Tecapa: Segmentary Organization as Sociopolitical Technology in the Transitional Period (AD 800–1000 AD)

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 2" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The site of Tecapa represents one of the few major Transitional settlements on the North Coast. Its occupation (~AD 800–1000 AD) spans the waning of Moche influence and the coalescence of Chimú and Lambayeque culture. In fact, the spatial organization of Tecapa shares important principles with Sicán and closely parallels the configuration of Chimú ciudadelas, even as urban growth at Chan Chan obscures its early years. The relationship of Tecapa to Huaca Colorada thus offers important insights into persistence and transformations of Moche practices and the emergence of coastal Late Intermediate period polities. At Tecapa, this transition reveals a gradual, though definitive break with Moche traditions rather than the “collapse” of Huaca Colorada as a major center. The planned grid of Tecapa indicates a conscious reorganization of social space. The segmentary structure of the site articulated relations between lineages and balanced highland settlers with coastal natives across a monumental plaza. Archaeological assemblages show how the new organizational paradigms may have balanced different political interests. Moreover, the incorporation and renovation of Huaca Colorada suggests its resignification as an ancestral location shared by highlanders and costeños. Ultimately, we argue that Tecapa presages the later segmentary ayllus and parcialidades of the coast.

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 2   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38900.0