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Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Landscape Setting As Medium Of Communication At Chavín De Huántar, Peru, Daniel A. Contreras
Landscape Setting As Medium Of Communication At Chavín De Huántar, Peru, Daniel A. Contreras
Daniel A. Contreras
The Central Andean ceremonial centre of Chavín de Huántar is situated in a dramatic, mountainous and dynamic environment high on the eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes, yet the site's landscape setting has remained in the shadow of its monumental architecture, complex lithic art and highly elaborated material culture. Nevertheless, that dynamic landscape setting was an integral part of the site's significance as a ceremonial centre and may be read as evidence of the capacity, worldview and message of the site's builders. First, Chavín's setting is evidence of capacity, demonstrating the considerable degree of labour mobilization and organization, as well …
Investigaciones En La Fuente De La Obsidiana Tipo Quispisisa, Huancasancos-Ayacucho, Daniel A. Contreras, Nicholas Tripcevich, Yuri I. Cavero Palomino
Investigaciones En La Fuente De La Obsidiana Tipo Quispisisa, Huancasancos-Ayacucho, Daniel A. Contreras, Nicholas Tripcevich, Yuri I. Cavero Palomino
Daniel A. Contreras
No abstract provided.
Long-Term Human Occupation Of The Upper Río Caracha, Ayacucho, Peru, Daniel A. Contreras, Nicholas Tripcevich
Long-Term Human Occupation Of The Upper Río Caracha, Ayacucho, Peru, Daniel A. Contreras, Nicholas Tripcevich
Daniel A. Contreras
Regional consumption patterns of obsidian in Peru testify to the significance of the Quispisisa source; by 500 BCE this obsidian was reaching sites 1000 km distant. The source area thus provides both an opportunity to investigate quarrying and an case study in the long‐term occupation of a regionally important highland valley. Using satellite imagery and results of preliminary field prospection, we examine the upper Caracha drainage, where Quispisisa‐type obsidian is found. The valley is extensively terraced, and contains several large sites downstream of the source area. Our data on the settlement system and anthropogenic landscape of this regionally‐significant highland valley …
La Cronología De Chavín De Huántar Y Sus Implicancias Para El Periodo Formativo, John W. Rick, Christian Mesia, Daniel A. Contreras, Silvia R. Kembel, Rosa M. Rick, Matthew Sayre, John Wolf
La Cronología De Chavín De Huántar Y Sus Implicancias Para El Periodo Formativo, John W. Rick, Christian Mesia, Daniel A. Contreras, Silvia R. Kembel, Rosa M. Rick, Matthew Sayre, John Wolf
Daniel A. Contreras
Chavín de Huantar es uno de los sitios fundamentales para entender el Periodo Formativo en los Andes centrales. Ironicamente, a pesar de muchas decadas de investigaciones realizadas por docenas de investigadores, su cronologia es todavia debatida e insegura. Este articulo presenta una reseña de la evidencia historica para la cronologia de Chavin, enfatizando la contribucion de los fechados radiocarbonicos calibrados y, de manera breve, revisando los que están temporalmente relacionados con otros sitios formativos. Se analizan, tambien, los numerosos fechados de carbono-14 asociados a ceramica y contextos arquitectonicos conocidos en Chavin derivados de estudios recientes. De hecho, muchos fechados de …
Quarrying Evidence At The Quispisisa Obsidian Source, Ayacucho, Peru, Nicholas Tripcevich, Daniel A. Contreras
Quarrying Evidence At The Quispisisa Obsidian Source, Ayacucho, Peru, Nicholas Tripcevich, Daniel A. Contreras
Daniel A. Contreras
Artifacts made from Quispisisa obsidian are widely disseminated in the Peruvian Andes, but the geological source of the Quispisisa geochemical type was only recently located in southern Ayacucho. Following the positive identification of the source in 1999 by Richard Burger and colleagues, we found evidence of broad quarrying activities in unexplored portions of the source area. We describe 34 quarry pits, some as large as 80 m across, together with evidence of early-stage lithic reduction at the source. We encountered high concentrations of reduction debris associated with more extensive knapping in two localities, but our preliminary evaluation of surface evidence …
Huaqueros And Remote Sensing Imagery: Assessing Looting Damage In The Virú Valley, Peru, Daniel A. Contreras
Huaqueros And Remote Sensing Imagery: Assessing Looting Damage In The Virú Valley, Peru, Daniel A. Contreras
Daniel A. Contreras
This article presents a new initiative in combating looting from the air, building on previous work in Iraq and Jordan. Looted sites in the Virú Valley, Peru, are visible as pit clusters on dated versions of Google Earth. Compare these with earlier air photographs and Gordon Willey's famous survey of the 1940s, and we have a dated chronicle of looting events. This makes it possible to demonstrate that modern looting is certainly taking place and linked to an upsurge in the antiquities trade. As well as being a new instrument for managing heritage, the author shows that the looting survey …
Landscape And Environment: Insights From The Prehispanic Central Andes, Daniel A. Contreras
Landscape And Environment: Insights From The Prehispanic Central Andes, Daniel A. Contreras
Daniel A. Contreras
Attention to human–environment relationships in the central Andes has a long history. Although the area is not a neat microcosm of the globe, wholly representative of worldwide trends in the archaeology of human–environment interactions, it has been the site of both seminal investigations in archaeology and a substantial body of recent work that investigates themes of broad archaeological relevance. Specifically, central Andean environments have been variously conceived as structuring, modified, and sacred. These approaches to some extent reflect broad trends in archaeology, while also suggesting directions in which the archaeology of human–environment interactions is moving and highlighting archaeology’s relevance to …