Dissertation Research: Collapse and Development: A Study of Late Prehistoric Society in the Nasca Region of Peru

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Under the direction of Dr. Katharina Schreiber, MS Christina Conlee will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct one season of archaeological excavation, followed by subsequent analysis, at the site of Pajonal Alto which is located in the Targua Valley in northern Peru. The settlement covers the time interval from ca. 800 B.C. through the colonial period and is located on a natural sand mound next to the Taruga River. Flanked by cemeteries on the east and west the sites covers almost two hectares and consists of several distinct architectural sectors. Due to heavy rains in the Peruvian highlands in 1993 and 1994 portions of the site were destroyed and emergency recording procedures were conducted in response to the deteriorating condition of the site. They revealed the presence of extensive materials which date to the Late Intermediate period from ca. 1,000 to 1,500 AD. MS Conlee will conduct an extensive horizontal excavation in one compound to determine spatial organization and collect data which will provide information on subsistence and other aspects of material culture. She will also undertake excavation of stratified deposits to construct a detailed ceramic sequence and to determine changes in Late Intermediate site organization over time. Cultural material recovered during excavation will be identified, counted and weighed. This information, in conjunction with spatial data, will be analyzed to establish subsistence practices, trade patterns, economic specialization and social differentiation throughout the late prehistoric period. While archaeologists have focused significant attention on how empires arise and are maintained, relatively little information is available the process of collapse and how constituent units respond when the larger encompassing system is destroyed. Prehistoric Peru provides an excellent opportunity to examine this question because over several millennia it witnessed the rise and subsequent collapse of several empires. The period which MS Conlee will study begins with the fall of the Wari Empire, encompasses a period of local development and then ends with the rise of the Inca. MS Conlee has proposed several models which serve to explain how the Nasca region was integrated into Wari and how it responded to the Wari collapse. She has also outlined the material correlates of these different scenarios and through her fieldwork will collect data to permit differentiation among them This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on a little known period of Peruvian prehistory and provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will increase understanding of the processes involved in devolution of social complexity and assist in training a promising young scientist.