Identifying Strategies of Integration and Cooperation during the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000–1480) at Sangayaico, South-Central Andes, Peru

Summary

The Late Intermediate Period (LIP) in the highlands of the Central Peruvian Andes was characterized by a marked intensification in economic specialization. In contrast to the preceding periods, in which mixed agro-pastoral groups appear to have dominated highland Peru, many LIP populations seem to have adopted increasingly specialized pastoral or agricultural strategies. This increased economic specialization would likely have fostered inter-group cooperation, as subsistence generally required the products of both herding and agriculture. In tandem with this, the LIP also saw the development of new forms and scales of ritual, as groups sought to extend their geographic reach and influence.

Drawing on excavation data and analysis of micromorphological samples from Sangayaico, in the Upper Ica drainage of the south-central Peruvian Andes, we examine how one LIP community established and maintained bonds of cooperation in a time of major political and economic transitions. Initial excavation data – such as the plaza dated to the LIP – suggests that ritual activity at Sangayaico increased in scale and intensity during this period. Micromorphological analysis of these ritual contexts has helped to illuminate how these features were constructed and used, thus furthering our understanding of how communities used ritual to mediate community relations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21328