Diverging Patterns of Community Organization in the Late Intermediate Period Cajamarca Region of Northern Peru

Summary

The organizational concept of ayllu has been central to many discussions of community generation and organization in the Andes, but the blanket application of ayllu is also problematic. In the Cajamarca region of northern Peru, the beginning of the Late Intermediate Period (A.D. 1000 – A.D. 1450) saw a demographic shift, with many settlements forming or relocating to higher elevation defensible and occasionally fortified positions indicating possible increases in competition and conflict between local groups. This shift in the location of some communities might also reflect increasing economic specialization between farming and herding communities, as has been seen in some other Andean zones at this time. Recent research at the communities of Callacpuma and Yanaorco in Cajamarca is beginning to shed light on possible organizational differences between higher and lower elevation communities. Variability in spatial patterning, foodways, and ceramic production and use points to diverging patterns of organization among local Cajamarca communities at this time. I will argue for the development of community at the large scale, speaking to possibly increasing inter-settlement interaction and interdependency even in the face of increased local tensions during the LIP.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21070