Inspiration from Beyond the Border or Innovation from Within? Reconsidering the Paracas-Nasca Transition on the Peruvian South Coast

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Beyond Borders at the End of a Millennium: Life in the Western Andes circa 500–50 BCE" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

During the final centuries of the Early Horizon (~300–100 BCE), independent Paracas communities across multiple valleys on the Peruvian south coast began an extended process of social, cultural, political, and religious transformation. These changes ultimately culminated with the development of the Nasca cult centered at Cahuachi. The profound changes associated with the Paracas-Nasca transition have often been attributed, at least in part, to the influence of the Topará tradition, long understood as a foreign group which intruded into the Paracas heartland from the north. We present excavation and radiocarbon dating of Jahuay, the earliest accepted Topará site, which contradict this long-held theory and invite us to reconsider how this period of major social transformation unfolded. Instead of looking for answers beyond the boundaries of Paracas communities, we propose turning our gaze inward to consider how competition between the supporters of emergent traditions across and within south coast valleys spurred innovation and transformation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beyond Borders at the End of a Millennium: Life in the Western Andes circa 500–50 BCE   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38745.0