Continuity and Change in the Peruvian North Highlands: Current Research in the Cajamarca Region

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

The pioneering work of Henri and Paule Reichlen in 1947 highlighted the importance of the Cajamarca region in the Andean cultural landscape, from the Archaic and Formative periods to the Inca occupation. Since then, archaeologists and ethnohistorians have added considerably to our understanding of cultural development in Cajamarca and regional interactions between Cajamarca and neighboring areas. This symposium focuses on recent investigations and ongoing projects in an effort to bring together and flesh out the current state of the archaeology of the Cajamarca region, including both the Cajamarca Tradition and its antecedents. It also seeks to look at Cajamarca archaeology both within the northern highlands and in regions with which Cajamarca was in contact. Recent investigations and themes may include, but are not limited to, the development of new models of social organization and development in the northern highlands, issues of ethnicity and social identity, local and interregional interaction, cuisine and class, mortuary patterns, artistic expression and identity, and production and consumption within and between Cajamarca communities.

Other Keywords
Cajamarca • Peru • andes • Ceramics • Mobility • Colonialism • Sealing • Wari Empire • Late Intermediate Period • Formative

Geographic Keywords
South America

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  • Documents (10)
Documents
  • Beyond the Marañon: A Consideration of Cajamarca's Changing Relationships with Chachapoyas societies (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Warren Church.

    This paper offers observations regarding the distribution of Cajamarca fine, painted kaolin-ware pottery recovered to the east, across the Marañon canyon in the Chachapoyas region cloud forests. Cajamarca’s complex societies lay at the center of expansive interaction networks during pre-Hispanic times. The clearest evidence of Cajamarca's long-distance communication networks consists of its signature fine, painted kaolin-ware bowls discovered in sacred and mortuary contexts across the Central...

  • Cajamarca during the Middle Horizon: Excavations at El Palacio site (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Shinya Watanabe.

    In this paper we present the excavation data from the El Palacio site, a supposed administrative center of the Wari Empire, to consider interaction between the Cajamarca culture and other areas. Kaolin ceramics are an important characteristic of the Cajamarca culture and present a tradition as long as 1600 years, but at the same time indicate gradual changes during 5 phases. El Palacio site corresponds to the period from the Middle Cajamarca Phase B, C, to the first part of the Late Cajamarca...

  • Cajamarcan Presence in the Northern Coast of Peru during the Middle Horizon: A Ceramic Styles Approach (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Solsiré Cusicanqui. Luis Jaime Castillo Butters.

    Around 750 A.D., the Mochica societies occupying the mouth of the Jequetepeque River, in the north coast of Peru, began a brief but intensive collapse process that opened their borders to nearby societies; especially those settled in the highlands of Cajamarca. Materialized in plates made from kaolinite clays, this Cajamarca presence quickly spreads throughout the valley generating different dynamics of cultural interaction reflected in the creation of new ceramic styles (“coastal“ cajamarca),...

  • The "Coastal Cajamarca" Style Did Not Come from the Coast (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Howard Tsai.

    The "Coastal Cajamarca" style of painted bowls was first documented by Disselhoff in the 1950s at the site of San Jose de Moro (Lower Jequetepeque Valley, Peru). There are two competing hypotheses with regard to the origin of this ceramic style: (1) it originated from the coast or (2) it was produced in the middle valley or chaupiyunga zone, an intermediate area between the coast and the highlands. In this paper I present evidence from the site of Las Varas, located in the Middle Jequetepeque...

  • Coastal politics in Cajamarca: recent research in the middle Jequetepeque Valley (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Gabriela Cervantes. Robyn Cutright.

    Based on research at Ventanillas, a Late Intermediate Period community in the middle Jequetepeque Valley, Peru, this paper discusses the role of coastal polities and highland influence in a multiethnic middle valley context. Mapping, surface collection, and excavations in 2011 and 2013 focused on investigating the cultural and political affiliation of Ventanillas residents. Ventanillas’ imposing adobe platform mounds link the site visibly to coastal traditions; however, households used a mix of...

  • Henry Reichlen: La trayectoria americanista a través de su colección y de sus archivos (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Vanessa Bernal Rodriguez.

    Pensar en la cultura Cajamarca nos lleva enseguida a pensar en Henry Reichlen. Indudablemente él fue el gran precursor y fundador de todo estudio científico sobre esta cultura. Su trabajo de campo en diferentes sitios de Cajamarca, sus diversos análisis de materiales arqueológicos y sobre todo la cronología que estableció continúan siendo grandes aportes para las investigaciones actuales. Sin embargo, ¿quién fue realmente Henry Reichlen? ¿A qué institución académica pertenecía y para quién...

  • Initial Investigations at the Multicomponent Cajamarca site of Callacpuma (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Jason Toohey.

    Here I present the results of an initial season of fieldwork at the multicomponent Cajamarca site of Callacpuma (Qayaqpuma). Cerro Callacpuma is a large site located along the northeastern edge of the Cajamarca basin. The multicomponent site encompasses a number of architectural and other spatial zones, arrayed along the 2.5 km spine of the ridge and on its north and south slopes. Initial fieldwork focused on survey and mapping of the architectural core of the site, located along the Inca trunk...

  • Sealing Ritual Spaces of a Formative Site by the Early Cajamarca Culture (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Yuji Seki. Diana Alemán. Percy Santiago. Nagisa Nakagawa. Megumi Arata.

    Pacopampa is one of the largest ceremonial centers in the Formative Period located at the north highlands of Peru. Almost all the ritual space was destroyed after the Formative Period, however, the square sunken court was reused by the people belonging to the Early Cajamarca Period. Some platforms and rooms were constructed at the center of the court and a series of ritual activities associated with a lot of miniature pottery could be observed. After that unusual activities the court was orderly...

  • Shared Motifs and Figures in the Archaic of the Cajamarca Highlands: New Data from the site of Callacpuma (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Henry Idrogo.

    The northern Andes, and in particular the Cajamarca region, has for years seen a dearth of archaeological investigation into the lithic, or archaic period. This is surprising given early investigation in the region by Augusto Cardich whose excavations at caves like Cumbe yielded archaic period occupations dated to 8,500 B.C. More recent work at Conga and Maqui Maqui north of the Cajamarca basin have documented hunter-gatherer occupations including projectile points dating to approximately 12,000...

  • Wari Imperial Presence in Cajamarca: A view from Yamobamba (2016)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Patricia Chirinos Ogata.

    The Wari empire built at least two main centers in the Cajamarca region as part of its expansion to different regions of the Central Andes. One of them, Yamobamba, 25 km southeast on the road to Huamachuco, presents an architectural pattern that corresponds to Wari canons, including square patios, narrow corridors, and peripheral galleries. In particular, its distribution, size, and orientation show a strong resemblance to Jincamocco (Ayacucho), almost 900 km away. Recent research at Yamobamba...