Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 107, Issue 14, Pages 6186-6191Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0911226107
Keywords
state development; Andes; Gallinazo Group; radiocarbon dating
Categories
Funding
- University of Western Ontario
- American Museum of Natural History
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The origins of urban life and functioning states are two of the most fascinating research problems in anthropological archeology and a topic that has intrigued generations of scholars working on the Peruvian north coast. In this region, Andeanists have documented the rise of Moche as a dominant culture during the first millennium A. D., and the emergence of urban life and stately institutions at this society's principal center. Although there is a broad consensus that Moche represents an archaic state, it is still unclear whether it is an example of primary state formation or a case of a second-generation state. To document this question, archaeological excavations were recently carried out at the Gallinazo Group site in the Vir Valley. Results from a radiocarbon dating program indicate that a functioning state probably emerged in this valley during the second century B. C., possibly preceding Moche by a few centuries. These results necessarily raise question regarding the nature of state development on the north coast of Peru and, in particular, whether there was a single center of state development in this region or multiple sites where similar conditions and processes led to the parallel emergence of functioning states.
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