From Pozuelo to Paracas: An Approach to the Processes of Formation and Social Complexity in Early Societies in the Chincha Valley

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Thinking Big in the Andes: Papers in Honor of Charles Stanish" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Paracas, believed to be the oldest complex society on the southern coast of Peru, occupied the Chincha Valley during part of the Formative Period (400–200 BCE). Although there is evidence of the Paracas occupation throughout the Chincha Valley, little is known about the formation of Paracas within the valley. Relatively recent investigations, led by the Programa Arqueológico Chincha, have revealed the presence of an occupation in the valley which existed prior to Paracas, called Pozuelo; the Pozuelo occupation (800–500 BCE) possessed one of the earliest known archaeological mound complexes on the south coast of Peru. This research uses geoarchaeological and paleoenvironmental evidence to elucidate the strategies and transformation processes involved in the development of Paracas in the valley. Additionally, from a multidisciplinary approach, we will attempt to provide an explanation of the long historical process of the complex formations in the Chincha Valley.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)   •
• Thinking Big in the Andes: Papers in Honor of Charles Stanish

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36154.0