The Middle Horizon Period at Ancón: A Reassessment

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Ancón, Peru represents one of the largest pre-Colombian cemeteries in the Andes. Discoveries of more than three thousand burials spanning the length of Andean history cement Ancón’s continuous role as an important location to commemorate the dead. Less clear, however, is whether Ancón supported a concurrent residential population throughout this time, particularly during the Middle Horizon. The traditional narrative holds that Ancón was home to a permanent settlement beginning in the Middle Horizon—perhaps even serving as a Wari outpost. A reexamination of data from Middle Horizon Ancón contexts, however, suggests that the site functioned primarily—if not exclusively—as a cemetery during this period and that Wari influence was minimal. Additionally, a review of Middle Horizon Ancón burials demonstrates that the overwhelming majority date to the latter part of the Middle Horizon. All of this indicates that Ancón was largely abandoned as a place of residence at the end of the Early Intermediate Period, serving instead as a small cemetery at the start of the Middle Horizon. The site surged as a major cemetery toward the end of the period, and transformed yet again at the start of the LIP into a permanent habitation site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 33208