Huaca Prieta-one the world's best-known, yet least understood, early maritime mound sites-and other Preceramic sites on the north coast of Peru bear witness to the beginnings of civilization in the Americas. Across more than fourteen millennia of human occupation, the coalescence of maritime, agricultural, and pastoral economies in the north coast settlements set in motion long-term biological and cultural transformations that led to increased social complexity and food production, and later the emergence of preindustrial states and urbanism. These developments make Huaca Prieta a site of global importance in world archaeology.

This landmark volume presents the findings of a major archaeological investigation carried out at Huaca Prieta, the nearby mound Paredones, and several Preceramic domestic sites in the lower Chicama Valley between 2006 and 2013 by an interdisciplinary team of more than fifty international specialists. The book's contributors report on and analyze the extensive material records from the sites, including data on the architecture and spatial patterns; floral, faunal, and lithic remains; textiles; basketry; and more. Using this rich data, they build new models of the social, economic, and ontological practices of these early peoples, who appear to have favored cooperation and living in harmony with the environment over the accumulation of power and the development of ruling elites. This discovery adds a crucial new dimension to our understanding of emergent social complexity, cosmology, and religion in the Neolithic period.

"This will be a landmark volume in the analysis and interpretation of early human occupation and exploitation of Peru's resource-rich maritime, littoral, and near-coastal environments. The contributors are experienced investigators, and many are well-recognized specialists in their respective fields, which includes a broad spectrum of archaeological and allied disciplines. This empirically rich research will have a long-term impact on our understanding of regional historical processes in Preceramic coastal Peru, the appearance and use-history of agricultural domesticates, and the role of environmental variability and resource stratification in processes of human demographic expansion and patterning. The data presentations and interpretations dramatically expand our knowledge base concerning the origins, patterning, and complexity of early human adaptations to changing environmental regimes in coastal Peru." -- Alan L. Kolata, University of Chicago, author of many books, including Ancient Inca: Case Studies in Early Societies, The Tiwanaku: Portrait of an Andean Civilization, and Valley of the Spirits: A Journey into the Lost Realm of the Aymara "This is really two archaeology books in one-an edited volume conveying an important new interpretation of the dawn of civilization in the Andes, and a highly valuable excavation and multidisciplinary analytical report on one of the region's most important sites. It will be an essential source for all Andean scholars and a companion to classic works such as Junius Bird's Huaca Prieta volumes." -- Paul Goldstein, University of California, San Diego, author of Andean Diaspora: The Tiwanaku Colonies and the Origins of South American Empire

About the Author

TOM D. DILLEHAY is the Rebecca Webb Wilson University Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Religion, and Culture and Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt University. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of twenty books, including The Settlement of the Americas: A New Prehistory.

Reviews
"This volume is a foundational landmark, and can be used to teach students both at undergraduate and graduate levels to provide guidance for how to conduct and publish future archaeological research." * Antiquity *
"The contributors to this engrossing book reveal the ancient Andeans' culinary habits, artistic practices, and social organization at what Dillehay labels 'one of the most complex prepottery' coastal sites ever discovered." * Foreign Affairs, Best Books of 2018 *



Book Information
ISBN 9781477311493
Author Tom D. Dillehay
Format Hardback
Page Count 832
Imprint University of Texas Press
Publisher University of Texas Press
Weight(grams) 2214g
Dimensions(mm) 279mm * 216mm * 53mm