Kasapata and the Archaic Period of the Cuzco Valley

Kasapata and the Archaic Period of the Cuzco Valley PDF Author: Brian S. Bauer
Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press
ISBN: 1938770218
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
Although the Cuzco Valley of Peru is renowned for being the heartland of the Incas, little is known concerning its pre-Inca inhabitants. Until recently it was widely believed that the first inhabitants of the Cuzco Valley were farmers who lived in scattered villages along the valley floor (ca. 1000 BC) and that there were no Archaic Period remains in the region. This perspective was challenged during a systematic survey of the valley, when numerous preceramic sites were found. Additional information came from excavations at the site of Kasapata, the largest preceramic site identified during the survey. It is now clear that the Cuzco Valley was inhabited, like many other regions of the Andes, soon after the retreat of the Pleistocene glaciers and that it supported thriving cultures of hunters and foragers for hundreds of generations before the advent of permanent settlements. This edited volume provides the first overview of the Archaic Period (9000 - 2200 BC) in the Cuzco Valley. The chapters include a detailed discussion of the distribution of Archaic sites in the valley as well as the result of excavations at the site of Kasapata. Separate chapters are dedicated to examining the lithics, human burials, faunal remains, and obsidian recovered at this remarkably well-preserved site.

Kasapata and the Archaic Period of the Cuzco Valley

Kasapata and the Archaic Period of the Cuzco Valley PDF Author: Brian S. Bauer
Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press
ISBN: 1938770218
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
Although the Cuzco Valley of Peru is renowned for being the heartland of the Incas, little is known concerning its pre-Inca inhabitants. Until recently it was widely believed that the first inhabitants of the Cuzco Valley were farmers who lived in scattered villages along the valley floor (ca. 1000 BC) and that there were no Archaic Period remains in the region. This perspective was challenged during a systematic survey of the valley, when numerous preceramic sites were found. Additional information came from excavations at the site of Kasapata, the largest preceramic site identified during the survey. It is now clear that the Cuzco Valley was inhabited, like many other regions of the Andes, soon after the retreat of the Pleistocene glaciers and that it supported thriving cultures of hunters and foragers for hundreds of generations before the advent of permanent settlements. This edited volume provides the first overview of the Archaic Period (9000 - 2200 BC) in the Cuzco Valley. The chapters include a detailed discussion of the distribution of Archaic sites in the valley as well as the result of excavations at the site of Kasapata. Separate chapters are dedicated to examining the lithics, human burials, faunal remains, and obsidian recovered at this remarkably well-preserved site.

Regional Archaeology in the Inca Heartland

Regional Archaeology in the Inca Heartland PDF Author: R. Alan Covey
Publisher: U OF M MUSEUM ANTHRO ARCHAEOLOGY
ISBN: 0915703831
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
The Cuzco region of highland Peru was the heartland of the Inca empire, the largest native state to develop in the Americas. Archaeologists have studied Inca monumental architecture for more than a century, but it is only in recent decades that regional survey work has systematically sought to reconstruct patterns of settlement, subsistence, and social organization in the region. This monograph presents the results of regional surveys conducted (from 2000 to 2008) to the north and west of the city of Cuzco, a region of approximately 1200 square kilometers that was investigated using the same field methodology as other systematic surveys in the Cuzco region. The study region, referred to as Hanan Cuzco in this volume, encompasses considerable environmental variations, ranging from warm valley-bottom lands to snow-capped mountains. The chapters in this volume present settlement pattern data from all periods of pre-Columbian occupation—from the arrival of the first hunter-gatherers to the transformation of valley-bottom fields by the last Inca emperors. A chapter on the colonial period discusses how Spanish colonial practices transformed an imperial landscape into a peripheral one. Together, the chapters in this volume contribute to the archaeological understanding of several central issues in Andean prehistory.

Imperial Transformations in Sixteenth-Century Yucay, Peru

Imperial Transformations in Sixteenth-Century Yucay, Peru PDF Author: Donato Amado González
Publisher: U OF M MUSEUM ANTHRO ARCHAEOLOGY
ISBN: 091570367X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 390

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Book Description
In this volume, R. Alan Covey and Donato Amado González present an archaeological and historical introduction to the Yucay Valley, as well as the complete transcription of the first volume of documents in the Betancur Collection.

Regional Archaeology in the Inca Heartland: the Hanan Cuzco Surveys

Regional Archaeology in the Inca Heartland: the Hanan Cuzco Surveys PDF Author: R. Alan Covey
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Anthropology
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description


The Chanka

The Chanka PDF Author: Brian S. Bauer
Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press
ISBN: 1938770307
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
In AD 1438 a battle took place outside the city of Cuzco that changed the course of South American history. The Chanka, a powerful ethnic group from the Andahuaylas region, had begun an aggressive program of expansion. Conquering a host of smaller polities, their army had advanced well inside the territory of their traditional rival, the Inca. In a series of unusual maneuvers, the Inca defeated the invading Chanka forces and became the most powerful people in the Andes. Many scholars believe that the defeat of the Chanka represents a defining moment in the history of South America as the Inca then continued to expand and establish the largest empire of the Americas. Despite its critical position in South American history, until recently the Chanka heartland remained unexplored and the cultural processes that led to their rapid development and subsequent defeat by the Inca had not been investigated. From 2001 to 2004, Brian Bauer conducted an archaeological survey of the Andahuaylas region. This project represents an unparalleled opportunity to examine theoretical issues concerning the history and cultural development of late-prehistoric societies in this area of the Andes. The resulting book includes an archaeological analysis on the development of the Chanka and examines their ultimate defeat by the Inca.

Mobile Pastoralist Households

Mobile Pastoralist Households PDF Author: Jean-Luc Houle
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 1805396722
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
Mobile pastoralist activities occur at different scales across the landscape, including local, regional, and supra-regional scales. Most archaeological studies of mobile pastoralist social organization have focused on the latter two scales via the extant monumental and herding landscapes. Household levels of analysis figure much less in these studies. This volume brings together the work of archaeologists currently engaged in mobile pastoralist household research in different regions of the world to highlight the importance of household studies and the utility of both archaeological and ethnoarchaeological approaches in understanding mobile pastoralist household formation, continuity, and adaptation to environmental, social, economic, and political change.

War, Spectacle and Politics in the Ancient Andes

War, Spectacle and Politics in the Ancient Andes PDF Author: Elizabeth N. Arkush
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316510964
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
This book examines the varied faces of war, politics, and violent spectacle over thousands of years in the pre-Columbian Andes.

Ancient People of the Andes

Ancient People of the Andes PDF Author: Michael A. Malpass
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501703935
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
In Ancient People of the Andes, Michael A. Malpass describes the prehistory of western South America from initial colonization to the Spanish Conquest. All the major cultures of this region, from the Moche to the Inkas, receive thoughtful treatment, from their emergence to their demise or evolution. No South American culture that lived prior to the arrival of Europeans developed a writing system, making archaeology the only way we know about most of the prehispanic societies of the Andes. The earliest Spaniards on the continent provided first-person accounts of the latest of those societies, and, as descendants of the Inkas became literate, they too became a source of information. Both ethnohistory and archaeology have limitations in what they can tell us, but when we are able to use them together they are complementary ways to access knowledge of these fascinating cultures. Malpass focuses on large anthropological themes: why people settled down into agricultural communities, the origins of social inequalities, and the evolution of sociopolitical complexity. Ample illustrations, including eight color plates, visually document sites, societies, and cultural features. Introductory chapters cover archaeological concepts, dating issues, and the region's climate. The subsequent chapters, divided by time period, allow the reader to track changes in specific cultures over time.

Art Book News Annual, volume 4: 2008Art Book News Annual, volume 4: 2008

Art Book News Annual, volume 4: 2008Art Book News Annual, volume 4: 2008 PDF Author:
Publisher: Book News Inc.
ISBN: 160585087X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description


Yuthu

Yuthu PDF Author: Allison R. Davis
Publisher: U OF M MUSEUM ANTHRO ARCHAEOLOGY
ISBN: 0915703777
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 209

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Book Description
The crown jewel of the Inka Empire was their capital, Cusco. So celebrated was the Cusco of Inka times that we sometimes forget how little we know of earlier times in the region. This book presents Allison Davis’ pioneering excavations at the high-altitude Formative site of Yuthu. Davis presents all her data on early households and evidence for the villagers’ subsistence strategies, craft production, and mortuary practices. From her excavations we learn a great deal about daily life and public rituals, each conducted in a different sector of Yuthu. An unexpected bonus of Davis’ excavations was the discovery that some well-known Inka practices actually had their origin in the early villages of the Cusco region. Before her work at Yuthu, so few early houses and ceremonial structures had been published in detail for the Cusco area that we had much less evidence for understanding sacred versus secular space. Davis’ excavations contribute to our understanding of one of the most important transitions in Andean history: the shift from autonomous egalitarian villages to multicommunity polities with hereditary inequality. She is able to link archaeological houses, sites, and multisite clusters to socially meaningful units such as families, villages, and communities. Davis is also able to combine her excavations with settlement pattern data to develop a regional picture of the Formative period in Cusco. This volume is not only the first excavation report on a Formative village in the Cusco area, but is also a study that contributes new data on many traditional Andean themes, including zonal complementarity, sacred landscapes, community composition, mummies and ancestor veneration, ritual canals and religious rites, and intra-village subdivisions.