Defining the Identity of the Gallinazo Period (200 BCE–200 CE, Peruvian North Coast): A Complex View of the Transitional Phases of the Salinar, Gallinazo, and Virú Periods through Ceramic Analysis and Burial Patterns

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Archaeologists have long sought to understand and identify the complexities and nuances of the Salinar (400–200 BC), Gallinazo (200 BC–AD 200) and Virú (200 BC–700 CE) cultures located on the northern coast of Peru, where there is much discussion and debate about the cultural and political identities and chronologies of each group. Based on previous work, such as that of Heidi Fogel, we consider that these groups may constitute diverse regional variations of a similar political system or a general culture in which living patterns and systems (i.e., pottery and funerary practices) remain similar with slight regional variations. Salinar, Gallinazo, and Virú require much more study and focus in order to understand their connections and differences, defining the timeline of the cultures of the North Coast of Peru. In this way, through the study of the morphology, decoration, and use of ceramics, along with funerary patterns, especially those of the transition periods between each group, it is intended to better understand the chronology, similarities and particularities of these groups or regional cultural variations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53461