Middle Horizon Residence and Production at Huaca Colorada: Sectors A and C in Comparative Perspective

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Bridging Time, Space, and Species: Over 20 Years of Archaeological Insights from the Cañoncillo Complex, Jequetepeque Valley, Peru, Part 1" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Since excavations began at the Late Moche and Middle Horizon ceremonial center of Huaca Colorada (ca. 750–920 CE) in 2009, its expansive residential and production zones have attracted much attention for their ephemeral architecture. Largely located in the windblown sand of Sectors A and C, these structures have been interpreted as encampments where pilgrims from the coast and highlands feasted and crafted a wide range of items from copper alloys, textiles, ceramics, and maybe other materials. However, permanent architecture was also unearthed alongside these encampments, and recent excavations have revealed that many of these large structures undergird the informal residences. Based on stratigraphic data, new chronological models, and statistical analyses of cultural remains, I present sequences of architecture and activity areas in Sectors A and C of Huaca Colorada. I also briefly compare these results to data from other Middle Horizon, North Coast settlements (urban and nonurban) to discern whether Huaca Colorada’s residential areas contained rooms and features typical of the region’s houses and whether craft production areas were spatially distinct from general domestic activities and, if so, when.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Bridging Time, Space, and Species: Over 20 Years of Archaeological Insights from the Cañoncillo Complex, Jequetepeque Valley, Peru, Part 1   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38764.0