Maritime Communities of the Ancient Andes (Society and Ecology in Island and Coastal Archaeology)

Description

Maritime Communities of the Ancient Andes examines how settlements along South America's Pacific coastline played a role in the emergence, consolidation, and collapse of Andean civilizations from the Late Pleistocene era through Spanish colonization. Providing the first synthesis of data from Chile, Peru, and Ecuador, this wide-ranging volume evaluates and revises long-standing research on ancient maritime sites across the region. These essays look beyond the subsistence strategies of maritime communities and their surroundings to discuss broader anthropological issues related to social adaptation, monumentality, urbanism, and political and religious change. Among many other topics, the evidence in this volume shows that the maritime industry enabled some urban communities to draw on marine resources in addition to agriculture, ensuring their success. During the Colonial period, many fishermen were exempt from paying tributes to the Spanish, and their specialization helped them survive as the Andean population dwindled. Contributors also consider the relationship between fishing and climate change-including weather patterns like El Niño. The research in this volume demonstrates that communities situated close to the sea and its resources should be seen as critical components of broader social, economic, and ideological dynamics in the complex history of Andean cultures. A volume in the series Society and Ecology in Island and Coastal Archaeology, edited by Victor D. Thompson Cover Title Page Copyright Page CONTENTS List of Figures List of Tables Foreword Acknowledgments 1. Introduction: A Historical Perspective on the Studies of Andean Maritime Communities Part I. Early Maritime Adaptations (13,000 to 5500 BP) 2. Marine Communities in the Atacama Desert: Masters of the Subtropical Pacific Coast of South America 3. Economic Organization and Social Dynamics of Middle-Holocene Hunter-Gatherer-Fisher Communities on the Coast of the Atacama Desert (Taltal, Northern Chile) 4. The Use and Construction History of Huaca Prieta, North Coast of Peru Part II. Maritime Communities between 5500 and 2500 BP 5. Changing Complexity in the Norte Chico, 3000–1800 cal BCE 6. Maritime Communities and Coastal Andean Urbanization: Preliminary Insights from Early Horizon Samanco, Nepeña Valley, North-Central Peru 7. The Supply and Consumption of Marine Resources at the Inland Center of Caylán, Coastal Ancash 8. The Fisherman’s Garden: Horticultural Practices in a Second Millennium Maritime Community of the North Coast of Peru 9. The Ethnogenesis of Pescador Identity: The Implications of Biodistance Analyses of Initial Period (1500–1200 BC) Human Remains from Gramalote, Peru, for our Understanding of the Social and Economic Dynamics of Ancient Andean Maritime Communities Part III. Maritime Communities between 2500 and 600 BP 10. Fisherman, Farmer, Rich Man, Poor Man, Weaver, Parcialidad Chief? Household Archaeology at Cerro la Virgen, a Chimú Town within the Hinterland of Chan Chan 11. Subsistence Economies in Marginal Areas with Natural Constraints: Interactions between Social Dynamics, Natural Resource Management, and Paleoenvironment in the Sechura Desert, Peru 12. Late Prehistoric Maritime Communities in Coastal Ecuador Part IV. Maritime Communities between 600 and 300 BP 13. Maritime Adaptations at Cerro Azul, Peru: A Comparison of Late Intermediate and Twentieth-Century Fishing 14. El Contrato del Mar: Maritime Subsistence at Carrizales, Zaña Valley, Peru 15. Fish[i]stories: Seafolk of the Northern Peruvian Coast List of Contributors Index