Vibrant Ruins and the Construction of Casma Ancestralized Landscapes: Preliminary Insights from the Lower Nepeña Valley

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Casma State Material Culture and Society: Organizing, Analyzing, and Interpreting Archaeological Evidence of a Re-emergent Ancient Polity" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In coastal Ancash, archaeologists have been puzzled by the presence of Casma style objects (~AD 800-1300) at archaeological sites with earlier cultural components. This has led to significant cultural historical and chronological confusion including the classification of several Early Horizon sites (800-200 BC) as centers of the Casma Polity. Field research and excavations in the last two decades have helped disentangle those components and document the extensive reuse of abandoned buildings, fortifications, and other ruins by late prehispanic groups including the Casma. Yet, little attention has actually been given to the motivations, meanings, and broader structuring impact of those material engagements. This paper examines the vibrancy of the built environment in the lower Nepeña Valley as seen through its reuse by groups producing Casma style things. I am particularly interested in exploring mortuary practices, in particular the placement of Casma dead within the lower Nepeña, and how those helped in the social construction of ancestralized landscapes. I detail a model that integrates the material vibrancy of things, monuments, and landscapes in shaping the aesthetic attentiveness of Casma makers, especially potters, architects, and sculptors. Results are discussed in light of the sociohistorical conditions surrounding the emergence of Casma style cultural manifestations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Casma State Material Culture and Society: Organizing, Analyzing, and Interpreting Archaeological Evidence of a Re-emergent Ancient Polity   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23200