Paisajes Arqueológicos de Pañamarca: Findings from the 2018–2023 Field Seasons

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Paisajes Arqueológicos de Pañamarca: Findings from the 2018–2023 Field Seasons" at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This symposium will present the work of four field seasons of ongoing work at the site of Pañamarca, Nepeña Valley, Peru. Pañamarca contains an array of adobe monumental platforms, walls, and temples. The first mural discoveries at the site were revealed to the world in the 1950s, which included a famous mural of a Moche priestess. Recent work has focused on defining the cultural chronology of the site through AMS dating, exploring the farming landscape of the surrounding valley, and excavation, conservation, and documentation of remarkably preserved painted architectural surfaces dating to the Moche period (500–850 CE). Overall, the new discoveries confirm that the site played an important role in the region well before and after Moche presence. The work also supports our theory that during the Moche period, Pañamarca was a place of unusual creativity and a crucible for artistic invention. The artists and patrons of Pañamarca did not conform to what otherwise is thought to have been a very rigid society and artistic Moche style.