Peruvian Prehistory: An Overview of Pre-Inca and Inca Society

Peruvian Prehistory offers an authoritative survey of the cultural evolution of Peru from the appearance of the first inhabitants around 10,000 BC to the arrival of the Spanish in 1534. The book is divided chronologically into three main parts, which examine in turn the highland and lowland zones in the Preceramic and Initial periods; the development of complex society at Chavin, Tiwanaku and Fluari and in the Moche and Nazca cultures; and the culmination of this process, the Pan-Andean empire of the Incas, and the way this can be studied through a combination of archaeology and ethnohistoric research. A fourth, concluding section deals with the often neglected tropical forest region of Peru and its formative influence on the evolution of Andean culture. The first collective assessment of Peruvian archaeology for a generation, this volume traces the processes of political, social and economic change in Andean civilisation in a manner that will attract many with no specialist interest in Peru.

Table of Contents:
List of illustrations; List of contributors; Preface; Part I. Early Inhabitants and Settlement: 1. The character and context of highland preceramic society John W. Rick; 2. Early hunter-gatherers on the Peruvian coast Claude Chauchat; 3. The Late Preceramic and Initial Period Rosa Fung Pineda Translated by Margaret Brown; Part II. The Florescence of Complex Society: 4. Unity and heterogeneity within the Chavín horizon Richard L. Burger; 5. The patterns of art and power in the Early Intermediate Period William J. Conklin and Michael Edward Moseley; 6. City and state in Middle Horizon Huari William H. Isbell; 7. The Late Intermediate Period Jeffrey R. Parsons and Charles M. Hastings; Part III. Pan-Andean Empire and the uses of Documentary Evidence: 8. Progress and prospect in the archaeology of the Inca Craig Morris; 9. From event to process: the recovery of Late Andean organizational structure by means of Spanish colonial written records Patricia J. Netherly; Part IV. Contributions from the Selva: 10. A view from the tropical forest J. Scott Raymond; Part V. Synthesis: 11. A summary view of Peruvian prehistory Richard W. Keatinge; Acknowledgements; Bibliography; Index.

Review :
"...a state of-the-art review...it offers a valuable overview of recent advances in the field of Andean archaelogy."--Natural History "For the Latin American anthropologist, the collection is valuable reading as a document of the issues and debates which currently guide archaeological research in the Andes." Latin American Anthropology Review "For the Latin American anthropologist, the collection is valuable reading as a document of the issues and debates which currently guide archaeological research in the Andes." Latin American Anthropology Review