Conditional cooperation and the ritualized economy of Paracas

Summary

The Pampa de Carmen above the Chincha valley contains a series of Paracas period archaeological features including geoglyphs, ceremonial mounds, settlements and small stone structures. I discuss how these features integrate the pampa into a monumental ritual landscape focused on five major settlements. I interpret these features to be a means to attract people from outside the region to periodic market fairs held in the neutral chaupiyungas areas between highlands and coast. These fairs promoted sustained economic cooperation between these rich areas and were, in turn, the economic mainstay of the Paracas economy in Chincha.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Archaeological Research in the Chincha Valley, Southern Peru

Keywords

Spatial Coverage