Andean Expressions: Art and Archaeology of the Recuay Culture

2. Land and Settlement in Ancient Ancash

chap ter t wo Land and Settlement in Ancient Ancash work and daily routine are rarely easy affairs in mountainous zones. Yet Recuay groups flourished in one of the most dramatic settings in the world. Centered around the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra, the Recuay heartland encompassed some of the most varied highland terrain in the Andes: cold, windswept steppic plateaus, glacial peaks and lagoons, verdant highland valleys, humid coastal desert canyons, and forested eastern slopes leading into Amazonia. Such diverse terrain within a highly compact zone helped shape crucial forms of economic practice as well as patterns of Recuay settlement. Most Recuay-tradition groups flourished through intensive forms of agro-pastoralism and exchange of products from different ecological zones. This setting also provided crucial locales and landscapes for events memorialized in memory and myth. One of the great achievements of Recuay societies was their adaptation to the distinctive setting and environment of the north-central Andes. Different life zones were part of everyday existence for many Recuay groups. Each zone presented a series of unique resources for exploitation by ancient groups. Learning the ways in which ancient peoples engaged with these zones is essential for knowing about Recuay culture, especially in terms of the diverse material remains. Historically known forms of land use and records of climate change are also crucial to the analysis. Environmental Setting The sierra of the Department of Ancash, northern Peru, formed the Recuay heartland. Especially in the highland zone, the distribution of Recuay culture runs more or less coterminously with Ancash’s modern limits. Measuring over 36,000 square kilometers, it is about the size of Switzerland . Throughout most of its prehistory, the distribution of Recuay culture rarely ventured outside of these modern political boundaries. 22 l Land and settLement in anCient anCash FiGure 3. (Top and middle) Schematic profiles of transects A–A' and B–B' across Ancash Department, with transect locations found in fig. 2; (bottom) schematic profile of the vertical ecological zones in Ancash Department. Recuay’s geographic boundaries coincided with the Cordillera Huayhuash and the Pativilca Valley to the south, the Río Marañón to the east, and the Pallasca (Cabana) region in the north (fig. 2). As evidenced by their distinctive fineware pottery, Recuay people sometimes descended to different parts of the lower coastal valleys leading into the Pacific Ocean, mainly between the Huarmey and Virú valleys. But most Recuay groups in Ancash were probably limited to middle valley areas of the Pacific Andean flanks, known as the Cordillera Negra. From the Pacific coastline, the Ancash highlands rapidly ascend over 1,000 meters above sea level (masl) in elevation, composed of the yunga, quechua, suni, puna/jalca, and janca life zones (onern 1972; Pulgar Vidal 1972; Rivera 2003; see also Tosi 1960) (fig. 3). In spite of these general Cerro Rico R.Nepeña CORDILLERA NEGRA CORDILLERA BLANCA Caraz R.Yanamayo R.Marañón R.Santa Lag.Llanganuco Chimbote CORDILLERA NEGRA CORDILLERA BLANCA Huaraz San Marcos Chavín de Huántar Las Haldas R.Santa R.Mosna R.Marañón Chinchawas Jancu Jimbe Inka road Pamparomas R.Pira Antamina Callejón de Huaylas Conchucos Callejón de Huaylas Conchucos 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 50 100 150 km 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 50 100 A A' masl 150 km B B' masl 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 masl Janca Puna Suni Ceja Quechua Yunga Coast Land and settLement in anCient anCash l 23 FiGure 4. The middle Nepeña Valley. The mid-valley regions of the north-central coast are important areas for warm irrigation agriculture of crops such as maize, fruits, coca, and chili pepper. Located where the valley neck narrows and the foothills converge, the areas are also strategic places to control canal intakes of irrigation systems and access to routes for coast-highland traffic/ trade. terms, many areas of the highland Ancash today are characterized by great variation in local zonation and environmental conditions crucial for economic practices, seasonality, and resources. As one moves eastward from the lands associated with coastal littoral and river mouths (chala), the valleys begin to narrow near the foothills of the Andes. Here the yunga life zone consists of the diverse warm and humid riverine valleys, from about 500 to 2,000 masl (fig. 4). Although the yungas do not receive much precipitation, rivers flowing down the Andean cordillera make these frequently steep...