Life on the Edge: Investigations in the Department of Piura, the “Extreme North” of the Central Andes, Peru

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Life on the Edge: Investigations in the Department of Piura, the “Extreme North” of the Central Andes, Peru" at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In the Central Andes, the extreme northern department of Piura remains one of the least-known archaeologically. Until the 1990s, the unresolved conflict between the modern nations of Peru and Ecuador made research in the borderland departments difficult. This further encouraged interpretation of the area as a zone of cultural differentiation with roots deep into prehistory. Due to the general lack of projects in the region, scholars have characterized Piura as an “artificial buffer zone of ignorance” and “[un espacio] aún desconocido”. Fortunately, with the implementation of a peace treaty between Peru and Ecuador, Peruvian and international archaeologists have started new projects in the past decade, covering a wide variety of temporal and spatial zones within the department. This symposium aims to re-evaluate our understanding of prehistoric Piuran societies in light of this new data. By bringing together active researchers in this borderland region, this symposium will assess the spatial and temporal (dis)continuities in cultural materials and lifeways necessary for the creation of relative chronologies and deep history of the “edge” of the Central Andes while emphasizing the understanding of Piura as a region of study in its own right.

Other Keywords
Chronology • Material Culture and Technology • Subsistence and Foodways • South America: Andes

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-7 of 7)

  • Documents (7)
Documents
  • Advancing the Study of Alto Piura’s Past: New Perspectives on the Archaeology of the Cerro Vicus Region (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Michele Koons.

    This is an abstract from the "Life on the Edge: Investigations in the Department of Piura, the “Extreme North” of the Central Andes, Peru" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Piura region in far northern Peru burst into the spotlight with the looting of sites that produced a dazzling new ceramic style and intricate metalwork that set the art market abuzz. These artifacts, later dubbed Vicus and Frîas, were named...

  • The Late Prehispanic Period in Chira: A View from Monte Lima (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Robyn Cutright.

    This is an abstract from the "Life on the Edge: Investigations in the Department of Piura, the “Extreme North” of the Central Andes, Peru" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. At least five monumental centers were occupied in the lower Chira Valley during Piura Phase 3 and 4 (1000-1532 CE). Richardson et al. (1990) attribute this settlement pattern, along with the introduction of blackware ceramics and the intensification of irrigation agriculture, to...

  • Loma Macanche: The Unique History of a Millenary Archaeological Complex (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Nicolas Goepfert.

    This is an abstract from the "Life on the Edge: Investigations in the Department of Piura, the “Extreme North” of the Central Andes, Peru" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Loma Macanche is located in the middle valley of the Piura River, in the center of the so-called Alto Piura region. Made famous by the discovery of a looted gold plaque in the style of the Chongoyape ornaments in the 1990’s, it has not been the subject of archaeological work...

  • New Traditions, Renewed Chronologies: Characterizing Lifeways from 500 BCE–1000 CE in the Foothills and Highlands of Piura, Peru (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Sarah Martini.

    This is an abstract from the "Life on the Edge: Investigations in the Department of Piura, the “Extreme North” of the Central Andes, Peru" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. <html> Seminal projects in the foothills and highlands of Piura, Peru during the 1980s and 1990s introduced the important sites of Cerro Ñañañique (EH, 1<sup>st</sup> mil BCE) and the necropolises of Olleros (EIP/MH, 1<sup>st</sup> mil CE) to the scholarly community....

  • Paleogenomica: Estudio preliminar extracción ADN de restos óseos del Museo de Arqueología e Historia de Tangarará, Marcavelica Provincia de Sullana 2023 (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only David Gonzalez Espino.

    This is an abstract from the "Life on the Edge: Investigations in the Department of Piura, the “Extreme North” of the Central Andes, Peru" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Los estudios de paleogenomica son de vital importancia en la identificación del ADN antiguo en los flujos migratorios de haplogrupos del tipo A, B, C, D que llegan al continente americano. Podemos establecer una interrogante ¿Es posible a través del protocolo de paleogenomica...

  • Recent Holocene Climatic and Environmental Variability and Its Impact on Prehispanic Populations in the Sechura Desert (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Valentina Villa.

    This is an abstract from the "Life on the Edge: Investigations in the Department of Piura, the “Extreme North” of the Central Andes, Peru" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Sechura Desert is currently characterised by a hyper-arid climate and regularly affected by extreme rainfall events linked to ENSO. During the most intense events, the desert is covered with denser vegetation and is occupied by temporary lakes. The current hydroclimatic...

  • Southwestern Ecuador and Northwestern Peru between 500 and 1470 AD: Data, Questions, and Perspectives (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Catherine Lara.

    This is an abstract from the "Life on the Edge: Investigations in the Department of Piura, the “Extreme North” of the Central Andes, Peru" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. For political and geographic reasons, the extreme south of the Ecuadorian coast and extreme north of the Peruvian coast have been relatively little investigated, let alone taken as a single study area. However, pioneering models developed by archaeology in the 20th century have...