Huanca Stone and Ancestor Veneration at Cerro San Isidro, Middle Nepeña Valley, Peru

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.

In the Moro region of the middle Nepeña Valley, on the western slopes of the north-central Peruvian Andes, the fifth century BCE marked a major social crisis, perhaps best seen in endemic armed conflicts, unfinished monumental buildings, and the demise of Chavín-related artistic programs. In this balkanized political landscape, Cerro San Isidro, with its strategic location at the center of the circumscribed Moro Pocket, emerged as one of the most populous and important human centers. This paper summarizes the stratigraphic, radiocarbon, and material evidence recovered at Cerro San Isidro between 2019 and 2022, outlining the broad lines of post-Chavín human occupation and their implications for our understanding of changing forms of social and political arrangements. The site is organized as series of anthropogenic platforms where co-resident groups lived in close proximity. Here, I focus on one of those platforms where our team uncovered and documented a huanca stone within an elite residential complex. I interpret this context in light of ancestor veneration practices, emerging social arrangements, and shifting political strategies. More broadly, I explore the cosmological implications of the huanca, especially in light of enduring ties with the adjacent highlands.

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): 38116.0