The Upper Marañón after Chavín and before the LIP: Glimpse into Poorly Documented Times

Summary

This is an abstract from the "After the Feline Cult: Social Dynamics and Cultural Reinvention after Chavín" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

While the Late Intermediate period (LIP) in the upper Marañón region is well known for its unique surface stone architecture such as tall multistoried tombs, the periods immediately following the Early Horizon are still poorly documented and understood. Nonetheless, excavations at the site of Rapayán in Ancash and surface ceramics collected at a few heavily farmed settlements suggest a long and uninterrupted sequence of occupation spanning from the Formative to the LH. Furthermore, surface architecture in the upper Marañón, which has been mostly dated to the LIP, exhibits strong stylistic similarities with Early Intermediate/Middle Horizon architecture of Huamachuco (Marcahuamachuco) and the Callejones de Huaylas/Conchucos (Recuay). Combining the analysis of surface architectural stylistic variations and excavated data, I explore, through a comparative approach, the potential conservativeness of settlements in the region. I then discuss the possible implications of such findings to the understanding of social organization and political authority in the post-Chavín era of the upper Marañón.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• After the Feline Cult: Social Dynamics and Cultural Reinvention after Chavín   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38175.0