2006/09/25 by Jonathan Haas, Winifred Creamer · 2 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
paper · doi:10.1086/506281
openalex publication_date 2006/09/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/12
The focus of the development of the first complex, centralized societies on the coast of Peru between 3000 and 1800 BC was a portion of the coast known as the Norte Chico, where more than 30 large Late Archaic sites with monumental platform mounds, ceremonial plazas, and residential architecture have now been identified. Differing theories have been offered to explain the emergence of complex polities in this region. New settlement and radiocarbon data suggest an alternative theoretical model that posits a regional sphere of interaction with a dominant political nexus in the Norte Chico region and participation by maritime fishing communities up and down the coast.