500 BC, and with the Machalilla tradition (coastal region of Ecuador), with the occurrence of carinated bowls with punctuate decorations at 1500–1000 BC. Our study reveals that the ∼1100 cal BC Plinian eruption of Tungurahua Volcano is among the oldest known volcanic disasters in the Andes.

Análisis de marcadores óseos de estrés en poblaciones del Holoceno Medio y Tardío inicial de la sabana de Bogotá, Colombia

Se presentan los resultados del análisis comparativo de marcadores óseos de estrés no específico aplicado a 113 individuos cazadores-recolectores provenientes de algunos sitios precerámicos de la sabana de Bogotá, Colombia, ubicados cronológicamente entre 8000 y 3000 14C A. P. Los métodos empleados permitieron hacer una aproximación a las condiciones de vida de la muestra investigada y comprender la influencia que tuvieron los cambios de los modos de subsistencia sobre la salud. Los resultados muestran una tendencia temporal al incremento en la frecuencia y severidad de algunos marcadores óseos. Este fenómeno, teniendo en cuenta el contexto arqueológico, no estaría relacionado con un desmejoramiento de las condiciones generales de vida, sino con el crecimiento poblacional, los cambios en la dieta y un mayor contacto entre grupos debido al desarrollo y dispersión de la horticultura.

The New World's Earliest Ceremonial Centers

The New World's Earliest Ceremonial Centers Mardith K. Schuetz-Miller (bio) It takes a long performance and account to complete the lighting of all the sky-earth: The fourfold siding, fourfold cornering, measuring, fourfold staking, halving the cord, stretching the cord in the sky, on the earth, the four sides, the four corners, as it is said, by the Maker, Modeler, Mother-father of life, of humankind, giver of breath, giver of heart, bearer, upbringer in the light that lastsof these born in the light, begotten in the light;worrier, knower of everything, whatever there is: sky-earth, lake-sea. —Popul Vuh, trans. Dennis Tedlock, 63-64 Monumental Architecture in Peru and Bolivia The New World's oldest monumental architecture began to appear in both coastal and highland areas of Peru during the Late Preceramic period at the same time Sumerians were erecting stepped ziggurats, Egyptians were building pyramids, and Chinese were constructing great ceremonial centers.20 What is astounding about the Peruvian achievement is that it took place prior to the manufacture of ceramics (about 2000 BCE) and metal (about a millennium later). While coastal builders still relied on maritime resources they also practiced floodplain agriculture and traded marine products and salt for goods from the interior. Shortly thereafter large population centers with monumental architecture were appearing [End Page 305] in the Supe and adjacent valleys of Pativilca and Fortaleza where only irrigated agriculture could account for the presence of squash, guavas, cotton, and other plants (corn, Zea mays, is conspicuous by its absence at most sites investigated so far, but may have been cultivated at Aspero). At the same time, however, these inland sites were also dependent upon marine resources for meat protein.21 The rise of the coastal monumental ceremonial centers did not occur in a vacuum, however. The Nanchoc site, located in the Zaña Valley of northern Peru, features two stone-faced triangular mounds. Built during Middle Preceramic times, it was in use from about 5770 until 4000 to 3000 BCE, at which time one mound was capped with stone slabs. The site is interpreted as a center of the "ritually sanctioned" production of lime, a necessary ingredient for chewing coca leaves.22 Two of the earliest coastal sites were Huaca de los Sacrificios at Aspero (2750 BCE) and the neighboring one of Huaca de los Idolos (3001 BCE). These were composed of multiple terraced platforms topped with square, rectangular, or trapezoidal structures. Different parts of the complex were linked by means of ramps, or either inset or projecting stairs. Constructed of stone and mud mortar, the platforms reveal evidence of reconstruction in which earlier rooms were filled with rubble to provide a surface suitable for building anew. Some sites feature circular sunken courts accessed by opposing wedge-shaped, inset staircases (a structure we shall examine more closely in time). Orientation of the mounds, even within a given site, was not necessarily consistent. The largest coastal center of El Paraíso covers approximately fifty-eight hectares. Two of the largest buildings, each over four hundred meters in length, face one another at opposite ends of a seven-hectare plaza. The plaza and a small four-tiered, rectangular platform (Unit 1) on the south edge have been excavated and restored. A major stair leads to a square, red-painted structure enclosing a sunken square pit with a burnt floor in the center and small circular pits containing carbon deposits at each corner. These sunken pits for burnt offerings, equipped with flues, are a feature that continued into the Initial period, and the practice of sacrificing to the gods in this manner persisted into historic times. Grinding stones covered with red pigment were the most common artifact found in Unit 1, and a dedicatory offering sealed in the northwest corner consisted of a large stone sprinkled with red pigment and covered with cotton cloth, a gourd of food, and a miniature version of the fiber bags used to haul rubble for filling in rooms during rebuilding phases. [End Page 306] Other glimpses into religious belief and rituals involving human sacrifice are afforded at early sites. At Huaca de los Idolos a cache of thirteen small...