Generating the Architectural Landscape at the Capilla and Pacopampa: From the Pandanche Phase to the Pacopampa Phase

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Social Dynamics in the North Highlands of Peru during the Formative Period: Pacopampa project’s Contribution for Understanding the Early Complex Societies in the Andes" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This presentation will focus on the architectural landscape of the Capilla Mound and the Pacopampa Temple, which are part of the Pacopampa archaeological complex. Excavations at the Capilla have revealed elite tombs and stone structures from the Pandanche and Pacopampa I phases. The axes of the stone structures in both phases were oriented at approximately 256 degrees azimuth, corresponding to the summit of Cerro Cotora. This landscape was maintained from the Pandanche phase to the Pacopampa I phase. During the Pacopampa IA phase when the axis of the Pacopampa Temple is oriented toward the rising direction of the Pleiades, the Capilla and the Pacopampa Temple faced different directions. As a result of secular changes in the Pleiades, the axis of the Pacopampa Temple no longer coincided with the rising direction of the Pleiades during the Pacopampa IB phase. Therefore, the Pacopampa Temple adopted the architectural axis of the Capilla, and the Capilla and the Pacopampa Temple were integrated into a single architectural complex. This adoption suggests that the Capilla and the Pacopampa Temple were part of a unified large archaeological complex during Pacopampa IB, forming a new landscape. This change highlights the dynamic architectural development of the Pacopampa IB phase.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Social Dynamics in the North Highlands of Peru during the Formative Period: Pacopampa project’s Contribution for Understanding the Early Complex Societies in the Andes   •
• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 50839