Tales from the Hearth: An Analysis of Formal verses Informal Burning Episodes at the Cosma Complex, Nepeña Valley, Peru

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Illuminated Communities: The Role of the Hearth at the Beginning of Andean Civilization" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Research at the Cosma Archaeological Complex since 2014 has revealed two multi-tiered mounds with architecture relating to the Kotosh-Mito tradition. Carbon dates from the earliest components in Cosma have dated several ritual structures to between 2900-2400 BCE, well into the early Late Preceramic Period. At least eight separate exclusive ritual structures were documented within the two mounds, one of these rooms exhibiting "traditional Mito features" such as the sunken floor, wall niches, and central fire feature. Additional hearths were also documented inside rooms and away from the customary centralized burning locale typical of Kotosh-Mito ritual. Paired with these hearths were activities taking place inside and outside of structures that produced large ash lenses. Materials recovered within these burning episodes include spondylus and other marine remains, burnt camelid and deer bones, and lithic artifacts. This paper will discuss not only the location, characteristics, and elements associated with these hearths, but also touch upon the contrasting elements of the formalized central hearths versus informal hearths and ash lenses utilized during the Late Preceramic in Cosma.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Illuminated Communities: The Role of the Hearth at the Beginning of Andean Civilization   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22888