Professional Documents
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Rutherford 2008
Rutherford 2008
Title: Space and Landscape in the Norte Chico Region, Peru: An Analysis of Socio-
Political Organization through Monumental Architecture
___________________________ _________________________
Thesis Director
The Norte Chico region in Peru has become the locus of debate recently for
has shown that there is a possibility for contemporaneous occupation at several sites
the likelihood of a pristine state in the region as well as an opposing hypothesis that
the region fits Renfrew’s (1986) model for peer-polity interaction. Two analyses
will be conducted, on the individual site level a spatial syntax analysis will be
applied to eleven multi-mound sites in the region with Late Archaic dates and at the
can establish a pattern of organization. Quantified values will provide the basis for
constructed. It is expected that the sites in the region will follow a pattern that is
consistent with a peer-polity model where all of the sites share a similar pattern of
_________________________________________
Thesis Director
_________________________________________
Date
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE
MASTER OF ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY
BY
ALLEN M. RUTHERFORD
DEKALB, ILLINOIS
MAY 2008
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would first like to thank my advisor, Dr. Winifred Creamer, for providing
me with the opportunity to work with Proyecto Arqueologico Norte Chico and for
patiently listening and advising me not only with my research but also with my plans
for the future. I would also like to thank Dr. Jonathan Haas without whose brain-
storming sessions with me I might never have been able to find a clear plan with
which to focus my research interests. I would like to thank the third member of my
committee, Dr. Michael Kolb, for listening and putting things into perspective for a
All of the faculty in the Anthropology Department, especially Dr. Dan Gebo
and our wonderful secretaries, Kathy Truman and Ruth Chaplin, I am thankful that I
was given the opportunity to attend Northern Illinois University and Dr. Gebo, Kathy,
Field Museum and especially Kaelyn Dillard in the lab of the Americas for allowing
me to invade their spaces and for taking time out of their day to help me. Half of my
research would have never been conducted were it not for Kaelyn’s patience and GIS
knowledge.
The Archaeological Institute of America and the Center for Latino and Latin
American Studies at Northern Illinois University made the research I conducted in the
iv
2007 field season possible through the Jane C. Waldbaum Field School Grant and
the Graduate Research Award. I would also like to thank the Graduate School at
Northern Illinois for providing a travel grant so that I could present my findings at the
Finally, I would like to thank everyone associated with PANC for their hospitality,
encouragement, and all of the best Peruvian food one person could ever hope for.
DEDICATION
Page
LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Theoretical Perspectives . . . . . . . . . 14
Supe Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Pativilca Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Fortaleza Valley . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Supe Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Pativilca Valley . . . . . . . . . . 80
vii
Chapter Page
Fortaleza Valley . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Tables Page
4.1. Supe Valley space syntax values from Shady and Leyva’s maps . . 67
5.1. Supe Valley idealized Thiessen polygon values for all Late Archaic
sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.2. Supe Valley arable land Thiessen polygon values for all Late Archaic
sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.3. Supe Valley arable land Thiessen polygon values for Category 1
sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.4. Pativilca Valley idealized Thiessen polygon values for all Late Archaic
sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.5. Pativilca Valley arable land Thiessen polygon values for all Late
Archaic sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.6. Pativilca Valley arable land Thiessen polygon values for Category 1
sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5.7. Fortaleza Valley arable land Thiessen polygon values for all Late
Archaic sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
ix
Table Page
5.10. Division of arable land among all Category 1 sites in the region . . . 93
Figure Page
5-2. Supe Valley idealized territorial boundaries for all Late Archaic
sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5-5. Supe Valley arable land boundaries for all Late Archaic sites . . 78
5-9. Pativilca Valley arable land boundaries for all Late Archaic
sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5-13. Fortaleza Valley arable land boundaries for all Late Archaic
sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the Norte Chico region of Peru has become a focal point for
the study of early civilization in the Late Archaic Andes. Much of the interest in the
region is associated with the abundance of very large monumental architecture and
radiocarbon dates ranging between 3000-1800 B.C. suggests the earliest forms of
size, and function of the architecture in the region. The development of the socio-
political dynamic in the region has also given rise to a debate as to the relationship
and competition between sites over coastal and inland subsistence resources. While
these debates continue to dominate the discussion for the origins of socio-political
development in the Norte Chico region during the Late Archaic period, patterns of
site organization and land distribution have been overlooked. A basic understanding
of each of these variables can be achieved through the combination of two basic
archaeological analyses; space syntax analysis (Hillier and Hanson 1984) and
architecture that surrounds them. In any large city control of space by the
sites in the Norte Chico influenced the space occupied by residents of the sites as
well as the outsiders that visited the sites. An analysis of spatial organization will
surrounding space, and the architecture that they constructed. The data will also
provide more insight into the discussion as to whether a regional pattern of site
organization exists and establish whether site hierarchies were present during the
level only answers part of the questions being asked in this research. The
Archaic sites in the Norte Chico region provides invaluable information concerning
The goals for the Norte Chico research center on three main hypotheses:
1) the Late Archaic monuments are not randomly distributed across the landscape
2) the pattern of spatial organization is equal at all sites and reflects the presence of
a social hierarchy at the individual site level and is consistent with a peer polity
archaeological data already collected from the region (Shady et al. 2001; Shady and
Leyva 2003; Shady 2006; Haas et al. 2004; Haas and Creamer 2006; Creamer et al.
2006, 2007; Vega-Centeno 2005). For the purposes of this research, social
hierarchy is defined as the presence of class distinctions in the region at the end of
the Late Archaic period (ca. 2200-2000 B.C.) where a distinction is made between
high and low status groups of individuals. Within this hierarchical framework, the
peer polity model will be defined as a grouping of sites in the Norte Chico region
that are relatively equal in spatial organization at the site level and territorial
influence based on Thiessen polygon analysis at the regional level, the two basic
The hypotheses will also be tested within a specific synchronic time frame
for the region, specifically between 2400 and 2000 B.C. The highest frequency of
radiocarbon dates from the region fall within this time span. This particular
research is being conducted with the understanding that what is occurring in the
Norte Chico region from 3000-1800 B.C. is a complex social dynamic with
these hypotheses can be tested and the conclusions can be framed with the
understanding that they will only provide a snapshot of the social dynamic in the
region that is occurring as the region is becoming more heavily populated and
4
competition over land and people is becoming increasingly more complex and
focused.
Geography
The Norte Chico region lies between the central and north central coasts of
Peru. The region encompasses four river valleys starting with Huaura in the
southern part of the region and ending with Fortaleza in the northern part, with the
Supe and Pativilca valleys sitting in the central part of the region. The rivers start in
highland coastal Peru and flow westward into the Pacific Ocean. The region is
roughly 3500 sq. km with a relatively large expanse of barren desert land existing
between the two middle valleys, Pativilca to the north and Supe to the south. Lima
lies about 150 km south of the Huaura Valley and Trujillo is roughly 325 km north
Methodology
This research is based on a two-step analysis for the Norte Chico region at
the end of the Late Archaic period. The first step will be to apply Hillier and
Hanson’s (1984) space syntax analysis to every site with a Late Archaic radiocarbon
date in the Norte Chico region to establish a pattern of spatial organization at the
individual site level as well as to assess the likelihood of the presence of social
Thiessen polygon analysis (Renfrew 1986) to the region using the spatial patterns
garnered from the space syntax analysis to rank the sites in the region from likeliest
5
to be a power center to least likely. The Thiessen polygon analysis will then
pattern of land distribution regionally. The following sections reflect the order in
spaces can be reduced to their simplest forms in order to determine the changes in
social complexity that are reflected by the changes in space (Hillier and Hanson
1984; Shapiro 1997). The most pertinent variable garnered from a spatial syntax
analysis for this research is site permeability. The permeability, or ease with which
one may enter and move around in a site, is based on four properties: symmetry,
properties are represented as values of relative asymmetry (RA) and the latter two
by values of relative ringiness (RR). These values and properties will be discussed
Alpha-analysis
settlement and represents it graphically (Hillier and Hanson 1984). Using existing
site maps I will construct a convex space map that divides the open space at a site
into the least number of potential polygons in the open space at the site (Hillier and
6
Hanson 1984; Stone 2000). Simplified, the convex space map does nothing more
than divide the site into continuous areas of open space. The polygons for
continuous open space must be constructed so that a straight line may pass through
it from any point to any other point without going outside of the polygon (Hillier
and Hanson 1984; Stone 2000). Once the open spaces at the site have been divided
into polygons, access maps and patterns of access can be created and measured.
All of the spaces within the site constitute the local space of the site and are
assigned depth values with regards to an outside or global space called carrier space
(Hillier and Hanson 1984). These relationships are illustrated in Figure 1-1. In each
diagram, c constitutes the carrier or global space and points a, b, and d represent the
local space within the rooms that are associated with the access patterns. As an
example of depth in relation to carrier space I will refer to the access pattern
relation to an outside point c is 1 as it only takes one step from the outside point c to
for a is 1 and the depth for b is 2 since one must walk through a to get to b. When
considering depth one can think of the layers of an onion. The first layer of the
onion would have a depth of 1, the second a depth of 2, and so on getting closer or
towards isolation (asymmetrical) (Hillier and Hanson 1984; Shapiro 1997). When a
and b are not on equal then the relationship is asymmetrical. One need only to think
about the blueprint of one’s own house. Upon entering the front door of a house
one generally enters a foyer, followed by a hallway, then a den area, and so on until
one gets to a master bedroom. If one can only enter the house from the front door
then the foyer is the most accessible room to an outside individual while the master
bedroom is the most isolated. In other words, the rooms become more isolated the
ease with which one can move within a structure (Hillier and Hanson 1984). A
structure that is distributed simply means that there is more than one way to reach
8
point a and point b from an outside point c. A nondistributed structure is one in
which access to one point is restricted by another point, for instance, one must walk
through point a in order to get to point b. Again, it is useful to recall the example of
a house. In most houses there are multiple entryways into family spaces (e.g. living
rooms, dens, kitchens, dining rooms). The spatial plan of these rooms would be
considered distributed as one can most likely enter the living room from the kitchen,
the dining room, and the foyer for example. However, the master bedroom, or any
bedrooms for that matter, generally only have one point of entry so the spatial plan
asymmetry (RA), which simply means the numerical value of structural accessibility
relative to the space and depth of a site (Hillier and Hanson 1984). The values for
variables that make up the equation for relative asymmetry are mean depth (MD)
and k (the total number of spaces within the structure garnered from the convex
space map).
RA = 2(MD – 1)
k–2
The value for MD is calculated by summing all of the assigned depth values in the
system and then dividing it by the total number of spaces in the system less the
carrier space. For instance, if there are 6 spaces in a system including the carrier
MD = 15 = 3
6-1
RA = 2(3 – 1) = 1
6-2
(RR) which is the numerical value of ease of movement within a structure relative to
the spaces within a structure (Hillier and Hanson 1984). A ring on an access pattern
map signifies an ability to reach a point within a structure from more than one other
point and generally by being able to circumscribe numerous other points along the
way to the final destination. In other words, it is the ability to enter a house from
the front and back doors and reach the kitchen from two different directions. The
calculation for RR divides all of the rings from the access pattern map by 2k – 5.
Like relative asymmetry, the values for relative ringiness fall between 0 and 1.
and asymmetrical and the archaeological interpretation would be consistent with the
presence of class distinctions or social hierarchy (Hillier and Hanson 1984; Shapiro
1997).
The RA and RR values will be collected for each site in the region that has a
sites have an intuitive entrance plan based on the U-shaped organization of the
overall site.
For the purposes of this research the Thiessen polygon will be used as a tool
with the data garnered from the space syntax analysis it is hoped that primary and
The initial polygon construction will take into account every site with
calibrated radiocarbon dates falling within the Late Archaic as defined by Haas and
Creamer (2006) as well as sites that have not been dated but share similar
Thiessen polygons will be created using all of the sites in conjunction with the
arable land for each valley. Arable land will be determined through an examination
of aerial photos (SAN 1943) for the region following Zechenter’s method of
analysis. Simplified, Zechenter’s (1988) method includes land that would have
been within the limits of natural flood zones and discounts any modern arable land
will be constructed based on the findings from the space syntax analysis.
11
Thiessen polygons will be constructed using an extension in ArcView that
uses the GPS points from each Late Archaic site in the region and theoretical
polygons that show the extent of the region to determine hypothetical geographic
boundaries for the points within a polygon. The idealized polygon will be
constructed with the Peruvian coastline as the western border and the Fortaleza and
Supe valleys as the northern and southern borders. The hypothetical eastern extent
of the region will follow the foothills of the Andes. The points will be GPS data
points collected at each Late Archaic site with monumental architecture in the
region taken from existing survey data collected from the Norte Chico region and
previous research (Shady 2006: Vega-Centeno 2005; Haas and Creamer 2006;
There are several different limitations to both the analyses being conducted
and the data being used. The sites under investigation are over 4500 years old in
some cases and have been subject to natural erosion, looting, and reoccupation.
Sites such as Porvenir have been heavily eroded due to El Niño events throughout
time as well as later period burials that now occupy the areas that were sunken
circular plazas. Caballete and Punta y Suela also show signs of natural erosion and
Perhaps the greatest limitation is the present habitation of these sites. Many
of the sites (i.e. Upaca, Vinto Alto, Pampa San Jose) have modern houses and
animal corrals built on top of or around certain aspects of construction. A house sits
12
on what was once a smaller mound facing the larger mound at Upaca and the
rocks from the main mound have been used to build houses in the area. One of the
mounds at Punta y Suela has a modern canal running around its base and the other
large mound has a small road running through it with an electrical line on top. The
most likely location for a sunken plaza at Vinto Alto is now occupied by a modern
cemetery and the plaza area for Huaricanga has become a modern stone quarry.
The loss of architecture through modern habitation most affects the Huaura
valley where there is now limited data for large-scale sites. The loss of certain types
analysis of space and architecture. The lack of material in the Huaura valley also
makes a peer polity analysis for the entire region difficult. It is out of the scope of
this research to make assumptions as to where sites are located in the Huaura valley
or to determine where specific architectural features may or may not have been at
the sites under analysis. The data coming from the Norte Chico region is so recent
that there may be other sites in the region that have not been identified yet.
However, the limitations of this research do not take away from its pertinence
because it could prove to be the first step in providing a framework for future
Columbian Andes has existed since Max Uhle (1925) and Julio C. Tello (1943,
1960) first began describing their findings to the public. Later theories about the
origins of Andean civilization in the Late Archaic and Formative periods centered
Willey 1973; Moseley 1975, 1985, 1992; Feldman 1980, 1985; Quilter and Stocker
Andes on the central coast of Peru has led most scholars to believe that the central
coast was the geographic region that flourished the earliest and endured for more
Tello first hypothesized that Chavin de Huantar was the seat of power for a
large Andean state going so far as to apply the moniker “Mother Culture” to the
Chavin horizon (1943, 1960). Much of Tello’s (1943, 1960) hypothesis centered on
the combination of a florescence of the Chavin pottery style and the architectural
dates and the discovery of an earlier form of pottery at Initial Period sites in addition
14
to the discovery of large monuments that were aceramic refuted Tello’s initial
hypothesis (Rowe 1963). The following chapter will discuss three theoretical
Norte Chico region over the last thirty years as well as their application through
investigation of monumental architecture from the Late Archaic period. For a full
discussion of the history of archaeological work from the Late Archaic Peruvian
Theoretical Perspectives
Within the last thirty years three clear schools of thought about the socio-
political organization in the Norte Chico have emerged. The first is a chiefdom
coastal plain of the Supe Valley (Feldman 1980; 1985; Moseley 1985, 1992). While
the chiefdom model has been refuted recently (Haas and Creamer 2006), it should
through the study of monumental architecture in the Late Archaic and specifically
the Norte Chico region. Shady (Shady et al. 2003; Shady 2006) later contends that
Caral in the Supe Valley was the capital city of a “pristine state” as defined by Fried
considering the florescence of monumental architecture in not only the Supe Valley,
but also the Pativilca and Fortaleza Valleys in the Norte Chico region during the
Late Archaic. Another model is being posited for the region with theoretical
15
foundations in Renfrew’s (1986) peer polity model for socio-political
organization (Creamer et al. 2006; Haas and Creamer 2006; Vega-Centeno 2005).
Chiefdom
There are two models for human social and political evolution (Service
1962, 1975; Fried 1960, 1967) and subsequent models in the same vein but with
alternate positions to the stage model (see Haas 2001a for a full discussion). Of
these variations, the model for a chiefdom society presented by Service (1962,
1975) is the most comprehensive for his generation (Haas 2001a) and the most
organization during the Late Archaic period on the north central coast.
ability of the chiefly line to successfully produce, procure, and redistribute wealth,
food, and other resources for the good of the community. The chiefdom grows
more powerful the more it produces and the better it redistributes these goods.
According to Service (1962, 1975), one of the primary areas where a big-man group
or clan is most likely to develop into a chiefdom is “in coastal regions with highly
increase their power through ritual means. The chiefly line associates itself with
ancestors through common descent and thus become the centerpieces of a religion
based in ancestor worship, the most prominent signs of which are reflected in the
One can see how Service’s (1962, 1975) chiefdom model would have been
Archaic, specifically Feldman (1980, 1987) and Moseley’s (Moseley and Willey
1973; Moseley 1975, 1985, 1992) investigations at the coastal site at Aspero and its
relationship to the abundance of Late Archaic sites in the Norte Chico region as well
(1962, 1975) model, however, these hypotheses for the region were developed based
first Late Archaic sites excavated in the Andes, including the argument for Aspero
Aspero
the Norte Chico region was conducted at Aspero by Feldman (1980). First
discovered by Willey and Corbett (1954) and later identified as having large-scale
architecture by Moseley and Willey (1973), Aspero became an early focal point for
theories on the origins of social complexity in the Andes. The site itself covers over
12 ha and consists of middens and at least seven mound structures located in the
17
Norte Chico region close to the mouth of the Supe River. Corrected radiocarbon
dates place occupation at Aspero between 3055 and 2533 B.C. According to
Feldman (1980, 1985, 1987), the most important structures are Huaca de los Idolos
and Huaca de los Sacrificios, the oldest and most architecturally complex of which
Huaca de los Idolos as showing a pattern of graded access, with access becoming
most restricted in room 5 (Fig. 2-1). Based on these findings Feldman (1980, 1985,
1987) states that only a few people or “select group” would have had access to the
(1985:83). Restricted access to temple rooms led Feldman (1980, 1985, 1987) to
defined by Service (1962). However, Feldman was not completely convinced that
El Paraiso
Before the radiocarbon dating of several large monumental sites in the Norte
Chico region of Peru, El Paraiso was considered the largest Late Archaic site in the
Andes (Moseley 1985; Fung 1988; Quilter 1985). Located in the Chillon Valley
just north of Lima, El Paraiso covers 58 ha with as many as eleven structural groups
(Moore 1996). Initial and continuing theories for El Paraiso consider it a precursor
to the U-shaped mound structures constructed in the Initial Period (Williams 1985;
Moseley 1992). First excavated and partially reconstructed by Engel (1967), the site
18
was more completely tested by Quilter in 1983 (Quilter 1985). Quilter (1985)
several more in the area. Uncalibrated dates place occupation between 3790+100
Figure 2 - 1. Plan of the walls at Huaca de los Idolos, Aspero with an arrow
indicating room 5 (after Feldman 1987).
Units II and VI are the largest structures and are constructed parallel to each
other approximately 180 m apart and 400 m long (Quilter 1985). The small size of
unit I relative to units II and VI (Fig. 2-2) leads Quilter (1985) to suggest that it may
not have been a central component to the site. However, the plan of unit I (Fig. 2-3)
suggests a fairly intricate network of rooms not unlike those found at Aspero.
Though Quilter (1985) does not elaborate on possible social organization at the site
19
or the region, he does state that it seems likely that there were “a medley of
cultural and social themes being played in the Terminal Preceramic Period” (1985:
297).
La Galgada
Located on the east bank of the Tablachaca River and about 25 km north of
the Santa River, La Galgada is the most complex highland site dated to the Late
Archaic (Grieder and Mendoza 1985; Grieder et al. 1988). La Galgada sits at an
altitude of 1000 m and while this altitude is not very high, Grieder and Mendoza
(1985; Grieder et al. 1988) contend that the setting is of a highland nature as La
Galgada sits in the basin of a deeply cut canyon. There are two mound structures
plaza. Dates, c. 2400-1900 B.C., and construction episodes indicate consistent and
permanent occupation of the site for over 500 years (Grieder and Mendoza 1985;
asymmetrically (Fig. 2-4) (Grieder and Mendoza 1985; Grieder et al. 1988).
It seems unlikely that any of these chambers could accommodate all the
eligible members of the community, but we do not know on what basis the
community divided itself among the various chambers that were in use at the
same time. (100)
20
Figure 2 - 2. Site plan of El Paraiso with the arrow indicating Unit I (after Quilter
1985).
emergent social class distinctions. La Galgada is the only highland site dating to the
Late Archaic with any significant monumental architecture and is isolated to the
north of the Norte Chico, much like El Paraiso is isolated to the south of the region
Pristine State
The idea of a “pristine state” first formulated by Fried (1960, 1967) and later
power within a region. The “pristine state” for any region is the first or initial state
to which all other later states can trace their development. Fried’s (1960, 1967)
22
point is that the initial states had no plan to help in a successful development (e.g.
Without a plan for development, leadership would have been tenuous at best
complexity that had not been attained previously (Fried 1960, 1967). The “pristine
state” would not be developing without the influence of other rising polities in the
political entity would break away from the pack so to speak. Having developed
organization), this political entity would have the ability to “overrun less well-
organized neighbors and incorporate them within its own system as an inferior
It is within the framework of this theory that Shady (Shady et al. 2003;
Shady 2006) postulates the Caral-Supe or Supe Valley “pristine state”. Shady states
that:
The evidence from Caral indicates that Caral-Supe society was organized
into socially stratified ranks with local authorities connected to a state
government […] with dynamic internal and external exchange that had
acquired significant and complex scientific, technological and artistic
knowledge. Its sphere of domination and direct control included
populations of the Supe, Pativilca, and Fortaleza valleys but it connections
and prestige extended across the entire northcentral Peruvian region. (Shady
2006:63, italics added by author)
23
Shady further concludes that:
Caral
Extensive research and excavations have been conducted at Caral since (see
Shady et al 2001, 2003; Shady 2006). The site is located 23 km from the coast in
the Supe Valley and covers around 66 ha. According to Shady (2006), the site
from Caral indicate site occupation from about 2660-2010 (Shady et al. 2001). The
complex at Caral contains two large and distinctive architectural monuments (The
Great Pyramid and the Temple of the Amphitheater) along with several smaller
mounds (Shady et al. 2003; Shady 2006). A more thorough description of the entire
site will follow in a different section, but it is important for understanding cultural
Caral-Supe state hypothesis at this point with a specific emphasis on the Great
The Great Pyramid located in Sector E (Fig. 2-5) and in what Shady calls,
“the upper half of Caral,” is the largest architectural structure at the site. The
complex measures 170.8 m east to west and 149.7 m north to south with a height of
19.3 m facing south and up to 29.9 m facing north. A sunken circular plaza is
attached and there is an atrium on top of the mound that restricts space the further
one moves into it (Shady et al. 2003; Shady 2006). There are also several
24
anterooms on the eastern side of the atrium (Fig. 2-6). The plan of the atrium is a
more regularized version of the floor plan at Huaca de los Idolos, Aspero (Fig. 2-1).
In the “lower half of Caral” sits the Temple of the Amphitheater located in
Sector L (Fig. 2-5) (Shady 2006). Measuring 157.4 m x 81.6 m with a height of 7.9
m, the complex also contains a rectangular platform that is 26 m wide and 3.2 m
high that extends north off of the sunken circular plaza or “amphitheater”. The
complex is oriented northeast and its entrance faces the large open plaza in the
center of the site (Fig. 2-5). The floor plan of the building shows four distinct room
types: an antechamber, the atrium, large rooms in the rear hall and upper rooms
(Fig. 2-7) (Shady et al. 2003; Shady 2006). Enclosed within the temple walls and
25
sitting to the east is a smaller and separate structure with sunken circular pit
enclosed by walls. Shady (2006) indicates that access to this room would have been
restricted to an “official” with “special status within the complex and the city” (45).
Based on the overall size of the site, the percentage of labor investment
(calculated as a percentage of total labor invested in all Supe sites), and the density
and proximity of seven architectural sites (Pueblo Nuevo, Cerro Colorado, and
Alpacoto on the right border of the river, Lurihuasi, Miraya, Chupicigarro and Caral
on the left border), Shady (Shady et al. 2003; Shady 2006) states that the Supe
Valley and specifically Caral, formed the basis for a “pristine” state. Shady (Shady
et al. 2003; Shady 2006) further suggests that the presence of similar architecture
(sunken circular plazas, tiered platform mounds) in the Pativilca and Fortaleza
regional control and influence disseminating from the capital at Caral. These are
not the only factors that lead Shady to this conclusion, but the others seem
speculative at best.
machinations during the Late Archaic (Haas and Creamer 2006; Creamer et al.
2006; Vega-Centeno 2005; 2006). Neither group of researchers follows the concept
of evolving society, nor do they try to define the type of leadership (chief, state
27
government) in terms of evolutionary models for political development. Instead,
the hypothesis is most closely related to Renfrew’s (1986) peer polity interaction
individual and autonomous polities and how the interaction between these polities
was first suggested by Price (1977). Her cluster-interaction model suggests multiple
(agricultural revolution and then irrigation revolution) and the related organizational
shifts (ranked society and then the state). Price (1977) suggests that the clusters are
comparable in all forms of social, political, and economic phenomena and they can
Renfrew’s (1986) model takes the focus away from modes of production and
polities and their spatial relationships geographically. If one polity was more
powerful than the other polities then it is expected that it would be geographically
centralized or hypothetically share a larger portion of territory than the other polities
and analyzing Thiessen polygons. In order to construct the polygons one must
28
identify early state modules (ESMs) based on similar political, social, and
Renfrew (1986) defines six “positive statements” that can be tested within
(1) determine the size and scale of the polities, achieved by determining the ESMs
and then applying Thiessen polygons of similar size to each ESM (Fig. 3)
(2) when “significant organizational change” occurs within one polity it should
occur in the others at essentially the same time
(3) “institutional features” appear in all polities around the same time (e.g. similar
monumental buildings, writing)
(4) the changing features cannot be traced to one individual site, they will develop
in several polities at the same time
(5) transformation occurs because of interaction (e.g. competitive emulation,
symbolic entertainment, warfare)
(6) hierarchical structures occur over time in regions that share similar symbols and
material traits. (Renfrew 1986:7-8)
contemporaneous occupation of sites within such a small area has made the Norte
Chico region an interesting case to test within the framework of Renfrew’s model.
As mentioned earlier, two sets of researchers have suggested the possibility based
model as well as Fried’s model through the use of the quantitative patterns
established through spatial syntax analysis and to apply those findings within the
The underlying debate as to the subsistence strategies that may have led to
the origins of monumental architecture in the Norte Chico region during the Late
Andean Civilization (MFAC) was the leading theory for the origins of civilization in
the Andes. His theory was based on the discovery of Aspero and later expounded
hypothesis that civilization could emerge and sustain itself on a diet consisting
made the Peruvian coast and the Andes unique among the five other cradles of
In the last twenty years, as discoveries in the Norte Chico region (Shady et
al. 2001; Shady and Leyva 2003; Shady 2006; Haas et al. 2004; Haas and Creamer
2006; Vega-Centeno 2005, 2006) as well as highland sites (Grieder and Mendoza
1985; Grieder et al. 1988; Burger 1985) have been made, MFAC has become less
viable. Specific studies on past and present subsistence strategies in the Norte
Chico region (Zechenter 1988) along with the discovery of simple irrigation canals
from the Middle Archaic period in the Zana Valley (Dillehay et al. 2005, 2007) has
led to a shift in theories for the origins of Andean civilization. The other major
issue with Moseley’s hypothesis is the relative dearth of coastal sites dating to the
Late Archaic. It seems clear that occupation of inland sites reached levels that never
30
occurred on the coast (Shady et al. 2001; Shady and Leyva 2003; Shady 2006;
Haas et al. 2004; Haas and Creamer 2006; Vega-Centeno 2005, 2006). While
exploitation of arable land for the purposes of producing cotton and domesticated
foodstuffs leads to a need to test the relationship between arable land and the
monumental architectural complexes in the Norte Chico region during the Late
Archaic. This is not to say that the cultural processes that were taking place at
complexity in the region. However, the significant number of inland sites, their
scale, and their geographical proximity to one another make it seem as though two
types of communities were coexisting during the Late Archaic, coastal fishing
suggest this possibility as part of “an alternative working hypothesis” for the region
(754-756).
As part of their hypothesis they speculate that the inland sites were the
canals (Dillehay et al. 2005, 2007; Haas and Creamer 2006) as well as research
31
detailing the ability to succeed agriculturally during the Late Archaic (Zechenter
plausible base for the land divisions that will be generated from the Thiessen
polygon analysis.
CHAPTER 3
the simplest level. It is difficult to take an object that was constructed or made four
thousand years ago and even scratch the surface of meaning that object had to its
maker or makers. The real goal is to simplify, to understand the nature of the
society being studied through the physical materials that are left behind and to
understand the most basic social processes that led to the development of the
artifacts we study today. Hillier and Hanson’s (1984) space syntax analysis aims to
analysis. It becomes too difficult and convoluted to try to understand the actual
meaning behind the buildings themselves, but one can quantify space and through
restriction of space or lack thereof says about the society that built the environment
A much more in-depth discussion behind the theory for space syntax
analysis can be found in Shapiro (1997:54-61, 72-74, 81-90), for the purposes of
this research I will provide a simplified discussion. The theoretical premise for
space syntax analysis borrows from four fields of theory: 1) graph theory, 2)
Hillier’s (Hillier, Leaman, Stansall, and Bedford 1976) morphic language theory 3)
and Bourdieu. Through these four fields of theory Hillier and Hanson (1984)
created an analysis that was deductive, quantitative, and reliant on observed spatial
patterns.
particularly the equations and language Hillier and Hanson (1984) use to describe
the analysis. Graph theory deals in networks, linkages, nodes, and overall
represented graphically and mathematically and is the basis for access pattern maps
34
in space syntax analysis as well as the equations that produce relative asymmetry
values. Network analysis is the baseline quantitative theory for space syntax
analysis.
Systems theory provides space syntax analysis with the basis for
instance, systems theory relies on an evaluation of the most basic elements (local)
(Castri 1979). Hillier and Hanson take this particular attribute of systems theory
and apply it through space syntax by analyzing basic units of open and closed space
to examine how these spaces form larger (global) aggregations of spaces (Shapiro
1997:87).
These aggregations may result from either a process of cell subdivision and
accumulation, in which internal permeability is maintained and which results
in buildings, or by a process in which independent cells aggregate but
maintain external permeability, which results in settlements. (Shapiro
1997:87)
35
In other words, internal permeability describes the nature of the
actually help to form the building. External permeability describes the construction,
The final theoretical basis for space syntax analysis has a strong foundation
structures that underlie all societies is a basic tenet of the French structuralist
syntax what organic and mechanical solidarity were to Durkheim and his theories
for understanding society and culture (Hillier and Hanson 1984). Though the
analysis was developed by two architects and uses mathematical and graphic
simplified analysis through which architecture and space can be quantified. This
simplification leads to one of the main critiques of the analysis. Leach (1978)
criticizes the analysis for not considering culturally defined meanings of space (e.g.
who has access to sunken circular plazas, what cultural meaning does the circle
hold). Shapiro (1997) states that: “[t]his criticism misses the purpose of space
syntax, which is to focus upon the process and nature of space and structuring”
36
(110). In other words, space syntax looks to assess only spatial organization and
the possibility for interaction among spaces within a system. In this way the
analysis serves as only one part of understanding the society on the whole.
Another concern with the analysis is its subjectivity (Shapiro 1997). If more
than one investigator is conducting the analysis there are inherent problems in
problem in that one investigator is analyzing all of the material. One can never
repeatedly I find that the results of the calculations remain generally the same and
Other difficulties with the analysis focus on the issues of time and site
but it will be reiterated here that this research assumes contemporaneous occupation
at all sites during the time period between 2200 and 2000 B.C. The assumption is
that the sites under investigation looked much the same way they do now during the
latter stages of the Late Archaic period in the Andes. Site destruction is an
unfortunate byproduct of elapsed time, so the sites can only be analyzed as they
remain at present.
Archaeological Applications
American Southwest. Space syntax has been applied at several sites in the
American Southwest (Bradley 1993; Bustard 1996; Cooper 1995; Ferguson 1996;
Potter 1998; Shapiro 1997; Van Dyke 1999; Stone 2000) specifically because of its
37
simplification of architectural features. Each study cites an overwhelming amount
of data for the sites they wish to work on, including extensive excavations as well as
highly detailed chronologies. The goal in the Southwest is to use space syntax as a
Van Dyke (1999) uses space syntax to examine social organization over time
at the Chacoan great house at Guadalupe Ruin. The goal of her investigation is to
good site for this type of analysis because there are three well-dated and
Using space syntax analysis, Van Dyke (1999) relies on relative assymetry
(RA), relative ringiness (RR), and real relative assymetry (RRA) values to analyze
her data. She finds that asymmetry is relatively low during all phases of occupation
at Guadalupe Ruin, but the most asymmetry occurs during the earliest phase. Van
Dyke’s (1999) analysis did not have values for ringiness because the configurations
layout Van Dyke (1999) explains her findings. The symmetry indicates a patterning
where no single household has status over another while the nondistributed pattern
composed of equivalent households that could only be accessed from the roof or
plazas of the structure. The study did not help in understanding why some people
and not others lived in the great house, but did conclude that among those living in
the great house there was no social inequality (Van Dyke 1999).
1450) in the Point of Pines region, Arizona, Stone (2000) uses space syntax analysis
episode (see Stone 2000:197-198). Her specific focus is on the integration and use
of public space. Stone (2000) uses a different suite of equations from space syntax
are slightly different than those being measured by this study, but lead to similar
types of results.
The results of Stone’s (2000) analysis indicate a trend toward more site
fragmentation through time at each site, but with a return to greater integration of
space by A.C. 1400. The trending towards fragmented space coincides directly with
the migration and occupation of sites by the Kayenta and the return to more
integrated space coincides with the end of the Kayenta occupation. The correlation
suggests that the occupants of the sites under investigation began segregating
themselves socially from the Kayenta as they migrated into the site and once the
Kayenta were pushed out the occupants went back to the lifestyle they lived before
to the applicability and pertinence of space syntax analysis when studying the
reiteration of the fact that space syntax analysis should only be used as a part of an
archaeological investigation and that the quantified values garnered from the
analysis must be understood within the framework and context of the site or sites
being examined.
has been limited. The most comprehensive use of the analysis is Moore’s (1996)
access pattern (justified permeability map) analysis of North Coast sites before the
rise of the Chimu state in comparison to the architectural design of Chan Chan
during the Chimu period. Moore (1996) also uses space syntax to analyze previous
hypotheses about the nature of the differences among the Chan Chan ciudadela
(Moore 1996:194).
design in the North Coast, Moore (1996) constructs access pattern maps for
Farfan, and Manchan. With an emphasis on site depth and patterning of site access,
Moore (1996) examines architectural continuity from the earlier Moche V sites
40
(Pampa Grande, Galindo) to the later Chimu ciudadela at Chan Chan.
Interestingly, Moore (1996) does not find a difference in pattern of access from
Moche V to Chimu architecture, but rather a shift to larger scale sites as identified
through the exponentially higher levels of depth in the Chimu ciudadela. His
while the pattern of space may not be different, the depth and scope of the ciudadela
at Chan Chan represent an abrupt and large scale change from the earlier Moche V
He bases his analysis within the context of three relative chronologies (Topic and
Moseley 1982; Kolata 1990; Cavallaro 1991) and two hypotheses (Klymyshyn
1987; Kolata 1990) as to why architectural features changed over time. With the
between increasing depth and time. In fact, he finds that even though scale and
architectural features may fluctuate over time, the access patterns and means for
restriction of access was a feature of North Coast architecture that began during
Moche V and continued from the first ciudadela constructed at Chan Chan to the
level. His analysis of the site at Cerro Lampay in the Fortaleza Valley yielded
41
results that indicated what he calls emergent leadership controlled by the
(2005), is manifested in the architectural design of the site. The relative asymmetry
values and relative ringiness values suggest a site that was relatively permeable with
the easiest access occurring in the rooms at the back of the structure. These rooms,
Vega-Centeno argues, were community rooms that everyone living on-site had
access to. The lack of an exclusionary capacity in these rooms leads Vega-Centeno
to the conclusion that leadership was negotiated through ritual activities. According
to Vega-Centeno (2005), the front part of the structure was designed to be inviting
Space syntax analysis is a very robust test within which many elements of
spatial organization can be quantified. The examples provided in this chapter deal
through time. Space syntax analysis for the Late Archaic sites in the Norte Chico
through time. Using space syntax analysis to suggest the purpose or function of a
site is also outside the boundaries of the analysis. The element of space syntax
analysis that is most pertinent to this research is the ability to quantify and establish
chapter helps in developing a pattern of change over time. In the case of this
research quantification will provide the basis for understanding a pattern of spatial
organization at the assumed apex of social organization in the region at the end of
architectural complexes from the Late Archaic Norte Chico. This data section will
only describe the multi-mound sites that are to be tested using space syntax analysis
because they have some unique characteristics. The sites with single mounds follow
a general pattern of one platform mound with a raised square platform and sunken
circular plaza (Upaca, Carreteria, Cerro Lampay, Cerro Blanco 2, Cerro de la Cruz,
Shaura) (see Vega-Centeno et al. 1998; Vega-Centeno 2005, 2006; Haas and Ruiz
2003; Creamer et al. 2007). There are a total of 20 sites that will be included in the
Thiessen polygon analysis based on radiocarbon dates to the Late Archaic period or
characteristic Late Archaic architecture where dates are not published. There are
more comprehensive discussions of the sites included in this section (see Shady et
al. 2003; Shady 2007; Haas and Ruiz 2004; Creamer et al. 2007; Vega-Centeno
1998, 2005; Zechenter 1988; Chun 2003). I will start with the Supe Valley and
work north to the Pativilca Valley and then to the Fortaleza Valley. I will also
describe the sites as they move from west to east up each valley (e.g., in the
Fortaleza Valley: Porvenir, Caballete, Huaricanga). Along with the site description
there will be a discussion about how the carrier space was defined for each site. The
43
site maps that were used for the spatial syntax analysis can be found in an
Appendix.
Supe Valley
Alpacoto, Zechenter (1988) will be the primary source for a more extensive
discussion see Shady (Shady et al. 2003). The site description of Caral uses Shady
(2006) as the primary source. Zechenter breaks the sites into sectors, I will follow
Era de Pando
Located on the northern margin of the Supe River, the site at Era de Pando is
sunken circular plaza that is 20 m in diameter and sits in the center of a square court
Sector A
Located in the NW section of the site, Sector A contains the large pyramidal
Sector B
44
Sector B is located in the SW portion of the site and contains an elongated
Sector C
plaza is attached.
Carrier Space
The entry point (carrier space) at Era de Pando was determined to be in the
S/SE portion of the site. There are several reasons for this determination. First, the
overall site orientation faces the Supe River to the south. Also the largest pyramidal
structure with the attached sunken circular plaza has a southern orientation and
coastal mountains as well as smaller mounds that seem to form a wall behind the
main complex surround the northern section of the site. The western section of the
mound in the southern portion of the site much like other sites in the region
(Caballete, Pampa San Jose) that seems to demarcate an entry point, at least in a
ceremonial context.
Lurihuasi
ha and contains between 8 and 10 mounds. The site sits on the southern bank or
45
right margin of the Supe River facing upstream and is about 3.5 km west of Caral
and about 23.5 km inland. The single calibrated radiocarbon date puts occupation
of Lurihuasi at 2610 B.C. Zechenter (1988) does not break Lurihuasi into sectors;
however she describes the SW portion of the site as the locus for the major mound
structures. The overall orientation of the site is a U-shape facing the Supe River on
a north-south axis.
Carrier Space
Carrier space for Lurihuasi was defined as entry into the site walking north
to south from the Supe River. The orientation and design of the site makes this
point of the entry the only one that is viable. Much like Era de Pando and Porvenir,
the entry into Lurihuasi is intuitive based on its structural design and spatial layout.
Miraya
Lurihuasi and Caral on the right margin of the Supe River facing upstream. Miraya
Sector A that seems to correspond with Zechenter’s (1988) Sector A. There is also
a smaller mound complex with a sunken circular plaza in the SE section of the site.
Sector A
46
Zechenter (1988) calls this the main sector of the site. Sector A contains a
plaza oriented along a north-south axis, however, Shady and Leyva’s (2003) site
map shows the large pyramid with a façade and central staircase with an outline of a
Sector B
structure with a sunken circular plaza attached and seemingly oriented on a north-
south axis.
Sector C
Sector C is in the southern portion of the site and contains several mounds in
Carrier Space
The entry point for Miraya was determined to be from the NE section of the
site walking SW from the Supe River. Entry from the SE seems unlikely based on
the elevation of the natural landscape and entry from the SW suffers from the same
problem. The western portion of the site contains a fairly large pyramidal mound as
pyramidal mound. The final factor in determining the entry point was the
47
orientation of the sunken plazas. Of the three that are present, two face NE while
Caral
the site at Caral, Shady (2007) divides the complex into two parts, the “upper half”
and the “lower half”. For the purposes of this site description I will follow her
method of describing Caral with a discussion of the “upper half” first, followed by
structures. The area contains the Great Pyramid, which is the largest structure in the
site, as well as an extensive residential area. Four mounds sit in the western section
of the upper half: the Great Pyramid (sunken circular plaza attached), the Central
Pyramid, the Quarry Pyramid and the Lesser Pyramid (Shady 2006). In the eastern
section sit the Pyramid of the Gallery and the Pyramid of the Huanca.
The Great Pyramid. The Great Pyramid is oriented so that the back of the
mound faces the Supe River to the NE while the front of the mound faces the inner
plaza to the SW. Attached to the front of the mound is a sunken circular plaza, the
internal wall of which is 3 m high and the external wall is between 1.0 and 1.6 m
high (Shady 2006). The diameter of the entire structure is 35.5 m with the sunken
48
area stretching 21.5 m across. There is an entrance stairway leading into the
plaza externally with a subsequent stairway leading in internally. Walking along the
north-south axis through the plaza there is another internal stairway leading up to
the raised platform that connects the mound with the sunken plaza (Shady 2006).
As one ascends the stairs leading to the atrium the space becomes more
restricted. At the top of the mound, facing the sunken plaza, the Quarry Pyramid
sits to the SW in Sector B along with the Central Pyramid in Sector C which Shady
(2006) does not describe. The Lesser Pyramid sits to the SE of the Great Pyramid in
Sector G and the Pyramids of the Gallery and Huanca sit to the SE in Sectors H and
I respectively.
The Quarry Pyramid. The Quarry Pyramid sits to the SW of the Great
Pyramid in Sector B and its front faces the large open plaza. The mound measures
44 m north to south, 65.6 m east to west and its height is 13.8 m. The pyramid
contains a central staircase leading to the top that measures 4.2 m wide with nine
separate terraces flanking it on the way up. There is evidence for several
Sector G and measures 49.9 m east to west, 43.3 m north to south and is 10 m in
height. The western façade is oriented so that it faces the Great Pyramid and there
is a central stairwell 4.65 m wide on this façade that leads to the top of the pyramid.
Sector H with the western façade facing the Central Pyramid. The mound measures
71.9 m north to south, 68.5 m east to west and is 18.6 m in height. The western
gallery measuring 4.5 m long and 2.5 m wide that is accessed by a long passageway.
There are also residential dwellings associated with the mound on the SW side.
extreme SE part of the upper half of the complex. The structure measures 54 m east
to west, 52 m north to south, and is 12.8 m high. Its façade faces the Pyramid of the
Pyramid of the Circular Altar. Located in the central section of the “lower
half” in Sector P, this pyramid measures 44 m east to west, 27 m north to south, and
is 5.9 m in height. Shady (2006) defines three components for this pyramid, the
largest being the central portion containing an atrium. The other two components
are adjoining rooms to the east and west of the central structure. The façade, facing
north, contains a staircase that is 4 m wide that leads to the atrium. Behind the
atrium are seven rooms, two built in the model of the atrium but in a smaller scale.
The eastern component holds six quadrangular rooms and the western component
50
contains two entry stairways, one of which connects to the rear rooms of the
central atrium.
Carrier Space
The carrier space for Caral is difficult to define. The most likely point of
entry would be from the east walking west. Much of the domestic architecture is
built in the NE corner and the western section of the site. Also, the high north side
of the Great Pyramid indicates a desire to make the structure look larger and
possibly more intimidating to travelers coming from the river. It seems likely that
the Great Pyramid was constructed to deter people from entering the city from the
north. The other mounds have their access points facing the inner plaza as well. It
seems that the likeliest possible entryway with the least resistance as far as
Alpacoto
Located on the northern or left margin of the Supe River, Alpacoto sits about
1.5 km directly to the north of Caral and contains a U-shape structure facing the
There is also a sunken circular plaza attached to a highly damaged structure in the
Sector A
51
Sector A is the main portion of the site containing the U-shaped complex.
As stated above it is oriented facing the Supe River almost directly south.
Sector B
Sitting in the NE portion of the site, Sector B contains the sunken circular
Carrier Space
The entry point for Alpacoto was determined to be in the SW portion of the
site, walking NE from the Supe River. Again, there is a small central mound
oriented, and possibly associated, with the central mound of the complex. The
façade of the central mound is oriented to the SW and the informal U structure has
Pativilca Valley
Punta y Suela
Located on the right side of the Pativilca River, Punta y Suela sits 8 km from
the coast and is composed of two large mounds and an additional six small mounds
as well as two sunken circular plazas (Creamer et al. 2007). The calibrated
radiocarbon date range for the site is between 9170 and 560 B.C. The complex,
with extensive residential construction included, covers 100 ha. Creamer et al.
52
(2004) divide their site descriptions into sectors, for the purposes of description of
Sector A
portion of the site. The mound measures 40 X 50 m and is 12 m high with a sunken
circular plaza (now destroyed) attached. The sunken circular plaza and eastern
façade have a NE orientation facing what are now plowed fields but what was
formerly an open plaza. The top of the mound features walls for rooms as well as a
huanca.
Sector B
contains five mounds and one platform structure. All of the mounds in this sector
are damaged extensively due to modern agriculture. The largest mound in the sector
measures 24 X 26m and is 4 m high. There is also evidence for a sunken circular
plaza attached to this mound with a diameter of 15 m but it has been covered by
modern road (this plaza will be taken into consideration for the space syntax
analysis). The southern façade and sunken plaza of this mound are oriented to face
the northern side of the mound in Sector A. Two relatively large mounds and the
platform structure sit directly east of the largest mound in Sector B in a linear
distribution. The final two mounds in the sector sit to the north and NE of the
largest mound.
53
Sector C
The second largest mound at the site is located in Sector C 400 m SE of the
main mound complex. The mound itself has been extensively damaged by
episodes without extensive excavation (for further discussion, see Creamer et al.
2007:30-31). This mound will not be included in the space syntax analysis, as its
Carrier Space
The orientation and U shape of Punta y Suela led to the determination that
the entry point for the site is in the NE section walking SW towards the central
mound and sunken circular plaza. A little over 1 km to the east of the site are high
coastal mountains and to the west are terraced fields sloping down towards the
Pativilca River making it unlikely that entry would occur from the east or west.
Like many other sites one façade of the central mound is built more steeply than the
façade facing the public plaza. At Punta y Suela this façade is on the SW side,
making it unlikely that the builders wanted anyone entering from behind the central
mound.
54
Carlos Williams published the first reports on Pampa San Jose in 1985 under
the name San Jose. Sitting on the right bank of the Pativilca River this complex is
one of the largest and most highly organized architecturally in the Norte Chico
region, and is the finest example of the architecture that has come to typify the
Norte Chico region during the Late Archaic period in the Pativilca Valley. One
interesting note from Williams’s (1985) work on Pampa San Jose is the description
of huancas encircling the sunken circular plaza, these huancas were no longer
present by the time Creamer et al. (2007) reassessed the site in 2002.
The complex is oriented in a SE direction with a large main mound and large
sunken circular plaza attached. The calibrated radiocarbon dates range between
2230 and 1870 B.C. The main mound is flanked by large mounds on the left and
right and faces a smaller central mound that is about 300 m to the SE. The entire
structure takes the form of a U with flanking mounds placed in a linear distribution
to the SW of the main complex and a natural rise flanking in the east NE section of
the site.
Sector A
sunken circular plaza. The mound measures 73 X 101 m and is 20 m in height. The
sunken plaza is 39.6 m in diameter and formerly was encircled by huancas, but is
55
now a water resevoir surrounded by agricultural fields. The central part of the
Sector B
Sitting to the east of the main mound, Sector B contains a large platform
SE.
Sector C
Along with the small central mound that faces the largest mound at the
complex there are also six other structures that when viewed in conjunction with the
larger structures form a rectangular plaza. Many of the structures in the SW portion
of the site, as well as the small central mound, have been destroyed by modern
agriculture. There is a distinct possibility that some of the individual mounds in the
SW section could have been one continuous structure and will be treated as such in
the space syntax analysis. The natural rise in the NE section of the site will also be
taken into account in the analysis as the rise reaches the same height as the main
mound.
56
It should also be noted that a one mound Late Archaic site (Carreteria) sits
façade and the attached sunken circular plaza directly face the SE façade and sunken
circular plaza at Pampa San Jose. There is some discussion that these two sites are
actually one very large site (Haas 2008, personal communication), but will not be
Carrier Space
The entry point is likeliest from the SE portion of the site, walking NW
towards the central mound and sunken plaza. Pampa San Jose has a small central
mound facing the main mound as well as platform mounds in the western portion of
the site and a natural rise in the eastern portion that form an overall site structure of
a U. The NE façade opposite the façade facing the public plaza is built more steeply
Vinto Alto
Vinto Alto is located on the left bank of the Pativilca River in a town of the
same name. Because of its location, all but the largest elements of Vinto Alto have
likeliest spot for a sunken circular plaza. Calibrated radiocarbon dates for Vinto
Alto range between 2580 and 2100 B.C. However, the mounds at Vinto Alto
constitute the largest mounds in terms of volume in the Norte Chico, partially due to
the use of natural features as the bases for the mound structures.
57
Sector A and B
Located side by side, Sectors A and B are two individual mound complexes
each containing platform constructions and located in the southern section of the
huanca with possible iconographic inscriptions and the modern cemetery described
Sector C
Sector C is a natural feature that was modified for architectural use. A side
of the hill was modified into an atrium that split the two natural peaks of the hill and
construction sitting directly west of Sectors A and B, this mound structure will be
Carrier Space
The determined carrier space for Vinto Alto is the entryway in the SE
portion of the site walking NW. Again there is the presence of steep-sided mounds
58
the backs of which (Sectors C and D) face the Pativilca River to the north. Much
like Caral it seems likely that one would enter from the SE after having walked from
Huayto
The site at Huayto sits the farthest east of the coast and is the eastern extent
of the Late Archaic sites in the Pativilca Valley. Located on the right bank of the
Pativilca River, Huayto sits on the north/NW portion of a natural hilltop and is
directly behind the northern arm of the U. The site is oriented facing east and has an
attached sunken circular plaza oriented in the same direction. The two calibrated
radiocarbon dates for Huayto are 2270 and 2240 B.C., both taken from the mound in
Sector C. Creamer et al. (2007) separate Huayto into seven sectors, this discussion
Sector A
high with evidence of an atrium facing the plaza. The Sector A mound constitutes
the central pyramid of the U structure with Sector B flanking it to the north and
Sector C flanking to the south. The partially destroyed sunken circular plaza is
associated with Sector A and will be accounted for in the space syntax analysis.
Sector B
59
As stated above, Sector B flanks Sector A to the north and forms the
higher than the central mound, but the platform tapers down to 3 m high in the NE
Sector C
divided into two separate platforms that are each about 8 m high. Sector C
Sector D
65 m and is 1 m in height. The Sector D mound sits about 5-10 m directly west of
the northern or left arm of the U structure and could be domestic architecture.
Carrier Space
There is only one viable entryway in Huayto entering from the western side
of the site and walking east. The steep facades on the W side of the mound in
Sector A, the N side of the mound in Sector B, and the S side of the mound in
Sector C make it unlikely that anyone would be entering from those sides. The site
also sits on a steep ridge making it unlikely that anyone would be scaling the sides
Fortaleza Valley
Porvenir
Site descriptions for the Fortaleza Valley are taken from Haas and Ruiz
2003. The site of Porvenir sits on the north or left margin of the Fortaleza River.
The site consists of six mounds in the irregular shape of a U and contains two
sunken circular plazas attached to two separate mounds, the central mound structure
and the mound structure that sits to the west of the central mound. The calibrated
radiocarbon dates are between 3720 and 1280 B.C. with two dates of 2320 and 2210
B.C. The site is oriented on a north-south axis, with the central mound sitting in the
northern section of the site buttressed by natural highlands to its rear and two
structures sitting to the west and east of center. The site is surrounded on three sides
by coastal mountains and the large rectangular plaza opens out to the modern
agricultural plain.
Sector A
circular plaza. The mound measures 50 X 45 meters and is 10 meters high at its
highest point. The sunken circular plaza with an associated rectangular platform sits
at the base of the southern façade facing the large rectangular plaza and measures
approximately 30 m in diameter.
61
Sector B
of the eastern façade that is identified as an atrium. The attached sunken circular
plaza is at the base of the eastern façade and the internal diameter is 23 m. The
sunken plaza also shows evidence of a stairway leading into the plaza and one
directly across from it leading out of the plaza and up to the atrium.
Sector C
The mound in Sector C sits between those in Sectors B and D and measures
40 X 21 m and is 10 m high.
Sector D
The quadrangular platform mound measures 35 m on its sides and has a height of 10
m.
Sector E
Located in the extreme SE portion of the site, Sector E contains two low
platform mounds that cover an area of 33 X 70 m. The southern platform has sides
Sector F
Located in the eastern section of the site, Sector F contains a mound with a
Sector G
The only description of the area is that the mound is similar to the one found in
Sector F with the same orientation and dimensions with less modern alterations than
Carrier Space
viable point of entry is in the southern portion of the site walking north towards the
Caballete
Located on the north or left margin of the Fortaleza River about 10 km from
the coast. Caballete has undergone the most extensive excavations of any multi-
mound site in the Fortaleza Valley. Caballete contains six mounds of varying sizes
that form the shape of a U. The smallest mound in the complex sits in the center of
the site, much like the small mound structure at Pampa San Jose, though the
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orientation is unknown it seems likely that the façade faced that of the large
central mound in the complex. The site also contains three sunken circular plazas,
one of which has been destroyed. The site is oriented in a NE direction and the
calibrated radiocarbon dates range between 3120-1620 B.C. with 12 dates ranging
Sector A
Sector A contains the central mound of the site with an attached sunken
circular plaza. Measuring 100 X 40 m and 20 m in height, this mound is the largest
in the Fortaleza Valley. The sunken circular plaza sits at the base of the NE façade
huancas, much like the attached sunken plaza at Pampa San Jose. The orientation of
the mound is in a NE direction and the SW façade of the mound is built in a much
steeper fashion than the NE façade facing the enclosed rectangular plaza.
Sector B
In the extreme northern portion of the site and sitting to the NW of the
with a height of 8 m. The attached rectangular plaza, within which sits a sunken
diameter. The rectangular platform and sunken circular plaza sit at the base of the
SE façade facing the large rectangular public plaza as well as the small central
mound discussed earlier. There is also a depression on the SE façade of the mound
64
indicating an atrium. The NW façade also displays a steeper drop to the base of
Sector C
faces the central mound and the NE façade faces the mound in Sector B.
Sector D
7 m high and the NW façade faces the mound in Sector B and the small central
Sector E
northerly than the central mound. On the N/NE façade there is an atrium and at the
base of this façade is a destroyed sunken circular plaza and a possible rectangular
Carrier Space
65
The most likely point of entry at Caballete is in the NE portion of the site
walking SW towards the central mound and sunken plaza. Again, a small central
mound is present and the site is flanked to its NW and SE by coastal mountains and
is orientated facing the mouth of a quebrada. Also, the facades on each mound that
are opposite the respective facades facing public plaza are built in a steeper fashion.
This design seems to indicate a desire to keep people from entering anywhere else
Huaricanga
Perhaps the most unusual site in the region, the site at Huaricanga contains
an elongated Late Archaic mound that seems to have been built horizontally through
time rather than vertically (Haas and Ruiz 2003). The site also contains a smaller
mound with an associated circular plaza, though the plaza is not sunken, instead it is
that consists of a large U-shaped complex with a sunken square courtyard and an
Huaricanga is about 25 km from the coast and sits in an area that opens up
after a canyon-like choking of the Fortaleza Valley by coastal mountains. The site
sits on the right margin of the Fortaleza River and is less than a kilometer from the
river. The calibrated radiocarbon dates for the site range between 3570-670 B.C.
with 11 dates between 2790 and 2190. At the base of the northern façade of the
largest Late Archaic mound there has been complete destruction due to quarrying
and some of the large stones used to build the mound itself have been quarried. The
66
destruction at this site makes it difficult to analyze using space syntax, but it will
be included.
Carrier Space
The carrier space for Huaricanga is unique for the region. It seems as if the
carrier space could be located both north and south of the site. The unique design of
the site with what looks to be an atrium that is open on both facades as well as the
possibility of sunken circular plazas on each side of the largest mound makes it
necessary to assume that entry into the site was supposed to occur from both sides.
Supe Valley
Two sets of maps were used for the space syntax analysis of the Supe
Valley. One set was taken from Shady and Levya (2003)(Table 4.1) and the other
from Zechenter (1988)(Table 4.2). The reasoning for the use of both is that the
maps from Shady and Levya (2003) tend to be idealizations of sites taken from field
drawings by Williams and Merino (1979), whereas Zechenter’s (1988) are maps
made in the field. The reality of the k (spaces), MD (mean depth), RA (relative
the two versions of the maps. Values were calculated for both sets of maps and then
averages for k and MD were taken. Then new RA values were calculated using the
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averages. The RA values calculated using the averages will be the values used
for analysis.
Space syntax analysis was conducted on five sites in the Supe Valley (Table
4.3) with RA values ranging from 0.22 to 0.44. The RR values are zero for each site
consistent with the complexity and size of each site and split the five sites into two
groups of spatial complexity. Caral and Era de Pando are the most spatially
segregated sites of the five and sit at opposite ends of the valley. The other three
sites share a more integrated spatial pattern. All of the sites are relatively shallow
with Caral having the greatest mean depth while Lurihuasi has the shallowest depth.
Table 4.1. Supe Valley space syntax values from Shady and Leyva’s (2003) maps.
Table 4.2. Supe Valley space syntax values from Zechenter’s (1988) maps.
Pativilca Valley
Space syntax analysis was conducted on six sites in the Pativilca Valley
(Table 4.4) and all sites had RA values over 0.40, however, two of the sites (Upaca
and Carreteria) had MD values equal, but not greater, than 2 so they are category
three sites. Each of the four category one sites are equally segregated spatially and
all six sites in the valley are non-distributed. As in the Supe Valley all of the sites
are shallow with the highest MD value being 3.1 at Pampa San Jose, the shallowest
Space syntax analysis for the Fortaleza Valley follows the same general
trend found in the other two valleys showing a distinction between two groups of
sites. Caballete and Porvenir have similar RA and values (Table 4.5) and are the
most spatially segregated in the valley while Cerro Lampay, Cerro Blanco 2, and
Shaura share the same values and spatial organization as Upaca and Carreteria in the
Huaricanga is the most spatially unique site in the Norte Chico region based
on RA and RR values (Table 4.5). It is the only site that displays any ringiness
(0.21) and its spatial patterning is unlike any other site in the region. The RA value
for the site is the lowest in the region at 0.17 meaning it is the most spatially
integrated site in the Norte Chico. However, these values may be skewed because
of the destruction of most of the site with the exception of one very large mound and
another smaller mound. All of the sites are spatially shallow with the highest MD
value being 3.8 at Caballete, this is also the highest MD value for the region.
Fortaleza k MD RA RRA RR
Valley
Porvenir 8 2.7 0.57 1.7 0
Caballete 15 3.8 0.43 1.6 0
Huaricanga 17 2.31 0.17 0.7 0.21
Cerro Lampay 4 2 0.5 N/A 0
Cerro Blanco 2 4 2 0.5 N/A 0
Shaura 4 2 0.5 N/A 0
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Three distinct categories of sites were observed through the space syntax
analysis: 1) sites with MD greater than 2 and RA greater than 0.40 (Table 4.6), 2)
sites with MD less than 2 or RA less than 0.30 (Table 4.7), and 3) sites with MD
equal to 2 and RA equal to 0.50 (Table 4.8). The first category of sites includes all
of the sites that are considered multi-mound sites in the region with the exception of
Miraya, Lurihuasi, and Alpacoto in the Supe Valley which are category two sites
Category three describes the single mound sites in the Pativilca and Fortaleza
Valleys. In Chapter 5 I will discuss the relationship between these categorized sites
The Thiessen polygon analysis for the Norte Chico region was conducted in
two steps. The first step was the creation of an idealized polygon for the region that
was then divided geographically using all monumental architecture sites from the
region with Late Archaic dates as well sites that are architecturally characteristic of
the Late Archaic period where dates have yet to be collected. The second step was
Chapter 1) using aerial photographs (SAN 1943) and not including modern zones of
agricultural that are fed by large irrigation canals for the theoretical reasoning for
constructing the arable land polygons see the end of Chapter 2. Two iterations of
Thiessen polygons were constructed from the arable land polygons: 1) using all
Late Archaic sites in each valley and 2) using the three categories of site level
Supe Valley
The Supe Valley accounts for 868.21 km2 or 41.75% of the idealized
Thiessen polygon for the region (Figs. 5-1 and 5-2) (Table 5.1). Individual site
areas show a fairly large disparity in the areas of possible influence for each site. At
73
one end of the spectrum, Miraya’s area is only 13.61 km² and accounts for 0.65%
of the entire Norte Chico region, whereas Era de Pando’s area is 279.7 km2 and
accounts for the largest percentage of area for a single site in the entire region at
13.45%.
The Thiessen polygon constructed using the 7.19 km2 of arable land and all
of the Late Archaic sites in the Supe Valley (Fig. 5-5) shows a pattern of descending
land division areas moving eastward into the valley (Table 5.2). Caral is associated
with the smallest area of any site in all of the valleys at 0.49 km2 and a percentage
of 6.83% within its own valley. The largest area of arable land associated with an
individual site in the Supe Valley is Lurihuasi with 2.81 km2 and accounting for
Table 5.1. Supe Valley idealized Thiessen polygon values for all Late Archaic sites.
All Late Archaic Supe Valley Area (km2) Percentage of the whole
Sites region
Aspero 101.37 4.88
Era de Pando 279.70 13.45
Lurihuasi 128.64 6.19
Miraya 13.61 0.65
Caral 156.44 7.52
Alpacoto 188.45 9.06
The final Thiessen polygon constructed using only Category 1 sites yielded
an almost equal division of the Supe Valley between Era de Pando and Caral (Fig.
5-6). Era de Pando is associated with 3.39 km² of arable land and accounts for
47.17% of the valley’s total area. Caral is associated with 3.79 km² of arable land
and accounts for 52.83% (Table 5.3). The Supe Valley is the only valley with
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Category 2 sites. Thiessen polygons show that each of the Category 2 sites fall
within Caral’s territorial boundaries. The inclusion of these sites makes Caral’s area
nine times larger than in the previous arable land Thiessen polygon map including
Figure. 5 - 1. Idealized territorial boundaries for all Late Archaic sites in the Norte
Chico region.
75
Figure. 5 – 2. Supe Valley idealized territorial boundaries for all Late Archaic
sites.
76
Figure. 5 – 3. Idealized territorial boundaries for all Category 1 sites in the Norte
Chico region.
77
Figure. 5 – 5. Supe Valley arable land boundaries for all Late Archaic sites.
79
All Late Archaic Supe Valley Area (km2) Percentage of the whole
Sites valley
Era de Pando 2.32 32.26
Lurihuasi 2.81 39.07
Miraya 0.96 13.39
Caral 0.49 6.83
Alpacoto 0.61 8.45
Table 5.3. Supe Valley arable land Thiessen polygon values for Category 1 sites.
Pativilca Valley
The Pativilca Valley accounts for 499.8 km² or 24.03% of the total area of
the hypothetical regional Thiessen polygon (Figs. 5-1 and 5-7) (Table 5.4). The
largest area associated with an individual site in the Pativilca Valley is 257.12 km²
at Huayto which accounts for 12.37% of the whole Norte Chico region. The
smallest area associated with an individual site in the valley is 11.33 km² at
Carreteria which accounts for 0.54% of the whole region and has the smallest area
The arable land Thiessen polygon constructed using the 23.7 km² of arable
land and all of the Late Archaic sites (Fig. 5-9) in the valley shows an equal
distribution of sites in relation to arable land with the exception being the area for
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Upaca (Table 5.5). The division of land ranges between 2.42 km² and 4.22 km²
for five of the six sites, but Upaca dominates the valley with an area of 7.28 km²
accounting for 30.68% of the arable land. This disparity is due wholly to the central
location of Upaca in the Pativilca Valley. The site sits between the Pativilca River
proper 1 km to the south and one of its tributaries sitting 1 km to the north which
Table 5.4. Pativilca Valley idealized Thiessen polygon values for all Late Archaic
sties.
Table 5.5. Pativilca Valley arable land Thiessen polygon values for all Late Archaic
sties.
on the Category 1 sites (Fig. 5-10) resulted in a relatively equal division of land
ranging between 4.22 km² and 7.65 km² (Table 5.6). The two sites with the highest
RA values (Vinto Alto and Pampa San Jose) also had the largest areas in the valley.
The area for Huayto did not change from the Thiessen polygon map that included all
of the Late Archaic sites to this iteration of the map. The only difference is that it
went from being the second largest site in area to the smallest. It is unclear as to
why this occurs with Huayto but it is most likely due to the nature of the arable land
polygon and Huayto’s geographical placement which is not central in the valley
relative to the other sites. Huayto is also not associated with a Category 3 site that is
centrally placed.
Table 5.6. Pativilca Valley arable land Thiessen polygon values for Category 1
sites.
Fortaleza Valley
The Fortaleza Valley accounts for 711.26 km² or 34.21% of the total area for
the idealized regional polygon (Figs. 5-1 and 5-11) (Table 5.7). The largest area for
any one site is that of Huaricanga with an area of 182.53 km2 which accounts for
83
Figure. 5 – 7. Pativilca Valley idealized territorial boundaries for all Late Archaic
sites.
84
Figure. 5 – 9. Pativilca Valley arable land boundaries for all Late Archaic sites.
86
Figure. 5 – 10. Pativilca Valley arable land boundaries for Category 1 sites.
87
Figure. 5 – 11. Fortaleza Valley idealized territorial boundaries for all Late Archaic
sites.
88
Figure. 5 – 13. Fortaleza Valley arable land boundaries for all Late Archaic sites.
90
Figure. 5 – 14. Fortaleza Valley arable land boundaries for Category 1 sites.
91
8.78% of the area for the entire Norte Chico region. The cluster of four sites
sitting in the SW portion of the valley (Porvenir, Cerro Lampay, Caballete, Cerro
The Thiessen polygon constructed using the 20.99 km² of arable land and all
of the Late Archaic sites (5-13) in the valley shows a division of land that trends
upwards in area from Porvenir to Huaricanga (0.52 km² to 7.12 km²) and then trends
back down from Huaricanga to Shaura (7.12 km² to 0.84 km²) (Table 5.8). Cerro
Lampay (1.57 km²), which is a single mound site, has an area three times the size of
Porvenir’s (0.52 km²). Another single mound site, Cerro Blanco 2 (4.17 km²) has
nine times the area of Porvenir and is also larger than Caballete (3.69 km²).
The final arable land Thiessen polygon (5-14) divided the Fortaleza Valley
into three areas of land that trend from small to large areas the further east and north
up the river valley (Table 5.9). Porvenir has the smallest area at 1.82 km2 which
accounts for only 8.68% of the valley’s area. Caballete has an area of 7.49 km²
accounting for 35.69% of the valley and Huaricanga has an area of 11.67 km²
accounting for 55.63%. Though Huaricanga is the most spatially integrated of all
sites in the region, its geographical position places it in a location that has the largest
polygons. Huaricanga was included as a category one site because of its size and
theoretical basis for understanding land division among the inland sites within their
own valleys. However, the actual boundary divisions for each site did not change
from the initial idealized polygons to the arable land polygons because the
geographical location does not change, only the boundaries within which the
Thiessen polygons were constructed changes. The only difference is the area of land
associated with each site, which is to be expected. It was also expected that some of
the Category 2 and 3 sites would have more arable land associated with them than
some of the Category 1 sites because they had more land associated with them in the
land in each valley and regionally would exist. This equal distribution indicates an
equal distribution of sites on the landscape and shows that a pattern exists in the
Table 5.9. Fortaleza Valley arable land Thiessen polygon values for Category 1
sites.
Table 5.10. Division of arable land among all Category 1 sites in the region.
Thiessen polygon analysis for arable land in the region shows a clear pattern
of relatively equal land distribution among the Category 1 sites, both in their
94
respective valleys and on the regional scale, with the exception of the Fortaleza
Valley which will be discussed in further detail in Chapter 6 (Table 5.10). There is a
architectural design as well as geographically in that once the arable land polygons
were constructed with only the geographic points for Category 1 sites it became
clear that the Category 2 and 3 sites related to the Category 1 sites had better
The initial hypotheses for this research were clearly and succinctly born out
each site, there is a pattern of land distribution that is equal among all Category 1
sites in the region, and the interpretation of the space syntax analysis shows a clear
the interpretations and conclusions for this research are synchronic in nature. It is
distribution would have been like ca. 2200 B.C. Each of the aforementioned
average relative asymmetry (RA) value falling around 0.47. According to Hillier
and Hanson’s (1984) scale for RA values, many of these sites possess an equal share
of “exclusivity” and integration. The 0 value for relative ringiness (RR) at each site
means that each space within these structures is controlled by another space,
movement within the sites would be controlled. This conclusion is not necessarily
96
consistent with the RA values for the sites. When a site has an RR value of 0 one
would expect RA values closer to 1. However, the Norte Chico sites fall in the
investigation of site design in the Norte Chico region provides an insight into the
disparity between the RR and RA values (see Tables 4.6, 4.7, and 4.8).
“openness” to the outside world in the form of the large square plaza, or in the case
of the smaller mounds, the natural landscape. This “openness” is most likely a
manifestation of a desire to show community unity and strength to the outside world
zero (highly accessible) for relative aysmmetry. However, once one enters the plaza,
space becomes more and more restricted as one walks toward the raised square
plazas, the sunken circular plazas, and eventually the atrium of the platform mound
isolated). The combination of the two levels of site design, with more restriction of
space the deeper one goes into the site, explains the middle range RA values.
movement occurs through what seems to be a planned mode of entry into each site
The idealized Thiessen polygons for the Norte Chico region based on
Renfrew’s (1986) peer polity analysis produced some unexpected results (see Tables
5.1, 5.4, and 5.7). These results can be attributed to the fact that the boundaries for
the region were hypothetical and that territorial boundaries covered areas of land
97
that most likely were uninhabited or at least sparsely populated (e.g. coastal
mountains, quebradas). Some of the multi-mound sites in the region (e.g. Porvenir,
Caballete) were associated with smaller areas of idealized land division than some
of the single mound sites (e.g. Cerro Blanco 2, Shaura). Despite this, a pattern
emerged. For example, in the Pativilca Valley sites were relatively evenly
distributed geographically. This even geographic distribution was also apparent for
four sites in the Fortaleza Valley (Porvenir, Cerro Lampay, Caballete, Cerro Blanco
2). The pattern of even geographic distribution continued from the larger idealized
polygons into the more plausible arable land polygons. The significance of this
continuing pattern is that the sites were not only evenly distributed geographically,
associated with it. The association of these sites to the Category 1 sites is
manifested in at least one of two ways: 1) similar spatial patterning between the
arable land for the Category 1 site when the Category 2 or 3 site falls within its
boundaries. Only, three sites in the region do not have a Category 2 or 3 sites
associated with them, Huayto and Vinto Alto in the Pativilca Valley and Era de
Pando in the Supe Valley. Each of these sites has something that distinguishes it
from the other sites within their respective valleys. Huayto is the only site in the
region that sits on a ridge top (Creamer et al. 2007), Vinto Alto is the largest site by
volume in the region (197,292 m3) (Haas and Creamer 2006), and Era de Pando has
a larger site area (79.74 ha) than any other site in the Supe Valley (Shady 2006).
98
These distinctions may be the result of a different strategy of competition based
on placing all of the construction focus on the main or central site rather than using
Caral is the only site that has more than one Category 2 or 3 sites associated
with it (see Fig. 5-6). Interestingly, the sites associated with Caral are Category 2
sites which are not found anywhere else the region. When grouped with Caral these
sites help to substantially increase the amount of arable land associated with Caral.
The relationship between Category 1 and Category 2 or 3 sites in all of the valleys
sites in order to maximize arable land within an area or define territorial boundaries
The RA values associated with the Category 2 sites in the Supe Valley do
not follow the patterning observed in the rest of the region. Part of the reason for
this may have to do with the available arable land in the valley. Since the Supe
Valley has one-third of the arable land present in each of the other two valleys, the
reasonable. The limited arable land in the valley may correlate with the presence of
more integrated sites because the sites may have been constructed as a competitive
device to bring more resources into the resource-poor Supe Valley. Also notable in
the Supe Valley is that the average RA value for the entire valley falls far below that
of the other valleys. This is partly due to the Category 2 sites just discussed, but
even though Era de Pando and Caral distinguish themselves architecturally in the
99
valley they are still more integrated spatially (easily accessible) than some of their
boundaries lies in the Pativilca Valley. Each of the Category 1 sites shares a
The RA value for each site is directly correlated to the area of arable land for each
site, with the exception of Huayto. As RA values rise, so do the areas of arable land
for each site. Also, when determining the carrier space for each of these sites it
became apparent that they each shared a particular type of construction that
controlled entry into the site. The sites of Punta y Suela, Pampa San Jose, and Vinto
Alto each had main mounds that were steep sided on the façade opposite the central
plaza and Huayto is the only site that is built on a natural rise of any consequence in
any valley. This type of construction seems to delineate controlled access. This
controlled access was born out in the space syntax data as three of these four sites
The Fortaleza Valley is the most difficult to assess based on the numbers
from both the space syntax analysis and the Thiessen polygon models. Porvenir is
the most spatially segregated in the region yet the area of arable land associated with
it is the smallest in any valley. Huaricanga is the most spatially integrated of any
site in the region and the area of land that it is associated with is the largest.
Caballete and its associated Category 3 site, Cerro Blanco 2, sit in the center of the
valley and fit the pattern described for the other valleys.
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The spatial segregation at Porvenir is mitigated by site design. Whereas
Caballete is constructed in the same way as the sites in the Pativilca Valley and
Caral, where access is controlled by design, Porvenir sits with its back and arms
buttressed by coastal mountains and the plaza opening out into the fields below it.
The segregation at Porvenir occurs at the level of entrance into the sunken circular
plaza and mound. At this level, segregation is the same at all of the sites in the
region. Rather than a strict design of entry into the site, Porvenir displays an
“openness” to the river valley that is not present at the other Category 1 sites with
design for controlled access into the main plaza area. Porvenir and Era de Pando are
the only Category 1 sites that follow this pattern and their areas of associated land
Huaricanga is the only site in the region that does not fit into one of the three
defined categories and its area of associated arable land is the largest by 3 km² of
any site in the region. There are several possibilities for this result. Because the
space syntax analysis is dependent on site maps there are problems when dealing
with a site that is partially destroyed. Huaricanga is the only site tested that sits
beside the Pan American Highway in Peru. This proximity to the highway has led
to many historic disturbances of the site. Huaricanga’s plaza is also a modern stone
quarry leading to massive site destruction, especially in what would have been one
of the main open plazas (Haas and Ruiz 2004). There is also an Initial Period site
sitting about 100 m to the west of the Late Archaic component. The Initial Period
reoccupation may have also led to some destruction of the Late Archaic component.
101
It is unique for a Late Archaic monument to be sitting so close to an
Initial Period monument and this choice of geographical location for both sites may
provide an insight as to why the site at Huaricanga has so much land associated with
it. The Initial Period site at Huaricanga is the most highly organized in what Vega-
Centeno (1998) describes as the Middle Fortaleza Valley. Each of the Late Archaic
sites fall within this area of the valley and Huaricanga sits in a central position
between Cerro de la Cruz and Shaura to the northeast and the rest of the Late
Archaic sites to the southwest. The land that sits directly to the north and south of
Huaricanga is a narrow geographical strip that is canyon in some parts and is not as
broad as the arable land adjacent to Caballete and Porvenir. This geographical
positioning of the site, and the later Initial Period site, may have been a strategic
valley. If this is the case, then the integration of space begins to make sense.
Huaricanga would have been built for access from both sides.
There is also the possibility that Cerro de la Cruz and/or Shaura could fit the
description of what is being termed a Category 1 site in this research. Haas and
Creamer (2006) note that there may have been larger mounds at Shaura that have
since been destroyed and little information about Cerro de la Cruz is known. If one
or both of these sites were of the same size and magnitude as the other sites in the
Norte Chico then Huaricanga’s share of land, while still the largest in the valley,
drops somewhat.
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Space Syntax, Socio-Political Organization and the Archaeological Record
As has been suggested above, the Norte Chico region shows a strong pattern
of equal levels of spatial integration and segregation at the individual site level.
According to the space syntax analysis there are nine Category 1 (see Table 5.10)
sites that should be considered as the nine central nodes of power within the region.
Each of these nine power centers is associated with a relatively equal amount of
arable land, particularly compared with other sites within its own valley, and
possible reasons for outliers have already been discussed. A true assessment of the
validity of the results from this research can only be reached by viewing them
and Leyva 2003; Shady 2006) has led her to the conclusion that there was a Caral-
Supe state in the Norte Chico region during the latter part of the Late Archaic.
“centrality” in the region as two of the many reasons Caral was the capital city of a
“pristine state.” She also contends that the density and complexity of sites within
the Supe Valley as well as the architectural complexity of Caral itself show that the
There is no doubt that Caral and the sites in the Supe Valley share many of
the same architectural characteristics as those in the other two valleys. In fact,
taking similar size and design of architectural features out of the equation, space
103
syntax shows that Caral and Era de Pando follow the exact same patterning of
spatial organization as all but four of the multi-mound sites in the region. Three of
those sites are in the Supe Valley (Lurihuasi, Miraya, Alpacoto). Thiessen polygons
indicate that those three sites fall within Caral’s territorial boundaries.
As mentioned earlier, the Supe Valley, on average, has the lowest RA values
for any valley in the region. In conjunction with the small area of arable land in the
valley, these values suggest a desire to build sites that are readily accessible to
outsiders. Because arable land was sparse in the Supe Valley in relation to the other
two valleys it stands to reason that Caral and the related sites in the valley would
have been focused on constructing many more architectural complexes than their
contemporaries to the north. The polities within the Supe Valley would be
architecture in order to compete for outside resources to bolster their relatively small
resource base. The integration values for these sites suggests a need to show greater
for resource procurement within Caral’s own valley would have much more difficult
The fact that the most integrated sites in the region sit in the valley with the
least access to arable land is telling. Caral’s association with three relatively highly
integrated sites in its valley suggests at least one of two things: 1) there is either an
alliance between Caral and these three sites in order to maximize arable land, or 2)
the inhabitants, or groups associated directly with Caral, are constructing these
monuments in order to maximize access to arable land for Caral. This same
104
argument can be made for five of the other eight centers of power within the
region; however, the sites associated with those other five centers share an
community in the Northern Rio Grande. Kolb and Snead defined the Tsikiwaiye
or by low-level elites with labor exchanged for food, prestige or security) which was
not given over to large-scale irrigation (Kolb and Snead 1997:613-620). Kolb and
Snead further conclude that labor investment in the Tsikiwaiye community was
directed toward the construction of festive architecture and that subsistence would
The idea that any community-level labor organization was being placed into shrines
before it went into field systems has far-reaching implications for the aggregation
process…[I]ncreasing investment in symbolic boundary maintenance in local Early
Classic communities may reflect increased competition between groups, possibly
over access to agricultural land, occurring before the intensification of production
indicated by investment in formal field systems. (623)
The assumption is that once competition for arable land came to the forefront of
importance for these groups, larger groups began to aggregate with smaller groups
following a similar scenario as the one described by Kolb and Snead, the pattern
they describe is most readily evident in the Supe Valley. The paucity of arable land
in the Supe Valley relative to the rest of the region may have forced aggregation at
an earlier time than in the rest of the region. The spatial organization at Alpacoto,
Lurihuasi, and Miraya is different than at any of the other sites in the region, this
may be a result of constant construction and/or remodeling without any set pattern
of organization. The density of construction in the Supe Valley in light of Kolb and
extending its boundaries, but a polity and smaller set of communities desperately
trying to compete with their contemporaries in the region. Era de Pando at the
western end of the valley may not have had the same problems as the other sites as
it sits closer to the ocean with presumably easier access to marine resources.
A peer polity model for the region has been discussed by two separate
groups of researchers within the region (Creamer et al. 2006; Haas and Creamer
2006; Vega-Centeno 2005). There are subtle but important differences in the two
versions of the model put forth. Vega-Centeno (2005) contends that each site in the
The suggestion is that the design of the sites within the region is based on a desire to
show community cohesiveness and power to the outside world while controlling
power within the community, but that there is no evidence for a hierarchical social
structure. Haas and Creamer (2006) contend that site size and the small area of
106
permanent residential architecture in relation to public architecture at these large
sites suggest groups of high status individuals living at these sites and competition
for outside resources at the individual site level as well as the regional level.
that was conducted for this research. He suggests that the square plaza and sunken
circular plaza at Cerro Lampay are the features open to outsiders and that
community control over power is manifested in the equal access to smaller rooms at
the back of the mound structure. The conclusion that sites were constructed in order
attached to the complex were readily accessible by all members of the community
within the context of the small size of Cerro Lampay, the interpretation is valid to an
extent. However, Vega-Centeno (2005) assumes that because there is equal access
there is no evidence for social hierarchy. What he does not consider it that
inhabitants of the site may have been high status individuals at the top of a territorial
Excavations at Caral (Shady and Leyva 2003; Shady 2006) and Caballete
(Haas and Ruiz 2006) have found permanent domestic structures that are considered
elite domestic residences. The only housing attributed to lower status individuals, to
date, are quincha huts that were found within 1 km of the main ritual site at
Caballete (Haas and Ruiz 2004). This suggests that only the elite within a society
There are also permanent housing structures located behind Cerro Lampay which
rooms behind the mound. In the context of other sites in the region it would seem
that these permanent structures were for high status individuals only. Vega-Centeno
Following the idea that only high status individuals lived at these sites, the
RA values for the sites take on further meaning. Assuming the inhabitants were high
status individuals only, Vega-Centeno’s idea that a certain section of a site was
meant to attract people while another section was meant to conduct rituals and
provide equal access to inhabitants of the site can be fleshed out with this analysis.
The average RA value of 0.47 for eight of the Category 1 sites (excluding
inhabitants would have wanted to attract outsiders into their ritual center, but RA
values and nondistributedness indicate that there would have been restrictions on
Lampay tend to strengthen the case for the Category 1 and Category 3 site
association discovered in this research because it shows a clear distinction from the
power centers to the satellite sites. This distinction may indicate a site hierarchy
where the smaller site is presided over by a lower status group in comparison to the
larger or Category 1 site. Without its association with Cerro Lampay, Porvenir
would have an area three times less than it has when associated with Cerro Lampay.
108
This is a significant trend throughout the region. A closer look at these
associations along with size and radiocarbon dating indicates that the smaller sites
(Category 2 or 3) were built later, and in the case of Cerro Lampay, in less
site size, and radiocarbon dating again suggests that the smaller sites were satellites
and the similar spatial patterns and arable land divisions discovered through this
research a clear picture of the socio-political structure for the Norte Chico region at
the end of the Late Archaic emerges. With no evidence of warfare (Haas and
Creamer 2006; Vega-Centeno 2005), the inhabitants of the major power centers in
each valley would have been competing for the resources provided not only by
coastal fisherman, but also by the people within their own valleys (Haas and
Creamer 2006). Radiocarbon dates within the context of the spatial and Thiessen
polygon analyses further shows that as these power centers grew larger, satellite
sites were placed in strategic geographical areas that helped to maximize the area of
Table 6.1. Average cal. Radiocarbon dates from all Category 1 and Category 2 and
3 sites in the Norte Chico region (Shady et al. 2001; Shady 2006; Haas et al. 2004;
Vega-Centeno 2005).
organization, or territorial influence over arable land. Two (Era de Pando and
Porvenir) of the three sites that were constructed differently than the others as far as
maximize the most arable land. It may be unfair to put Era de Pando into the same
category as Porvenir since it is located in a valley with very little arable land and
shares a relatively equal division with Caral, but Era de Pando is a different site
architecturally than Caral. Both of these sites also happen to sit at the furthest
western extent of their respective valleys. Their geographical positioning may have
more to do with accessibility to the coast than with maximizing arable land. Their
access patterns and difference in site design may also be consistent with providing
easier site access to outsiders in order to compete with the other power centers in the
region because they had poorer strategic geographical placement to maximize arable
land.
Huaricanga is the third site that has extreme differences from the others but
it is likely that the site was built this way for reason, namely to compete for those
people moving up and down the Fortaleza Valley. Huaricanga is also in somewhat
of a hinterland in the region and possibly would have been reliant on being a well-
The Norte Chico power centers did not control geographical territories the
size and breadth of which would fit Renfrew’s (1986) idealized model for peer
polity socio-political organization. However, Renfrew’s (1986) model does not take
geographical constraints into account. A refined model for the Norte Chico region,
110
focusing solely on territorial influence over arable land, shows a relatively equal
distribution of land within the river valleys for all of the power centers. The six
sites (Caral, Punta y Suela, Pampa San Jose, Vinto Alto, Huayto, Caballete) that
have the same design elements (e.g. steep-sided facades, use of natural rises to
control access) fall into an RA value range of 0.40 to 0.53 and a Thiessen polygon
area range of 3.79 km2 to 7.65 km2. These six sites are basically equivalent based
on the numbers from this research and constitute the basis for what could have been
a peer polity form of social organization. The other three sites fit as power centers
as well, though their geographical positioning and site design may have been based
organization with an existent social hierarchy manifested through site design and
Conclusions
around 2200 B.C. Nine central polities, six of which have smaller or more spatially
integrated complexes associated with them make up the locus of this organization.
The association of the larger sites with the smaller sites may be an indication of
community aggregation at the end of the Late Archaic period as demand for arable
land became more important. The results also suggest the presence of social
hierarchy at individual sites based on the restricted access to the atrium of the
111
mound structures, but also a pattern of spatial organization that was meant to
draw people in through a display of unity among the community as well as power.
and theoretical framework through which the Norte Chico region can be further
studied. Initial results in conjunction with radiocarbon dates and little excavation in
geographical orientation and association between larger and smaller sites in order to
maximize territorial influence over arable land. Both analyses are a simplistic way
to determine spatial patterning of individual sites in the same time period as well as
geographical patterning.
further excavation of the sites in the Norte Chico. However, this does not mean that
these finding are not important to the present understanding of the region. The
pattern of spatial organization implies that these sites were contemporaries and the
elements at the individual site level. This analysis can only provide basis for future
research in the region, in order to further test the conclusions here, many more dates
thoroughly tested in several different ways. While the radiocarbon dating and
untouched. Better knowledge of the relationships between these large and small
sites could be gained with more extensive radiocarbon dating and excavation of the
smaller mound sites. A better understanding of the construction episodes at both the
large and small sites would also provide an insight into the chronological
should be considered arable and not arable in the Norte Chico region during the Late
Archaic period. The arable land polygons for this research were constructed using
give a better indication as to what those land boundaries might have been.
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