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Late Prehispanic occupation of Pajonal Alto, Nasca, Peru : implications for imperial collapse and societal reformation

TitleLate Prehispanic occupation of Pajonal Alto, Nasca, Peru : implications for imperial collapse and societal reformation
Publication TypeThesis
Year of Publication2000
AuthorsConlee, C. A.
Number of Pagesxv, 533 leaves, bound.
Thesis TypeThesis Ph D --University of California Santa Barbara 2000
Call NumberMAIN GN43.2.C2
AbstractThis research addresses change in local society over time in the Nasca region of Peru. In particular the focus is on two issues: (1) the nature of the Wari presence in the region and the effects of collapse, and (2) how local society responded to collapse and developed into a regional polity. Data for this study was recovered from excavations at the late prehispanic site (A.D. 750-1532) of Pajonal Alto in the Taruga Valley. Several different aspects of prehispanic life were examined including subsistence, economic activities and specialization, exchange, ritual activities, and sociopolitical organization. The analysis of various categories of cultural material indicates that the effects of collapse were severe and that local society dramatically changed. The site of Pajonal Alto was abandoned at the time of the Wari collapse indicating that there was a major disruption in the region. After collapse, in the Late Intermediate Period, there was an increase in economic activities and exchange based at the village level. There was a rejection of the iconography and religious ideology associated with the previous Nasca and Wari cultures. Also at this time a larger network of local elites developed and there was a transformation in how the region was politically integrated. While serious changes occurred in the Nasca region after the Wari collapse many of these were kept intact throughout the Late Intermediate Period and Inka rule in the Late Horizon.
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