A.D. 600 Cultural and Environmental Transformation in Ancient Peru

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

In Peruvian archaeology 600 AD has been recognized as a period of important social and environmental transformations, which chronologically has served to mark the end of the Early Intermediate Period and the start of the Middle Horizon; characterized by the demise of archaeological cultures such as Moche and Nasca, and the appearance of Wari material culture in the coast. Recent research centered on this time period has confirmed that important climatic oscillations, such as the presence of an El Niño event of considerable proportions, characterized this moment. Likewise, this research is showing a longer presence of Early Intermediate Period societies in different parts of the Peruvian coast. This session proposes to re-evaluate this period from different regions, focusing on the varied political, cultural, religious and environmental responses triggered by this context. Among these responses are the exploitation of water resources for the construction of new settlements, the enlargement of irrigation systems, as well as the aggrandizement of local elites in different parts of the Peruvian coast. Likewise, this session proposes to re-examine the validity of current chronologies, particularly in relation with the end of the Early Intermediate Period and the beginning of the Middle Horizon.

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  • Cerro de Oro and the Year A.D. 600: Changing Settlement Patterns in the Lower Cañete Valley (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Francesca Fernandini.

    The year AD. 600 seems to be an important turning point in the settlement pattern of the lower Cañete valley. While settlements prior to this date tend to be small sized and located close to the river margin, the period after AD 600 shows settlements tend to be placed a few kilometers away from the river margin. The largest of these is Cerro de Oro, a 150ha densely populated settlement located on top of a mound, 13km away from the river margin. The construction and use of Cerro de Oro seems to...

  • Dinámicas medioambientales, infraestructura de almacenamiento y paisaje agrario en Cajamarquilla (Siglos VII- IX d.C.) (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Rafael Segura Llanos.

    Cajamarquilla es uno de los centros urbanos preincas más grandes de la costa peruana (160 ha). Localizado en el valle del Rímac, el sitio fue uno de los centros dominantes de la cultura Lima entre los siglos VII y IX d.C. Si bien otros grandes centros Lima coexistieron durante esta época, solo Cajamarquilla se localiza tierra adentro y en un entorno geológico altamente inestable al pie de la cordillera andina. Ya que este fue un periodo caracterizado por notables alteraciones medioambientales,...

  • INAA of Loro Ceramics from Zorropata, a Middle Horizon Las Trancas Habitation Site in Nasca, Peru (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sarah Kerchusky.

    Early in the Middle Horizon (c. AD 650-1000), the Wari Empire expanded from its Ayacucho homeland and established at least three colonies (Pacheco, Pataraya, and Inkawasi) in the Southern Nasca Region (SNR) on the South Coast of Peru. Concomitant with the Wari presence local settlement patterns underwent dramatic reorganization. Large portions of the population shifted from the Nasca and Taruga Valleys south to the Las Trancas Valley – away from and perhaps in contention with the Wari. A new...

  • Los Cambios Climáticos y Sociales una Ecuación Positiva: Los Datos en el Complejo Arqueológico de Huacas del Sol y de la Luna (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Santiago Uceda. Henry Gayoso. Feren Castillo. Enrique Zavaleta. Carlos Rengifo.

    Los antiguos estudios sobre la cultura Moche, o Mochica, consideraban que un mega Niño (550-600 d.C.) fue la causa del abandono del sitio y el traslado de la capital Moche a Galindo. Los datos recuperados en los últimos 25 años en el complejo arqueológico Huacas del Sol y de la Luna ofrecen una secuencia ocupacional casi continua desde el siglo I d.C. hasta el siglo XIV. Durante este tiempo se han identificado tres grandes periodos: los dos primeros corresponden a la ocupación Moche y el tercero...

  • Middle Horizon "local" and "exotic" styles in Castillo de Huarmey and Pachacamac: Menzel’s ideas revised (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Roberto Pimentel Nita. Krzysztof Makowski. Milosz Giersz.

    Recent excavations at Castillo de Huarmey and Pachacamac leave no doubt that the earliest archaeological contexts associated with Middle Horizon in both sites are related to the second half of that period and coincide with the collapse of two main regional political systems on the Peruvian coast: Moche and Lima, respectively. Both systems, consolidated and politically transformed, have overcome adverse climate conditions of the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. In the case of Castillo de Huarmey...

  • Reevaluating the end of the Early Intermediate Period on the Peruvian coast from the perspective of the Lima culture (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Ana Mauricio.

    El fin del Periodo Intermedio Temprano en la arqueología peruana ha sido cronológicamente ubicado alrededor del 600 AD y culturalmente es representado por el final de culturas costeñas como Moche, Lima y Nasca. Alrededor del 600 AD hay evidencia de un evento extraordinariamente fuerte de El Niño, el cual ha sido registrado en sitios arqueológicos desde Piura hasta Lima. Este evento (o eventos), fue anteriormente interpretado como una importante causal de la caída de estas culturas costeñas, sin...

  • The rise and fall of the bi-headed serpent: How much of Late Lima cultural development could be explain by an ENSO? (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Giancarlo Marcone.

    In the present paper, I will combine evidence of two sites: The Pachacamac Sanctuary and the domestic site of Lote B, both in the Lurín valley in order to discuss the political changes happening in the central coast to the onset of the middle horizon. Asking how these political changes related with the climatic variation register for the area in both bottom sea and lake cores. I point out that this process of political centralization was contemporaneous with mayor climatic anomalies that have...

  • The Role of Infrastructure in Wari State-Making in Southern Peru (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only David Reid. Patrick Ryan Williams. Donna Nash.

    In southern Peru, the transition from the Early Intermediate to the Middle Horizon during the seventh century A.D. was marked by the expansion of Wari state colonists and influence from the Ayacucho heartland. Andeanists have long postulated the role of climate change and drought during this initial state expansion, while issues of chronology complicate this issue. Here, we reevaluate the radiocarbon data from the early Wari colonies of Cerros Baúl and Mejía in the upper Moquegua Valley in...

  • Sociocultural Changes in Cajamarca Region during the Early Intermediate Period and the Middle Horizon (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Shinya Watanabe.

    In this paper we discuss the chronology of the Cajamarca culture of the Peruvian Northern Highlands to consider the social dynamics during the Early Intermediate Period and the Middle Horizon. We present the excavation data from the two archaeological sites, Complejo Turístico Baños del Inca and El Palacio that correspond to the period from the final part of the Early Cajamarca Phase to the Middle Cajamarca Phase. The Cajamarca culture during the Middle Cajamarca Phase A (A.D. 600-750) presents...

  • Untangling Wari Colonization, Trade, and Administration in Coastal Arequipa from the Site of Quilcapampa, Siguas Valley. (2017)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Stefanie Bautista. Justin Jennings. Willy Yépez Alvarez.

    The seventh century AD marked a period of great social change in the coastal valleys of Arequipa, Perú. During this time, an increase in violence, population growth, and social complexity was met with foreign influences from the Wari state of the central highlands. While scholars have long asserted that Arequipa fell under Wari control at this time, the evidence for direct state control has never been demonstrated conclusively in the region. This presentation reports the results of our...