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    Research of Chan Chan archaeological site, Central Andes.

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    Research of Chan Chan archaeological site, Central Andes.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    261 visualizzazioni199 pagine

    Chan Chan Andean Desert City

    Caricato da

    Len Malaga
    Research of Chan Chan archaeological site, Central Andes.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    HAN CHAN: = ANDEAN Peay sino iN DESERT CITY ‘support of the j School of American Research i Advanced Seminars, EDITED BY MICHAEL E. MOSELEY AND KENT C. DAY A SCHOOL OF AMERICAN RESEARCH BOOK UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO PRESS ¢ Albuquerque Wyseom’ B34 ( iss C46 Liber Main ety der file of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data {Chon Chan, Andean desert (Salwolof American Research advanced seminar ibiogrphy: p. nk Chan (Peruj—Aldeesen eat, lets TDi, Kent © a © 1982 by the Schon of Aunesicam Rescarch, NI ight serve Manulaetured in the United States of Smetica. Lary Gone Catilog Cat Neer 81.3486" Totecatonal Sandu Book Nunes 8268.0575.% Fist Eton Acknowledgments We wish to acknowledge the generasity and hospitality of Douelas W. Schwarte and his staf atthe School of American Research for the epportsity to exchange information. ideas, and reminiscences in eX eptionally pleasant surroundings. We owe special thanks to the late ‘Wanda Driskll for her editorial assistance and advice during the peep aration of this book. Our appreciation is also due David Noble and Phillip Bittenhan for following this woxk through to completion, Major financial support for the Chan Chan~Moche Valley Project consisted of grants fiom the National Geographic Society, the Na- tional Science Foundation, and Harvard University. Funds for ad tional research were provided by the Committe on Latin Ametian Studies, Harvard University, the University of Texas Institute of Latin American Studies Archseological Fund, the Canada Couneil, Colum- bia University Institute of Latin American Stadics, the Institutional Scientific Research Pook othe Department of Anthropology, Coluin bia University, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the 2. S. B. Leakey Foundation Permission to survey and exeaate in Pera was authorized by the Insfitilo Nacional de Cttura del Peri in Lins and its local fbilites in Trujillo, Chiclayo, ad Guadalupe (Provincia de Pscasmavo). When work began at Chan Chan we received valuable aid and advice from Guillermo Ganoza Vans and Francis Iriarte Brenner of the Comité Pro Restauraciin de Chan Chan Kent C. Day Foreword Chan Chan is one of the most extiordinary archacological sites in the Western Hemisphere, rich in architectural and atisie splendor Once possessing a social and political system of great complexity and 4 highly efficient economic organization, this great arban adsninis: trative center was the source of ideas that were crucial in shapi the succeeding Inea empire, Chan Chan's location on the sandy peri phery of the Moche Valley on Peru's North Goast is a part of the Andean workd with 3 Tong history of distinctive eultores and their superlative achievements ‘The ruins vf Chan Chan cover ss square Kilometers and are domi ted by ten huge compounds, each of which was siirounded by thinty-foot-high adobe wally that protceted and isolated the peuple within, Access to each compand was gained only through a single, ded entrance that led by way of fic audience chamber. a series of cousts, 2 reservoir, and avast array of storerooms, In addition, each complex was the raya living quarters and contained royal burial chamber. since these compounds were the administrative centers and final resting places for the priest-kings ‘ofthe Chinn empire prior tits eonquest hy the Fas about 4.19 1465 he Chini-empive was the eultnination of 4,000 years of eultucal development om the bountiful North Coast of Pen, where the sea provided the largest marine biomass in the Wester Hemisphere as a strong underpinning for sedentary life. By 2000 B.C, communities of coastal fishermen had already grow large enench well raw passage to J eau produce FOREWORD enough surplus to allow the mobilization of workers fin widely sep- ated villages who constructed the region's frst monusnental are tecture. This ability to mobilize large work forces became the foundation of Andean civikeation Around 1800 B.C., many of the shoreline communities were aban doned, and the population and administrative centers moved inland to the Moche River Valley. ‘There, a radical shift to agriculture sup potted an expanding population. A massive labor investment was also begun on a sophisticated engineering venture that eventually produced ‘one of the most intensive itigation systems in the New World, car ‘ying water throughout the valley and into the adjacent desert. The firs indication tht politcal power was becoming centralized fn the North Coast is found! at the site of Caballo Muerto, About 1500 mc. this town hecame the headquarters of a plitieally stable Irereditaty chiefdom thet lasted nearly a thousand years. By the year A.D. 1, the Moche Valley had experienced alos two millennia of sedentary occupation, cultural stability, expericnce with inpresive constuction projects, and a productive agricultural econorny, all di rected by a ranked politial organization. ‘Oust of this background ernerged ane of the major precursor of the hint empire, the Moche culture, its politieal power symbolized by the largest adobe pyramids i the New World. One pyramid, Huaea et Sol, was built fram moze than 140 million adobe bricks by work parties enlisted from thoughout the region, Moche culture was a complex organization of administative,rctigious, craft, and agtieul tural specialists who were pt ofa centralized, militaristic, expansion: ist sate that unified portions of the North Caast beyond the Mock Valles. ‘The centval authority in this political sistem, as shown icon oxraphically. was one preeninent person who remained segegated fiom the rest of society and who was seen by the public ony on fon Just before the emergence of the Chin empire at about A.D. 700, there apparent developed atthe site of Cain in the Mache Valley a social system with a new secular class headed by a paramount ruler wsho was supported by traditional religious belief. ‘The secular elite contolled the wealth ofthe empiee and lived in an exclusive residen tial aca, while the lower clases lived on crowded hillsides separated from the centers of publie activity by a high adobe wall ‘When the legendary founder of the Chisn empire salled south on his Foreword bala raft to a place near the presentday town of Teajilla in the Moche Valley, he initiated a kingdom of divine despots that incor- porated all the main elements of the previous North Coast cultures But pethaps the key to understanding the new cultural configuration is the system of inheritance iv the royal line, which dictated that on the death of « king, his compound and any testitory he had eaptured were to be retained in his name and administered in perpetuity by a separate burcaueracy. The new ruler had to build his own compound and conquer new territory, which was then taved, onganized, and ad- ministered in the name of the new king by a powesul cite that exer- cised absolute conttol over land, water, storage, and redistribution of goods. With cach new king, the number of eompoundls inereased, and each living king shared Chan Chan with the remains and bureau: racy of his predecessors. Out of this political and economic struc tare grew an empire that ultimately contelled nearly a thousand miles of the Andean coast and became ane of the richest political entities in the Westen Hemisphere ‘The sof the Chan. Chan=Moche Valley research project eathered at the School of American Research in 1976 for a detailed examination and synthesis of their work on Chan Chan, its ecological foundations, its four thousand years of cultural antecedents, and its legacy to the Incas, ‘The results, previewed in broad outline here, iMaminate one ofthe outstanding cultures in New World prchistory, that of the Andean North Coast. Clearly, the work of this seminar group is a distinguished example of high-quality regional archaeology Pursted ina productive, erative fashion Dough: W. Schwartz School of American Resentch Preface This book isthe result ofan Advanced Seminar in archacology held at the School of American Research in April 1976. ‘The seminar participants had all been members of the Chan, Chan=Moche Project ‘of 1969-74. In the fel, the archacologists had gathered and analyzed data from a particular perspective; for instance, G. Conrad studied burial platforms in Chan Chan proper while R. Keatinge concentrated con the outiving areas. The School of American Research offered the expedition members the opportunity to develop a broader perspective and fo work on a model of social process at Chan Chant and in the Mache Valley. ‘he chapters in this hook present the model developed at the Advanced Seminar slong with different aspects of th that give credence to the model. While the subject matter in the chapters may appess diverse at fist, itis unified by a commen goal: analysis ofthe architecture and pattens of envitonmental exploitation for the purpose of reconstructing the devekapment of social, economic, and politial organization on the North Coast of Pers br esearch THE SITE Chan Chan is located at lat. 7°5" S, long, 78° W on the desert coastal plain about 550 kilometers north of Lima, Peru, ‘The sins of the site stand on a lav rise nosthwest of the flid plain of the Moche Valley Mach of Chan Chan blends into the desert plain on which the site stands, The massive adobe walls of the enclosures and the rained hheaps of huacas stand out clearly, Yet eversthing at Chan Cl c PREFACE same pale ochre color of handpacked, barren eatth, A few breaks in the monotonous color and texture are provided by shrubbery growing the relatively damp recesses of ancient wells, No one lives at Chan Chan, but the site is covered with a network of footpaths, frequently along the undulating tops of collapsed adobe walls. The quiet desols tion of Chan Chan is enhianced by nearly constant onshore winds from the Pacific Ocean, Despite the winds, the sky remains overcast alo the coast most of the year, and the diffused, weak daylight makes it Gifficult to distinguish the earth from the sky at the horizon. In cone trast, on those rare occasions when the sky clears during the summer months, reflected light is blinding, shadows are deep, and heat is intense among the ruins Natural and human forces are responsible for the desolate signature ‘of Chan Chan on the landscape. Presently earthquakes do little dam- age to the site, but itis likely that many af the thinser, tall adobe walls at Chan Chan collapsed during earthquakes soon after the site was abandoned. ‘The greatest natural damage at the site, however, is due to moisture, either ftom infrequent torrential rains or the very dainp aie characteristic of the coast. Of course, the rains melted the earthworks at the site in dramatic fashion, but high humidity has been more Constant and insidious. The dampness, for instance, causes the surface of exposed walls to flake away gradually or is absorbed by salts in many of the adobes, and the adobes crumble to dust, In addition, dampness and sunlight effectively destroy any organic materials left exposed. The only inseets that did much damage at Chan Chan were the termites that consumed some of the wood and eanes used as posts or roof beams in stouctures. Other animals at the site take advantage of holes for burrows or wall tops for roosts but do little damage. Human activites at Chan Chan changed the site mote than the natural forces. As soon as the great enclosures were abandoned about A.D. 1479, Chimii squatters (Day 1973) moved in and built flimsy houses in courtyards. ‘These last residents ripped wooden posts out of walls and chopped down wooden colonnacles, presumably for fre- wood. ‘They alsc cut holes through large walls to admit irrigation water to ficlds planted in open level areas {T. Topic 1971), ‘These squatiets’ fields are the oft-referted-to “gardens” in Chan Chan, Precolumbian damage to Chan Chan was relatively miner com: pared to what happened atthe site during the Spanish Colonial Period (A.D. 1532-1821). Soon after the Moche Valley was settled by the Spaniards in about 1535, they began mining locally fr silver and gold Preface In a letter written to Charles Von March 19, 1541, Hemando Pizarro states that “at the edge of the town called Trujillo four or five silver nines were discovered” (Portas Barrenechea 1959:216), Since there ate no significant natural deposits of precious metals in the Moche Valley, itis revealing that another sisteenth-century report states that near Trujillo “there arc. no mines but [there are] huseas that are interments of Indians from which quantities of gold and silver wete removed” (Jiménez de la Espada 1965, 183:125). Mining for gold and silver at archaeological sites in the Moche Valley continued for 200 years (Holstein 1927), and Chan Chan undoubtedly was one of the targets. Apparently the burial platforms and forecourt were ssstemat cally looted at that time, perhaps along with the sacking of graves in ramps and other struct Chan Chan, ‘These activities left the burial platforms, in particular, with open pits and tunnels that over subsequent years eroded and collapsed. Soon after treasure hunting ended!—as rich tombs were exhausted —another suege of looting began at Chan Chan under the inspiration of antiquities collectors. Destruc- tion of the lange cemetery south of Chan Chan probably hegan in the nineteenth century and continues today to satisfy the demand for ceramic vessels Presently agricultaral activities are rapidly eneroaching upon Chan (Chan as isigation canals ate built to bring water to fields near the site Settlers are moving into the ruins in response to local population increase and lack of available housing in neatby towns. Part of Chan Chan is an illegal garbage dump, and a paved highway cuts across the notthern part of the sites center. One great wall at Chan Chaa is a memorial matked by annual flora offerings to a group of political protestors who were executed against tin 1932 Chan Chan wil enna f suf damage ard wil ably a. arin lage part as industrial development and population growth put greater demands n the limited land availabe tn the Moche Vale We consider ourselves lucky to have worked at Chan Chan during the last phase ofits existence, ‘THE CHAN CHAN-MOCHE VALLEY PROJECT, 1969-1974 Research conclucted by members of the Chan Chan= Mache Valley project changed in emphasis over the five-year life of the projcet Due to the lack of reliable information on the architectural compos: PREPACE tion of Chan Chan, the initial goal of the project was to map the site through aerial photography and ground survey (Moseley and Mackey 1974), In addition to mapping, excavation was conducted at Chan Chan and inthe lower Moche Valley to provide a hasie understanding ‘the history and functioning of a major Andean city in the context of its ural sustaining commits [Moseley 1269) ‘As the work at Chan Chan proceeded. architectural patterns came to be recognized and formed the basis fora broad classification of the The laige rectangular enclosures called ciudadelas were an Gbvious architectural category, a8 was the tract of smal irregularly Sigghitinated coouns (SIAR) along the westside of the site. Various tnclosites les elaborate than the ciudadelas but snore formal i faye than the SIAR were classified as elite compounds. Once these major architectural complexes were located, they wete reduccd to compe nent architectural groups for detailed mapping and/ar excavation. In ‘edition, entrances and access patterss between and anvong structures for, on occasion, larger romps wete explored oF pastilly cleared A gid system based othe British Ordinance systern was used From. the beginning of the projcet to pinpoint any spot within the Moche Valley. Coordinates of this grid were used to designate sites or assign Fetter and mune tiles to areas within large sites if necessary. I though the grid system could provide quadrilateral figures of practi cally any dimension for radon sampling of architects sites, it was tot used for this puepise. Lnstead, structures or groups uf structures svete the sampling nits for observation aind comparison (Morris 1975: 201) at architectural sites, including Chan Chan, Throughout the Tie “of the project the research strategy remained one of punposive selective Sampling (Cowgil 1975:260), but no one was denied the opportunity for random sampling Excavation stategy differed at deeply buried sites, middlens, and surface lithie sites. In one instance a bulldozer opened deep trenches, which were cleaned aid slighth: expanded by hand labor in order to ain control over materials contained in natural stratigrsphie deposits Exploratory trenches or pits on widens weee excavated by arbitrary levels until a stratigraphic profile or block was isolated. ‘Vis was fol. lowed by careful stratigraphic exeavation of natural layers exposed in the profile or block. One of the lithic sites was covered with a grid, and all the surface anifats were numbered and plotted on the grid as they were collected. Varigus statistical proeedares were used in the analysis ‘of materials fom the statified deposits and surface cofieetions as necessary to establish chronological control ove rural sites in Preface the Moche Valley snd over the architectural components of Chan Chan nodded nr and ina oil a fa tional relationships. Previous ceramie studies provided a general eyon0- logis! framewott uf periods, But these serions were hot alwass refined enough for the purposes ofthe project, Since small sites were presumably occupied for a short time, it was assumed that ceramics Soy these sites wonl provide discrete assemblages fr seviation, This seriation was to be supplemented by stratigraphic ceramic samples from deep depts at lige ste onder to eal eatvely pec chronological control aver sevctal sites. ‘This method (Moseley and Mackey 1972) proved successful at some sites in the Moche Valley but vas not appropriate to Chan Chan. There, deep deposits wer inva bly mixed, probably due to frequent pichistoriecleating, cleaning, and construction ativities throughout the occupation ofthe ste Although ceramics ftom Chan Chan were sient to establish its ‘contemporaneity with certain rural sites and to distinguish it fons sites ‘of other petiods, another approach was adopted to pinpoint the se- ‘qneace of constiuction of monumental enclosures within Chan Chi Since ciudadelas were not superimposed upon ene another, radioeat~ hon determinations wete equivocal, and ceramics were often untelia ble for fine chronologiel contel, a method of siting adobes was devised (Kolata, Chapter 4). ‘This adobe ser checked against variations in U-shaped struetuesat Chan Chan, yielded 4 sequence for the cosstsuetion af ciudadelas. The adobe seriation should be appliable ta sites outside Chan Chan if the sites contain structures built of mass-pradaced adabes Functional interpretations of architectural phenomena hogan as pro tee made oad solving hits problens even though hee feo efforts didnot always follow one another in ender. The function of certain structures —for instance, storeroons—was established om the basis of comparison of their form and layout with Inca storage facil ties. Other structures, such as kitchens or workshops, were identified by their contents. Still other strictures were identified by their rele tionship to other known structures or by their strategic location on access sos o¢ by thet preity to entrances. In the ease of cya hrurial platforms, the elues that first led to their identification were Met relative isolation, the heavy footing of interior chambers, and the content of debris in looters’ backdit piles. Very few of the stature identifications were anticipated, and none was evident in the literature before the project began As time went by conteal over chnmologeal fees ieupreved, and PREFACE, new interpretations supplemented ¢ trustworthy generalities were derived fw hy the larger questions of prehistoric Andean socioeconomic and political organiza tions were addressed. ‘The results of these inquiries are presented here Moseley presents a model of Chan Chan politcal, economic, and social organization in Chapter 1. He begins with review of the geographic and ecological conditions of coastal Per with particular emphasis upon the lage tracts of arable land on the North Coast plain between the Moche Valley and the Scehura Desert. In this area there were two prehistoric multivalley inigation complexes, a smaller one in the Moche-Chicama basins and 2 much larger one connecting the valleys fiom Jequetepeque to Motupe. In his discussion ofthe repeated {economic and politcal unification of the Moche-Chicama area, Mose~ ley proposes that such organization was predicated upon available river water, land, cultigens, and an aneient pattern of structured exploita- tion of human labor. Moseley and Deeds describe the irrigation systems in the Moche Valley in Chapter 2. Alterations in the Moche Valley irrigation net- work over an extended period of time ate discussed along with some observations on the engineering problems faced by the ancient build ers. Evidence is also presented for a great flood during the Chima ‘occupation ofthe valley Day (Chapter 3) offers a synopsis of the investigation of the mom mental rectangular enclosures ealled ciudadelas that dominate Chan Chan. Then Kolata (Chapter 4) provides a chronological framework for the growth of Chan Chan based on the proportions and distribution ‘ afsundied bck, or adobe, the ms common man-made objet a the ste In Chapter § Contad interprets the royal burial platforms in and associated with cindadelas as structures which reflect the practice of “split inheritance.” This death cult activity, previously known only among the Inca, meant thatthe principal heie of a dead king received power and status, but a sceond heir received the estate of the dead king ‘A broad category of ruins at Chan Chan, less imposing than the ‘monumental ciudadelas but more formal and spacious than the sn irtegularly agglutinated rooms, are elite compounds, Klymyshyn uses cthnohistoric sources in Chapter 6 to suggest that Chimis nobility — albeit a “lesser nobility” of court funetionaries and bureaucrats— ‘occupied these stactures ghermore, once the res Preface ‘There are large areas of smal ieregutarly agglutinated rooms (SAR) at Chan Chan that had never been studied until the proiect began. J Topic, in Chapter 7, describes and interprets them as lower-class res dential areas where most of the craft production and mianufacturing took place. In Chapter 8, S. Pozorski reports subsistence information from tem sites in the Moche Valley that span the time from the Cotton Preceramic to the Late Horizon (see Table 1.1 in Chapter 1 fora time chart). She tuaces the steady development of reliance upon organized distribution ‘of foodstuffs and concludes that food was largely redistributed by the state in Chim times. Furthermore, the staples provided by the state vatied according to the available resources at particular localities within the Moche Valley In the following chapter (9), Keatinge discusses the distribution of Usshaped structures at administrative centers in the Moche Valley daring the Chima hegemony. He then compares them to. similar struetures on top of platforms and moun atthe earlier site of Pacat- ‘nami in the Jequetepeque Valley. He suggests that Pacatnamii was the site of a major oracle and the U-shaped structures there had @ mor sacted fuiction than the late, sceular administrative structures at Chimis sites. Inn Chapter 10, 'T. Pororski describes Caballo Muerto, a site which ‘predated Chan Chan. The eoncentration of subsistence remains at the Site indicates that it was the most economically important site in the Mache Valley. Indeed, Pozorsk fels thatthe formal architecture and clabcrate fiezes are evidence that Caballo Muerto was the seat of a ‘chiefdom. The site, therefore, provides an example of sngle-site dom inance in the valley and represents the early past of trend that later ceulminated in Chan Cha 1, Topic summarizes in Chapter 11 excavations at Huaca del Sol nd Huaca de la Lana atthe site of Mache, where devp test trenches revealed the fell stratigraphic record of occupation. Flkewhere, areas ‘of high quality domestic architecture were partilly cleared. She con- cludes that even during the Early Intermediate Period a well-defined class structure exisied, and the Moche Valley was the center of an expansionist state supported by a bureaucratic adminisiration. Hower- cr, the lack of storage facilites at the site of Moche suggests that state-held redistributive powers later exemplified at Chan Chan were not yet in force during the Farly Intermediate Period A comparison of the architecture at Galindo with that of Chan PREFACE ‘Chan, Huaca del Sol, and Hvaca de fs Luna is made in Chapter 12. Here, Bawden suggests that enclosures at Galindo herald the formal atchit Galindo faze miniature versions of Moche Phase huseastflat-topped pyramids). tn addition, the existence of amd control over storage fi enced by the strategie location of large enclosures point ko Gi 2 transitional stein the trend toward economic control by an elite I Chapter 13, Mackey reviews the evidence for Huar influence in the Moche Valley atthe end of the Early Intermediate Period, evidence she finds insufficient to justify the idea that direet Huai influence was the major factor forthe development of urbanism on the Nosth Coast. As an allemative, Mackey suggests that urhan precedents probably feccurred father north on the eoast between the time of Moche's abandonment and Chan Chan's founding. Continuities in socioeconomic oxganization from the Early Tter- ‘mediate Peviod through the Late Intermediate Period tothe Late Hori zon are stresved in Chapter 14 (Day). Wsidence of labor task units and storage among the late Moche, Chim, and tnea is the basis for a rind of ancient socineconomic onganization that was probably shared throughout much of the Andes are In addition to contributing speeific information on Chan Chan and other sites, several of the chapters in ths book make the point thatthe social, economic. and political pattems fr which the Ina are famous and heretofore largely cwedited with inventing are present at Chia ‘Chan, itis evident, too, that the patterus at Chan Chan were pred cated in lage arcasure upon earlier cultures in the Moche Valley rather than the result of tat difsion from the south. Although tradi- tional pattems are strongly evident in the Moche Valley and, hy esten= sion, much of the Noxth Coast differences in cultural content at various time periods. However, the identification of common pre cepts of social distinetions, economic management, and centralized control daring much of the prehistoric veenpatiow of the North Coast isan indigenous cultural devclopment that was probably shaved through. cout the central Andes Kent ©, Day Contents Acknowledaments KENT Day vii Foreword DOLGEAS W. SCHWARIZ, GENERAL EDIEOR ix Preface KENTG. DAY ail L_ Intoduction: Human Exploitation snd Organization on the North Andean Coast MIGHAFLE, MOSELEY 2. ‘The Land in Front of Chan Chan: Agganian Expansion, Reform, arid Collapse in the Moche Valley MICHAEL f, MOSELEY AND ERIC, DERDS 3. Ciudadelaw ‘Their Form and Fonction ReNTE DAY 4 Chronology and Settlement Growth at Chan Chan SLAW (OUTS KOLSTA 5. ‘The Burial Platforms of Chan Chan Somne Social and Political Lnphic CEOFIREY W. CONRAD 6 lite Compounds in Chan Chan ALEXANDRA MULAN KIYMYSITES 7 Lewer-Class Social and Beonomie Oxganization at Ghan Chan JOH TOPE, 1 B 8 6 87 9 145 CONTENTS 8 Subsistence Systems in the Chim: State SHELIA G. IYZORSKL 9 ‘The Chim Empite in a Regional Perspective: Cultural Antecedents and Continuities AICHARD W. KEATINGE 10. Early Social Stratification and Subsistence Systems The Caballo Muerto Complex "THOMAS PazoRSKI I] The Early tntermediate Period and Its Legacy THERESS LANGE TOPIC 12. Galindo: A Study in Cultural Transition During the Middle Horizon GARTH BADEN 13. The Middle Horizon as Viewed from the Moche Valley CAROL F MACKFY 14 Storage and Labor Service: A Production and Mangement Design for the Andean Area KENT Day Closary References Index Ww Wr 25 255 333 351 353 365 1 Introduction: Human Exploitation and Organization on the North Andean Coast MICHAEL £. MOSELEY Fld Muu of Nett Hitry ‘Man's occupation of the North Coast of Peru has heen long, com- plex, and fondamentally important tothe evolution of Andean society Traditionally, archacologists have interpreted northem prehistory in an analytical framework hased upon Peruvian research performed f ther to the south. Drawing on results of the Chan Chan=Mocke Valley Project and other recent investigations, this introductory chap- ter offers a new analysis fom an alternative perspective. The northern desert is viewed as the major focus of coastal Andcan civilization and 2 center of cultural evolution that ean only be interpreted in its own terms This chapter is an attempt to outline a model of indigenous eco- ‘nomic and political organization that makes North Coast archaeology lligible as a network of systemically interrelated facts about past ‘cultural development. Attention is concentrated on institutions of gov femanee and centralized administration. “This focus is necessary for tnderstanding large settlements that were major power centers: su centers are the dominant topie of the individual seminar papers that MICHAEL. E. MOSELEY ‘make up this volume. Finally, the essay is speculative, and while striving to present a consensus viewpoint, it does not represent @ una- ‘nimity of opinion om all intexpretive points by all seruinar participants GEOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE Human occupation of the North Coast must be seen within the potentials of the physical environment. ‘The central Andean region may he divided ito broad geographic quadrants, These four spheres differ both alttudinally in texans of the desert coast versus the upland sicra, and longitudinally in tecns of the northe versus the southern desert and uplands, Di axes quarter the central Andes fea Upland North South, Distinctive conditions in a produced diverging cultural adapta tions that affected the manner in which North Coast populations artic lated with other spheres of indigenous civilization Coast And Sierra Life on the Pacific desert is influenced by the distribution of fresh water and arable land, which is, iv tum, stiongly influenced by the configuration of the Andean uplands. ‘The southern mountain, massif is high, wide, relatively fat, and receives litle precipitation. To the north the average elevation deereases as the ranges become narrower, riore bisected, and hetter watered. The ‘Titicaca Basin is the largest ‘expanse of flat, arable land in all the highlands; with an clevation of 3,700 meters and higher, it receives about 50 centimeters of rin pet year. This contrasts with smaller, lower basins to the notth. For exan ple, near the Rio Moche hea than 1,000 meters below the more rain annually. Since the dispersal of highland rainfall determines the distribution and quantity of runoff erossing the desest coast, the northem rivers tend to discharge substantially more water than their southern coun ters, the basin of Cajamarea lies more teaea plains a hhas 25 centimeters 2 Introduction: Human Exploitation and Organization texparts, Similady, the distribution of flat, arable coast land is deter. ‘mined by the proximity ofthe mountains to the Pacific. Rugged foothills ppush out into the ocean between the Moche and Catete valleys creating a scarcity of arable terain that curtail agricultural potential even where fresh water is abundant, as at the Rio Santa. South of the Rio Cariete the mountains pull buck from the ocean, ereating a coastal but a majority of the southern rivers carry litle discharge, and larger water courses are deeply entrenched, allowing litle water to be diverted onto the available land, These factors greatly limit agricul al productivity along the South Coast ‘Conditions are different in the northern coastal quadrant. Here the creating a very wide coastal ‘mountains end well hack from the Pa that is erosced by Inge rivers, For indigenous popul of abundant land und water in the region from the Mache Valley north to the Sechura Desctt held the greatest agrarian potential to be four along the Pacific desert, The long-term consequences of different conditions and adaptations in the four Andean quadrants miains little explored, The Titicaca Basin constituted the economic and demographic cen ter of the sierra (Robinson 1964; Murza and Morris 1976). and itis clear that the small population on the South Coast was elosely tied to and often subjugated by this highland center and neaby: mountain societies, In contrast, the North Coast populace was a far anger Force in Andean civilization, equal tu, if not dominating. the worth high land peoples. Ultimately, political development in the Asides may: prove to have been a push-pull fluctuation between the feo principal gcographie quadrants: the northern focus on the coast with the Chim empire ancl antecedent Mache state, and the southem focus in the sierta with final Inea preeminence growing out of earlier Tiahwanacoy Huai polities, os, the The Northern Periphery ‘The north Andean cosst consists of a central core, oF muclear re gion, flanked by two peripheral areas. ‘The great Seclunra Desert is the largest physiographic break in the landscape, ‘This wide, barren plain, not crossed by rivers for 125 kilometers, formed » natural boundary separating dis Until approximately 3,000 8.6. the littoral zone north of the Sechura tive cultural developments 3 MICHAEL E MOSRLEY Desert supported mangrove swamps and relatively moist conditions Eaily populations relied on mangrove mollusks, other inveeebrates, and wild plant foods (Richardson 1973), As yet, there is no evidence forthe pursuit of mogafauna or forthe production of stone projectile points The advent of agriculture did not alter the peripheral status of the tegion. Its rivers, although often large, lie entrenched below the arable in, and local societies did not develop the population levels, tech nology, and organizational principles to mobilize large reclamation projects. Some sharing of ideas about att and iconography occurred with people to the south, as attested by stylistic similarities between Viets, Callinazo, and Moche ceramics. However, it was not iti the heavy influx of Chien influcnce that montmental construction and other evidence of complex sociopolitical organization appears in the northern periphery. Af that time, the area was wrested away from long-standing tiesto the Ecuadorian sphere of influence and brought within the confines of eenttal Andean civilization. This transform tion was executed either by people from the Lambayeque area, slightly later, by imperial armies ditected from Chan Chan. ‘The Nuclear North The muclear section of the North Coast is 2 wedge-shaped plain stretching fom the Rio Moche tthe Sechira Desent. It is separated fiom the southern periphery by the pl-bock of the mountains ror the sea and the emergenee ofa true coastal plain, which fst arses at the rnouth of the Moche River and stetches northward becoming progres sively wider (Robinson 1964). The plain endows the nuclear Neth Coast with far more arabe land than exists othe south When man first entered the coastal plain, savannalike conditions apparently existed along the transceting rivers and their finges. These ‘alleys were the preferred habitat of megafauna, including horse and ‘uastodon. The fauia moved up and down the pai fiom one valley to another and did not peneltte the moist northern periphery ot the rocky southern periphery in farge numbers. Man adjusted his activities to exploiting this faunal enclave, and the cultural hallmark of this adaptation is the Paijan or Long-Stemmed Projectile Point (Ohsa and Moseley 1971; Ossa 1973). Wit time, hunting gave way to reliance Upon marine esourees, and around 3,000 &. people heean looking 4 Introduction: Human Exploitation and Organization to the sea as a primary source of subsistence. Within one millennium permanent communities, such as Huaca Prieta (Bird 1948), arose along the coast. Although some settlements were of substantial size, none rivaled the far lager maritime communities Found sonth of the Rio Moche ‘Agricultxe ultimately brought the nuclear north to cultural pe ‘eminence, and the economic landscape can be summarized in terms of Pichispanic irigation systems. Reclamation projects pushed into desert areas eyond the confines of modern cultivation by the time of Christ (Kosok 1965; Willey 1953). A distinguishing fcatore of the nuclear north ws the presence of very luge eanals linking two or more valleys into a single massive irigation syste, La Cumbre canal, run= hing from the Chicama to the Moche Valley, was built by the Chan Chan dynasty (Kus 1972) other intervaley hnkups lack precise dating, bot ate probably of comparable or greater antiquity During its stage of maximum agrarian development, the muclear noth consisted of two central multvaitey complexes flanked by small ngle-valey ivigation ystems (Piguee 1.1). One multivlley anit was the Mocke and Chicoma Basins (Figure 1.2). ‘To the south lay the small Rio Vird, and then the tiny Chao drainage, cach forming an ndependent ingation sytem. For millennia the four valleys from Chao to Chicama constituted a tightly integrated cultural ara that was oft politically consolidated Nout of the Rio Chicama, the wide plain of Quebrada Cupisnique formed a physiographic and cultural break spitting the nuclear aorth, Above the split lay the greatest irrigation system of the entire Pacific cont, the Lambayequc megaystem connecting five Jequetepeque to the Metupe. The Rios Jequetepeque sind Lambayeque were the principal affluents feeding the vast co which probably accounted for one-third ofa land reclaimed along th Andean desert (Kosok 1965), North of the mogasystem lies the ‘Olmos Valley, and beyond this marginal aggarian enelave spreads the Sechusa In spite ofits disproportional importance, the Lambayeque mega systern i litte explored. While it may well have shared eal poitcal fics with the Moche-Chicama region, pronounced ssisie bonds ate not evident until the Middle Horizert and Phase V of the Moche art sequence (see Table J.2i. A Meche V presence in the Lambayeque region is reficeted im. murals at Huaca Facho (Donnan 1972) and in 5 FIGURE 1.1, The Nowth Cast of Per ‘excavations at Pampa Grande (Day 1976). The lattes vast settlement is generally contemporary with the somewhat smaller site of Galindo, some 150 kilometers to the south.

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