Early Settlement and Subsistence in the Casma Valley, Peru

Pozorski, Shelia; Pozorski, Thomas

Early Settlement and Subsistence in the Casma Valley, Peru

Publication Year: 2006

The Casma Valley of Peru’s north central coast contains the largest New World structure of its time period---2500 to 200 BC---as well as one of the densest concentrations of early sites. In this detailed and thought-provoking volume, Sheila and Thomas Pozorski date each major early site, assess this important valley’s diet and subsistence changes through time, and begin to reconstruct the development of Casma Valley society.Fifteen sites are surveyed, including Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke, the earliest planned city in the New World. The Pozorskis then synthesize their own fieldwork and previous work in the Casma Valley to chart its development during the critical time when civilization was emerging. The result: a scenario which is somewhat revolutionary in the context of more traditional views of Andean prehistory.Early Settlement and Subsistence in the Casma Valley, Peru adds substantially to the growing body of evidence that the earliest development of Andean civilization occurred on the coast rather than in the highlands. This volume presents comparative data for students of emerging civilizations worldwide and will be of value not only to Andean and New World archaeologists but also to everyone interested in the emergence of complex societies.

Published by: University of Iowa Press

Contents
Search Inside This Book
Book Details

Permission to excavate in the Casma Valley was granted by the Peruvian Instituto Nacional de Cultura, and funding for survey and excavation was provided by grants from the O'Neil and Netting Funds of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Funds for the radiocarbon assays were provided by grant BNS-8203452 from the National Science...

1. Introduction

pdf icon Download PDF
pp. 1-7

Our interest in the Casma Valley dates from 1974 when, inspired by the descriptions of Tello (1956) and Kosok (1965), we first visited the valley. Until 1979, our visits were sporadic-accomplished at free moments during our investigations of the Moche Valley to the north. In 1979 and 1980, funding provided by the O'Neil and Netting Funds of Carnegie...

2. Casma Valley Sites Excavated in 1980

pdf icon Download PDF
pp. 8-70

From July through October of 1980, we were able to conduct a series of test pits, stratigraphic excavations, and limited architectural clearings at six early sites in the Casma Valley area. This chapter presents the results of these investigations. Since we followed the same excavation procedures at all of the sites, the methodology we used is described...

3. Early Sites Surveyed within the Casma Valley

pdf icon Download PDF
pp. 71-103

As part of this study of early Casma Valley prehistory, we carried out intensive survey at a number of early sites within the valley. Collier and Thompson explored and described the major sites of the lower valley as part of their work in 1956 (Collier 1962; Thompson 1961, 1962a, 1964a). A more recent reconnaissance of the Sechin branch of the valley by...

4. The Prehistory of the Casma Valley and Its Impact on Studies of Early Andean Prehistory

pdf icon Download PDF
pp. 104-132

In this chapter, we use the excavation and survey data presented in chapters 2 and 3 to create a revised chronological sequence for major Cotton Preceramic, Initial Period, and Early Horizon sites in the Casma Valley area (table I). In order to put our work in perspective, we devote the first section to a review of chronological sequences proposed by...

References Cited

pdf icon Download PDF
pp. 133-140

Index

pdf icon Download PDF
pp. 141-149

E-ISBN-13: 9781587291944
E-ISBN-10: 1587291940
Print-ISBN-13: 9781587294624
Print-ISBN-10: 1587294621

Page Count: 159
Publication Year: 2006

Edition: 1st ed.

OCLC Number: 794701530
MUSE Marc Record: Download for Early Settlement and Subsistence in the Casma Valley, Peru