Tajahuana: New Insights into a Familiar Paracas Site

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Developments through Time on the South Coast of Peru: In Memory of Patrick Carmichael" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Paracas site of Tajahuana in the middle Ica Valley has been associated almost exclusively with the occupation of its summit known as La Peña. La Peña de Tajahuana was described by Menzel, Rowe, and Dawson as an important urban center corresponding to Phase 9 of the Ocucaje Sequence of Paracas pottery. Among the notable features of the summit is a series of earthen walls described by Rowe and other scholars as fortifications. The presence of the walls and the position of large terrace units on the upper slopes contributed to speculation concerning the existence and impact of intergroup conflict during the Late Paracas and Initial Nasca periods. PIA Tajahuana began in 2019 with the purpose of understanding further sociopolitical structure and interaction during the Late Paracas. Evidence from the first season of investigation suggests that the occupation of Cerro Tajahuana began earlier than previously thought and that the construction and occupation of the summit was not a single phase event but, reflected a long history of interaction between the residents of the lower slopes and those occupying the summit. This paper examines the preliminary evidence for site growth over time and establishes a chronological framework for its occupation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Developments through Time on the South Coast of Peru: In Memory of Patrick Carmichael   •
• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32352