Late Intermediate Occupation at Cerro Azul, Perú, A Preliminary Report 9781951538279, 9780915703128

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Table of contents :
Project Staff
Acknowledgments
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Introduction
Sixteenth-century Documents and Ethnohistoric Data
The Environmental Setting
The Site of Cerro Azul
Structure D
Fish Storage
Structure 9
Middens and Burials
The Inca Conquest of Huarco
Structure 1
Structure 3
The "Fortress of Huarco"
Conclusions
Bibliography
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY TECHNICAL REPORT 20

Late Intertnediate Occupation at Cerro Azul, Peru A PRELIMINARY REPORT

by Joyce Marcus

Ann Arbor 1987

c 1987 The regents of The University of Michigan The Museum of Anthropology All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America ISBN 978-0-915703-12-8 (paper) ISBN 978-1-951538-27-9 (ebook)

Frontispiece. Sea cliffs below the lighthouse at Cerro Azul.

PROJECT STAFF

1982-1986 Co-Directors

Joyce Marcus, University of Michigan Maria Rostworowski de Diez Canseco, Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Lima

Archaeology

Joyce Marcus, University of Michigan Ramiro Matos Mendieta, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima

Botany

C. Earle Smith, Jr., University of Alabama

Cartography

Charles M. Hastings, University of Michigan

Coprolite Analysis

John Jones, Texas A & M University

Ethnohistory

Maria Rostworowski de Diez Canseco, Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, Lima

Fiber Analysis

Max Saltzman, University of California at Los Angeles Martha Tate, University of Wisconsin

Geology ICeramic Thin-Section Analysis Human Osteology

Textile Analysis

Zoology

James Stoltman, University of Wisconsin Sonia Guillen, Universidad La CatOlica, Lima

Dwight Wallace, State University of New York at Albany

Kent V. Flannery, University of Michigan

v

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In January, 1980, Maria Rostworowski suggested that I consider excavating at Cerro Azul, a site that offered considerable potential for integrating ethnohistory and archaeology, and for studying prehispanic fishing, two themes in which I was interested. Very generously Ramiro Matos took time out to drive me to that site (as well as countless others along the coast from Chicama to Pisco), to show me around, and to encourage me to take on the excavation of the site, insisting that it was "tamano, no mas". Even though the site proved to be larger than expected, I was always encouraged by Maria and Ramiro, who showed unfailing confidence in the project.

A preliminary mapping of Cerro Azul was completed during the 1982 season, which was supported by a University of Michigan Faculty Fund Grant. That 1982 season was vital to the project, since it supplied us with the data necessary to prepare a detailed grant proposal.

Following the 1982 mapping project came four seasons dedicated to excavation, mapping, and artifact analysis (1983-1986).

These four

seasons were generously supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant BNS-8301542). I thank the Foundation for their financial support and especially wish to acknowledge the help of John Yellen, Charles

vii

Redman, and Mary Greene who gave me advice throughout the duration of the grant.

Permission to work at Cerro Azul was granted by Peru's Instituto Nacional de Cultura (Credencial No. 102-82-DCIRBM, Credencial No. 04183-DCIRBM, Credencial No. 018-84-DPCM, Resolucion Suprema No. 357 85-ED). Especially helpful in expediting these complicated matters were Ramiro Matos and Rogger Ravines, whose constant support was most appreciated.

While in Peru, I was very fortunate to have the advice and help of several other colleagues. Duccio Bonavia, Guillermo A. Cock, Mary Doyle, Sonia Guillen, Rogger Ravines, and Jorge Silva helped at every turn.

At Cerro Azul, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to rent the houses of Mr. James Innes and Dr. and Mrs. Pedro Chavez Toledo and, just as importantly, to get their permission to turn those houses into "laboratories" for washing, labeling, drawing, and photography during our stays.

Our caretaker don Emilio Cordero, and our cook, Rosa Cordero,

made our stay there much more enjoyable. We also wish to thank don Jose Chumpitaz and his entire family for their help and cooperation throughout the project.

In Cerro Azul, many townsmen served as informants and friends, helping us in numerous ways throughout our stay. Special thanks go to Alberto Barraza, Roberto Garcia, Jose Huaratapaira, Cesar (Chinaco) Francia, Ivan Francia, Francisco Padilla, Cirilo Cruz, Victor de la Cruz

viii

Alvarez, Edgar Zavala, Adolfo Casella, Jose Antonio Manco Flores, Carlos Manco Flores, Rufino Manco Flores, Victor Cubillas, Pablo Cubillas, Pedro Manuel (Pato Loco) Zavala, Pedro Alvarez, Ramon Espinosa, Ruperto Corral, Camilo

Quispe, Marcelina Aguidos, Edalio Aguidos,

Zenobio

Aguidos, Urbano Aguidos, and Ramon Landa.

Among the Andeanist colleagues who generously encouraged me throughout the project were Guillermo

Cock,

Geoffrey

W.

Conrad,

Christopher B. Donnan, Mary Doyle, Robert Feldman, Charles Hastings, Craig Morris, Michael E. Moseley, Don S. Rice, and Chip Stanish.

Special thanks go to John Clark for printing the photographs for this report, to Kay Clahassey for preparing the figures, and to Dave Kennedy, Charles Hastings, and Jill Lopick for converting the text from one computer program to another. Thanks also go to Gerald Smith and Douglas Nelson of the Division of Fishes, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, for ichthyological advice.

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS PROJECT STAFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

v

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

vii

LIST OF FIGURES

xiii

Introduction

1

Sixteenth-century Documents and Ethnohistoric Data ...

3

The Environmental Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

9

The Site of Cerro Azul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25

Structure D

41

Fish Storage

53

Structure 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

57

Middens and Burials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

61

The Inca Conquest of Huarco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

93

Structure 1

97

Structure 3

101 ...................... .

105

Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

107

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

109

The "Fortress of Huarco"

xi

LIST OF FIGURES Page Frontispiece. Sea cliffs below the lighthouse at Cerro Azul . . . 1. Coastal habitats at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Coastal habitats at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Cross-section of the pena zone showing vertical zonation of life forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Molluscs from Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. Some of the larger fish whose remains appear in Late Intermediate refuse at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. Some of the smaller fish whose remains appear in Late Intermediate refuse at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Use of the circular cast net at Cerro Azul. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Eighteenth-century fishermen using a chinchorro net with weights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9. Some native wild animals of Cerro Azul ... . . . . . . . . . . . 10. Contour map of the ruins of Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11. Pingiiino Buff ware jar with corncob lugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12. Examples of Pingiiino Buff ware globular jars . . . . . . . . . . 13. Pingiiino Buff ware sherds with motifs occurring early in the Late Intermediate occupation at Cerro Azul . 14. Miscellaneous sherds of Pingiiino Buff ware from Late Intermediate contexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15. Late Intermediate vessels with cream slip and "school of fish" motif painted in black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16. Miscellaneous Pingiiino Buff ware sherds from Late Intermediate contexts at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17. Local imitation of Inca aryballo made on Pingiiino Buff ware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18. Examples of Late Intermediate monochrome amphorae from burials at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19. Vessels from Late Intermediate burials at Cerro Azul . . . . 20. Small vessels from Late Intermediate burials at Cerro Azul 21. Late Intermediate figurines from Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . 22. Late Intermediate figurines from Cerro Azul. . . . . . . . . . . 23. Excavation in progress on Structure D, Cerro Azul . . . . . . 24. Ground plan of Structure D, Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25. Apparent earthquake damage at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . 26. Examples of architectural modifications which changed traffic patterns in Structure D, Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . 27. Large tapia platform running along the northern border of the Southwest Canch6n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28. Closer view of the pata shown in Figure 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . 29. Some views of Structure D, Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I'

xiii













iii 10 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 42 43 44 45 46 47 49

30. Some views of the North Central Canch6n, or "kitchen", of Structure D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31. Rooms 9 and 10 in the Northwest CanchOn of Structure D . 32. Sand~filled rooms for storage of dried fish at Cerro Azul. . . 33. Specimens of fish skin, scales, and skeleton adhering to clay floors of sand-filled storage roOl'J1s in Structure 9 at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34. Ground plan of Structure 9, Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35., Remains of grunt from Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36. Fish remains from Cerro Azul ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37. Remains of medium-sized drums from Cerro Azul . . . . . . . 38. Remains of small fish at Cerro Azul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39. Grinding stones from Structure D at Cerro Azul. . . . . . . . 40. Plant remains from Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41. Plant remains from Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42. Structure 4, a Late Intermediate burial cist, after excavation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43. Gourd bowls with food offerings from Late Intermediate burials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44. Two kinds of fishing nets from Late Intermediate burials at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45. Two very different fishing nets found with the same individual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46. Details of circular cast net from a burial near Structure G . 47. Artifacts associated with fishing at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . 48. Sling or warok'a associated with a male burial in Structure 5, a burial cist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49. Three-stone bolas found with male burial in Structure 6, a burial cist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50. A show of hands from Late Intermediate female mummies at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51. Wicker workbasket still tied in a cloth from Structure 5 . . . 52. Wicker workbasket buried with a Late Intermediate woman (Individual 3, Burial 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53. Weaving kit found with Late Intermediate woman, Burial 5 ..............................•...........

54. Components of a small loom for weaving slit tapestry belts, buried with a Late Intermediate woman (Individual 3, Burial 4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55. A woolen yarn-ball bag and its contents found with a Late Intermediate woman (Individual 3, Burial 4) . . . . . . . . . . . 56. Late Intermediate weaving tools from Structure D, Cerro Azul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57. Examples of textiles from Structure D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58. Examples of Late Intermediate textiles from ColIc a 1, Structure D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59. Additional Late Intermediate textiles from Collca 1, Structure D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60. Late Intermediate textiles from Structure 4, a burial cist . . 61. Examples of Late Intermediate textiles from burials ..... 62. Examples of Late Intermediate textiles from burial cists .. 63. Carved needle case found with Individual 3 of Burial 4 ... 64. Silver tupu ("cloak pins") found with Individual 3, Burial 4, a Late Intermediate woman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

xiv

51 52 54

55 58 62 62 63 63 64 65 66 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 77 78 79 80

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91

65. Miscellaneous artifacts from Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66. Ground plan of Structure 1, a Late Horizon adobe building at Cerro Azul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67. Views of Room 9, Structure 1, Cerro Azul ............ 68. Ground plan of Structure 3 at Cerro Azul. . . . . . . . . . . . . 69. Inca-style masonry at Cerro Azul. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

xv

92 98 99 102 103

INTRODUCTION

This is the preliminary report of an interdisciplinary project carried out during 1982-1986 at Cerro Azul, a late prehistoric fishing community on the south-central coast of Peru. latitude and 76 0

Cerro Azul lies at 13" 01' south

29' west longitude in the Caiiete Valley, some 130

kilometers south of Lima.

Cerro Azul was one of several communities belonging to the senorLo of Huarco, a small curacazgo occupying some 140 square kilometers of the lower Caiiete Valley. Huarco was bordered by three other late prehistoric polities: 1985);

(1) Lunahuana in the upper part of the same valley (Hyslop (2)

Chincha on

the

coast to

the

south

(Morris,

personal

communication; Santillana 1984); and Mala on the coast to the north. Huarco's relations with Lunahuana were friendly (the two senorlos occupied different, complementary environments and openly exchanged products), while its relations with Chincha and Mala were frequently hostile.

I was first drawn to Caiiete by my project co-director, Maria Rostworowski de Diez Canseco, whose study of sixteenth-century Spanish documents had revealed the outlines of the senorios of Huarco and Lunahuana (Rostworowski 1978-1980).

Thanks to surveys by Wallace

(1963), Hyslop (1985), Larrabure y Unanue (1874; [1893] 1935, T.Il),

1

Cerro Azul, Peru

2

Stumer (1971), and Williams and Merino (1974), we already knew some of the late prehispanic settlements of Huarco: (1) Ungara, a fortified hilltop community evidently guarding the takeoff point of a crucial irrigation canal from the Canete River; (2) Canchari and Los Huacones, two sites located in the midst of outstanding irrigable farmland; (3) Cerro del Oro, a huge site famous for its rich Middle Horizon cemeteries; and (4) Cerro Azul, a fishing community on the rocky promontory south of a small bay.

For several reasons, Cerro Azul seemed to be the best place to start. First, there were hints that Cerro Azul was the very site of Huarco from which the senorio drew its name and that among its ruins was the famous "Fortaleza de Huarco" (see below); second, it had been tested by A. L. Kroeber in 1925 (Kroeber 1937), so a bit of its archaeology was known; and third, its specialized fishing orientation tied in well with a broader study of precolumbian fishing in which Rostworowski was currently engaged (Rostworowski 1981).

SIXTEENTH·CENTURY DOCUMENTS AND ETHNOHISTORIC DATA

The senorio of Huarco included the lower part of the Canete Valley, with the archaeological site of Cerro Azul near its northern limit. Much of the ethnohistoric information concerning the senorlo refers to its boundaries, its irrigation canals, and those fields dedicated to supporting particular communities, ethnic groups, deities, and {ortalezas or "forts".

One sixteenth-century chronicler (Cieza de Leon

[1553]

1943,

Cap. LXXIII) described "la Fortaleza de Huarco" as

... built on the high part of a hill and it was the most adorned and handsome fort that there was in the kingdom of Peru, built upon great square slabs, with very well-made

fa~ades,

reception

rooms, and large patios. From the highest part of this royal structure descended a stone stairway that reached the sea.

Around the turn of this century, Larrabure y Unanue ([1893] 1935) visited Cerro Azul and identified it as the site of Cieza de Leon's "Fortress of Huarco". At that time, one could still see traces of high adobe walls protecting the "fortress", as well as a stone "balcony" projecting out over

3

Cerro Azul, Peru

4

the ocean waves, and some traces of a stairway winding 50 meters down the sheer cliff to the sea. Unfortunately, as Larrabure y Unanue correctly noted, the removal of cut stones from this complex was proceeding so rapidly that all but the least accessible stones would be gone one day. Today all that remains are the stubs of defensive walls; the foundations of a few structures (two of which we excavated); some parts of the "stairway to the sea"; and the "projecting balcony" which was photographed and published by Alberto Bueno (1982) before our work began.

During the 1970's, Maria Rostworowski also convinced herself that Cerro Azul was the prehispanic fishing community of Huarco and the site of the fortress of the same name. Her examination of Cieza de Leon ([1550] 1932; [1553] 1943), Diego Molina in Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes (1945, Torno XII, p. 123), Legajo 1632 (Archivo General de Indias, Audiencia de Lima, ano

1557), Lizarraga (1946, pp. 89-90), and other sources

(Rostworowski 1978-1980), combined with multiple visits to Cerro Azul, set the stage for the project and led to our joint decision to excavate there.

Cerro Azul offered us the opportunity to combine archaeological data with the information from ethnohistoric sources in an effort to explore several topics of general interest.

While few ethnohistoric documents refer

specifically to Huarco's fishing practices, data on late prehispanic fishermen are available from other parts of the coast. We must be aware, however, that these ethnohistorically-documented practices mayor may not be similar to what occurred in the lower Canete Valley. Let us look for a moment at some of the highlights of these ethnohistoric sources that deal with prehispanic fishing.

Ethnohistoric Data

5

From ethnohistoric documents we know that fishermen inhabited both large and small coastal communities dispersed along the length of the shore. Some of the most interesting information we have comes from the Chincha Valley, Canete's neighboring valley to the south. According to an

Aviso (Biblioteca del Palacio Real de Madrid, Miscelanea de Ayala-Torno XXII, folios 261-273v; see Rostworowski 1970, Apendice I) the Chincha

senorfo included 30,000 male tribute-payers; among these were 6,000 mercaderes, 12,000 agriculturalists, and 10,000 fishermen. The fishermen that occupied the Chincha coast are described as living along one long street, each entering the sea every day in a balsa with his nets, and each proceeding to his own familiar area to fish without competing with others.

Several sources emphasize that fishermen did not till the land. For example, Lizarraga (1946, Cap. XLVII, p. 90) states that the Chincha fishermen did not have to till the land; using their fish, they could get all the

agricultural

produce

they

needed

through

exchange.

Further,

Lizarraga goes on to state that the agriculturalists did not have to go fishing; with their harvested goods, they could obtain all the fish they wanted. On the north coast of Peru, a local lord stated that he and the Indians of his parcialidad had few lands for cultivation, so they exchanged their fish for plant foods:

... digo que yo y los indios de la dicha parcialidad tenemos

pocas

tierras

para

sembrar

e

sustentarnos e ansy nuestro trato es pescar y

Cerro Azul, Peru

6

vender el pescado (Archivo General de Indias, Justicia 456, folio 1928).

During the hegemony of the Inca, fishermen, unlike farmers, did not have to comply with demands for obligatory labor. Instead, they provided the Inca with fish and crayfish which were placed in storerooms in the highlands (Rostworowski 1977b, p. 173).

In addition to fishing, a number of sources (e.g. Archivo General de la Nacion, Derecho Indigena, Cuaderno 140, folios 20v, 171v) indicate that late prehistoric fishermen cultivated totora (Scirpus) in the swampy or marshy areas on the coast. In such swampy areas, fishermen also caught mullet in nets (Thompson 1967; Rostworowski 1970).

Special roads for the exclusive use of fishermen are also mentioned in different sources (e.g. Archivo General de la Nacion, Juzgado de Agua 3.3.10.78, folio 19, ano 1764). Even a special language is known from documents that report on fishermen of the north coast (Rabinowitz 1980, 1983; Rostworowski 1975; Lizarraga 1946, Cap. XV, p. 40).

Finally, there are other lines of evidence for specialization among fishermen.

Several

indigenous

terms

suggest

that

the

Indians

distinguished between two categories, "he who exchanged or possessed the fish" (Challua camayoc) and "he who went out and caught the fish"

(Chaliua hapic) (as given in Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid, ms. No. 3042, ano 1571, fo1. 225v; Fray Domingo de Santo Tomas [1560J 1951a, 1951b; and local informant at Cerro Azul, 1982). In another document, there may

Ethnohistoric Data

7

be evidence for a distinction between those who navigated the watercraft and those who fished ("tienen el exercicio de la mar; unos navegan y otros son pescadores") (Museo Naval de Madrid, ms. No. 468).

On the basis of such ethnohistoric documentation, it has been inferred by some ethnohistorians that coastal sites such as Cerro Azul functioned as "specialized fishing communities" which exchanged their products with specialized agricultural communities further inland. Among our other goals, we wanted to see if Cerro Azul qualified as one of these "specialized fishing communities"; we also wanted to determine which species of fish had been exploited, how they were caught and processed, and the way such activities were organized. We also wanted to see whether such occupational specialization was as rigid as Spanish documents suggested, and whether it extended to all members of the community. In addition, since Huarco was conquered by the Inca around A.D. 1470, we wanted to see what kind of time depth there might have been to its community specialization.

In other words, was Cerro Azul already a

"specialized fishing community" in Late Intermediate times (A.D. 11001470), or was specialization imposed by the Inca in Late Horizon times (A.D. 1470 to the Spanish Conquest)? Finally, we wanted to see to what extent archaeological data would confirm or contradict the information from ethnohistoric sources.

In this preliminary report, we do not attempt to provide answers to all

these questions.

We

deal

mainly

with

the

Late

Intermediate

archaeological data, not all of which have been fully analyzed at this writing. Since a brief article on the Inca period architecture of Cerro Azul

8

Cerro Azul, Peru

has already appeared (Marcus, Matos Mendieta, and Rostworowski de Diez Canseco 1985), we will not devote as much time to the Late Horizon here. Our expectation is that in the future, when analyses are complete, we will be able to return to the questions posed in the paragraph above and answer them in more detail.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING

Because of the fishing orientation of ancient Huarco, we felt it advisable to begin our project with a study of the environment and marine resources of Cerro Azul. This investigation included zoological studies by Flannery, as well as ethnographic work with present-day fishermen by Marcus and Matos.

Today's fishermen recognize three basic types of coastal habitats, which they refer to as pena, costa, and playa (Figures 1-2).

Pena describes the rocky cliffs which plunge abruptly into the sea; in the Cerro Azul area, these

are composed of the bluish-green, altered

igneous rocks which give the site its name (Stoltman, unpublished studies). These cliffs and the adjacent rocky sea floor provide the substrate for enormous numbers of periwinkles (Littorina) , limpets (Fissurella) , mussels

(Perumytilus, Semimytilus), chitons (Acanthopleura, Enoplochiton), sea snails (Thais), the abalone-like chan que (Concholepas), and the acorn barnacle (Balanus) (Figures 3-4).

Present in an enormous range of sizes, these

molluscs

and

crustaceans attract a whole series of fish which the locals refer to as peces

de pena.

Chief among these are the grunt or sea bream (Anisotremus

scapularis),

followed

in

frequency

by

the

pintadilla

(Cheilodactylus

variegatus) and the scaled blenny (Labrisomus philippii); in addition, some species of drum (Sciaenidae) graze the cliffs with regularity (Figures 5-6).

9

10

Cerro Azul, Peru

Figure 1. Coastal habitats at Cerro Azul. A, the sea cliff or pena zone. B, the gravel beach or costa zone, with fishermen pulling in espinel.

Environmental Setting

11

B

Figure 2. Coastal habitats at Cerro Azul. A, the sandy beach or playa zone. B, Cerro Azul Bay, with Cerros Centinela and Fraile in the background.

12

Cerro Azul, Peru

~4

~

-;;;{[:;

~

Inca tern

Peruvian booby

Guanay cormorant

l --r

~pelican

Sea lions Perumytilus Enoplochiton Fissurella crassa Semimytilus Acanthopleura

Tegula atra Sea urchin

Figure 3. Cross-section of the pena or rocky coast environment, showing vertical zonation of life forms. (Drawing by Kay Clahassey)

13

Environmental Setting

.

.

..-

.

,,-

..~:-.

~

:\

'-'.'

.~.; ....

,

. : ~.. ;.,-

d

f

I

o

I

i

I

1

2

3

.4

5

em

Figure 4. Molluscs from Cerro Azul. a, Concholepas concholepas; b, Fissurella limbata; c, d, two views of Mulinia edulis; e, Semimytilus algosus; f, Donax obesus [=peruvianus].

b

Figure 5. Some of the larger fish whose remains appear in Late Intermediate refuse at Cerro Azul. a, Pacific bonito (Sarda sarda chiliensis); b, left-eye flounder (Paralichthys adsperslls); c, grunt (Anisotremlls scapularis); d, scaled blenny (Labrisomus philippil).

10 em

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Environmental Setting

15

10 em

Figure 6. Some of the smaller fish whose ,remains appear in Late Intermediate refuse at Cerro Azul. a and b are small drums (a is Sciaena deliciosa, b is Paralonchurus peruanus); c, sea catfish (Galeichthys peruvianus); d, Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax); e, 3 anchovies (Engraulis ringens).

Cerro Azul, Peru.

16

Where cliffs are smooth and water calm, today's fishermen can exploit this habitat by rowboat; where cliffs are jagged and the water rough, as off the Cerro Azul lighthouse, grunts and blennies can be caught by hook and line or by circular cast nets (atarraya) thrown by individual fishermen standing on rocky ledges (Figures 7-8). Similar nets were used in prehistoric times (see below).

The sheer cliffs of the pena, with their innumerable small footholds and crevices, also provide rookeries for large colonies of the Peruvian booby (Sula variegata) (Figure 9B) and, in smaller numbers, for the guanay

cormorant (Phalacrocorax bougainvillei) (Figure 9C), the orange-footed cormorant (P. gaimardi) , and the Inca tern (Larosterna inca). Even an occasional pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) can be seen sunning itself on a deserted cliff. However, most of these birds pursue fish in the open water beyond the cliffs, not in the zone of the pena itself.

The pena zone is also characterized by numerous sea caves and small, rocky offshore islands.

The caves provide nurseries for the

Humboldt penguin (Spheniscus humboldti) , which lays its eggs there, and for sea lions (Otaria flavescens) and fur seals (Arctocephalus australis), who raise their pups in the caves.

Sea lions can also be seen sunning

themselves on the small offshore islands near the Cerro Azul lighthouse (Figure 9A) and plunging into the surf after schools of drum.

Costa is the term used by local fishermen to refer to stretches of

cobble and gravel beach, such as those running south along the coast from

Environmental Setting

17

Figure 7. Use of the circular cast net at Cerro Azul. A, present-day fisherman casting his atarraya into the waters off a sea cliff of the pena zone on a day when grunts (Anisotremus scapularis) were numerous. B, portion of cast net found with Late Intermediate burial near Structure G. (Scale in centimeters)

18

Cerro Azul. Peru

" 't.Y}' \\\.

Figure 8. Eighteenth-century Peruvian fishermen using a chinchorro net stretched between two log rafts; the net shown here is similar to the red de cortina in that both nets have floats running along the top edge and a series of weights running along the bottom edge (compare with Figures 44B, 47C). It also appears that a lure, rather than bait, is being used to attract a school of fish to the area of the net. (Redrawn from Martinez de Companon 1936)

Environmental Setting

19

c

Figure 9. Some native wild animals of Cerro Azul. A, a lone sea lion (Otaria flavescens) shares a rocky island with boobies and cormorants; B, rookery of Peruvian boobies (Sula variegata) on Cerro del Fraile; C, guanay cormorant (Phalacrocorax bougainvillei) rests on gravel beach.

Cerro Azul, Peru

20

Cerro Azul. Fishermen do not like to embark or disembark from such rough beaches, but they fish for drum in the surf with long, hand-held, multi-hook trot lines known as espinel (Figure IE). We have found no prehispanic counterpart for the espinel; indeed, we have no evidence for the use of hooks at all.

One of the prize catches of the costa zone is the robalo (Sciaena

starksi), largest of the local Sciaenids, specimens of which may exceed 10 kilograms. Large swarms of boobies can frequently be seen "dive-bombing" the waves off the costa as schools of other drums such as "mismis"

(Menticirrhus ophicephalus) and lorna (Sciaena deliciosa) (Figure 6a) exploit the swarms of small crustaceans which frequent the gravel sea floor. In turn, these smaller species of drum are pursued by the Pacific bonito (Sarda

sarda chiliensis) (Figure 5a), sea lions and fur seals, and long lines of plunging Delphinids.

Finally, local fishermen use the term playa to refer to a coastline of sandy beach, such as that encircling Cerro Azul Bay and stretching away to the north (Figure 2A). Sandy beach provides a completely different substrate, replete with polychaete worms, euphausiids, and coquina clams

(Donax obesus [= peruvianusJ) which may periodically reach densities of thousands per square meter.

Larger clams (Mulinia edulis, Mesodesma

donacium) occur in the prehispanic refuse and may once have been part of the Cerro Azul beach community, but no longer seem to be present (Figure 4) •

Environmental Setting

21

Among the most important inhabitants of the playa are two distinctive crustaceans: the mole crab Emerita analoga and the burrowing shrimp Callianassa islagrande. Both are subject to great oscillations in population, but may be present by the tens of thousands at cyclical peaks. Emerita was eaten in precolumbian times, and both crustaceans are used as fish bait today; but their importance in attracting fish is probably greater than any direct contribution they could have made to the human diet.

The corvina (Sciaena gilberti) , perhaps the drum most sought by today's Peruvian restaurants, thrives on Emerita and Callianassa; and when these crustaceans are at their peak, Cerro Azul Bay swarms with lorna, mismis, ayanque (Cynoscion analis), or other Sciaenids.

Other

important fish of the playa zone are the left-eye flounder Paralichthys

adspersus (Figure 5b), and a whole series of skates, rays, and small sharks (Mustelus spp.), many of which are caught in nets called redes de cortina stretched between two fishermen. On deserted stretches of sandy beaches, one can still see eagle rays (Myliobatis) hovering in the gentle current of water produced by the siphons of submerged molluscs, then literally scouring away the sand with powerful strokes of their mantle until the prey is exposed.

The bird life of the playa, as might be expected, is different as well: gulls, terns, and sandpipers predominate, with two of the most distinctive species being the Peruvian gull (Larus belcheri) and the gray gull or garuma

(Larus modestus), which feeds heavily on Emerita.

Cerro Azul, Peru

22

A specialized biotope within the playa zone is created where coastal rivers enter the ocean. Such river mouths create wide areas of mudflats and muddy ocean bottom where salinity is reduced and organic detritus is high, and these are conditions especially preferred by the local mullets spp.)

(Mugil

and

sea

catfish

(Galeichthys

peruvianus)

(Figure

6c).

Occasionally, such river mouth conditions may be simulated where major irrigation canals of longstanding use come down to the beach, or where coastal villages such as Cerro Azul and Herbay Bajo allow their sewers to empty into the sea.

Thus, the three environmental zones recognized by Cerro Azul fishermen have distinct faunal communities. However, as Sumich (1976, p. 102) reminds us, neither can really be considered in isolation; neither rocky shores nor sandy beaches can be considered complete ecosystems, for one is the erosion product of the other, and they have complementary development of grazing and detritus food chains.

Within rocky shore

communities such as the pena, trophic relations show well-developed grazing food chains, but the erosional nature of the cliffs prevents detritus accumulation.

Beaches and mudflats are the depositional features, and

display well-developed detritus food chains as products wash there from the cliffs. Moreover, at Cerro Azul it is clear there is a dynamic instability in the relationship between playa and costa:

large areas of the bay shore

which were sandy beach in 1981 had become gravel beach by 1985, and may one day in the future return to sandy beach as currents and conditions change.

Environmental Setting

23

Because the bay (Figure 2B) is a settling pool for detritus it is also a haven for purple crabs (Platyxanthus orbignyi) and swimming crabs

(Callinectes arcuatus); it also provides calm water, good boat docking, and great fishing. Elderly fishermen recall huge schools of anchovy (Engraulis

ringens) and Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) (Figure 6d-e) which once entered the bay and came so close to the beach that men standing waist deep in water could collect them in baskets or nets. And once, in the 1970's, the bay was reportedly so full of Pacific jack mackerel (Trachurus

symmetricus) that for a period of 10 days people stopped selling it and simply gave it away to relatives. Such stories serve to remind us what the resources of the Peruvian coast would be today had the anchovy-one of the mainstays near the base of the food chain-not been so overfished in the 1950's and 1960's.

While we obviously wanted to learn things from the modern environment which would help us interpret the past, we were not naive enough to think that the two environments were identical. Among other things, we knew that overfishing for anchovy and sardine during the heyday of fishmeal production had led to what del Solar (1982) has called a "desertification of the sea".

THE SITE OF CERRO AZUL

While the area around the modern village of Cerro Azul features a number of archaeological mounds, the most impressive occur to the south of the bay. To their northwest lies an area of sea cliffs composed of two separate peaks: Cerro del Fraile, which projects into the bay, and Cerro Centinela, which supports a modern lighthouse. To the east rises a much larger peak, Cerro Camacho, which is covered with artificial terraces almost to its 86-meter summit. The protected saddle between these peaks accommodates a 200 meter by 400 meter complex of structures contoured to spurs and low rises in the natural terrain (Figure 10).

While there is some use of adobe, the dominant architectural technique in this complex is tapia, the construction of thick walls of poured mud blocks which seem to have dried in place between frames or molds. This kind of construction is typical of the Late Intermediat.e period (A.D. 1100-1470) on the south-central coast of Peru (Stumer 1971; Santillana 1984), and a placement in that time range is supported by the substantial assemblage of Late Intermediate pottery and figurines we found to be associated with the site (see Figures 11-22).

Kroeber assigned letters to the ten most monumental buildings, eight of which (A through H) flank two sides of an irregular Central Plaza. Each of these major buildings is surrounded by numerous minor structures, which Kroeber simply designated "small ruins". Numerous standing walls identify the major buildings as multiroom structures, although Kroeber was

25

26

Cerro Azul, Peru

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CERRO AZUL Canate, Peru

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Figure 10. Contour map of the ruins of Cerro Azul, showing Structures A.J of Kroeber and Structures 1, 3, and 9 of the University of Michigan project. Elevations in meters above sea level. (Cartography by Charles M. Hastings, drafted by Kay Clahassey)

Figure 11. Pingiiino Buff ware jar, painted in white, black, and red, and with corncob-shaped lugs. Found in a deposit of crushed vessels on a floor (Feature 5, Structure D). (Scale in centimeters)

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Cerro Azul, Peru

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Figure 12. Examples of Pingiiino Buff ware globular jars with wide mouth and strap handle. b shows the outside of a sherd painted in black and white from Feature 5, Structure D, while a shows the inside of the rim of the same sherd, painted in black, white, and red. c, fragment frOln Feature 4, Structure D, painted in black, white, and red on the outside.

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Figure 13. Pingiiino Buff ware sherds with motifs occurring early in the Late Intermediate occupation at Cerro Azul. a, b, bowls with red wash and designs painted in black and yellow, and c, bowl with red wash and design painted in black and iridescent purple, all redeposited in Structure 4, a burial cist. d-e, jar sherds with "lifesaver" motif in cream-on-black, between Floors 1 and 2, Room 6, Structure D; {, jar body sherd with "lifesaver" motif in yellow-on-red (above) and cream-on-purple (below), redeposited in Structure 5, a burial cist. The sherds redeposited in the burial cists are probably from the midden into which the cists were excavated.

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Figure 14. Miscellaneous sherds of Pingiiino Buff ware from Late Intermediate contexts. a, b, body shcrds from jars painted in white and black on natural (a is from between Floors 1 and 2, Room 6, Structure D; b is from Feature 20, Structure 9). c,d, fraglnents of bowl with eccentric rim, painted on the interior in black and white over red slip, Feature 20, Structure 9.

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The Site of Cerro Azul

31

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"Figure 15. Late Intermediate vessels with cream slip and "school of fish" motif painted in black, all from Structure 9. a, from Room 5; b, from surface of west side; c, from Room 6. In a, the cream slip is on Trambollo Burnished Brown ware; in band c, it is on Pingiiino Buff ware.

32

Cerro Azul, Peru

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Figure 16. Miscellaneous Pingiiino Buff ware sherds from Late Intermediate contexts at Cerro Azul. a, b, fragments of globular jars with wide mouth, painted in white and black on shoulder and rim, Feature 6, Structure D; c, neck of jar or amphora with human face modeled and painted in white, red, and black, Room 3, Structure D.

The Site of Cerro Azul

33

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Figure 17. Local imitation of Inca aryballo made on Pingiiino Buff ware, with modeled lug and white, black, and red painting. Associated with a Late Horizon kincha house built on Structure D after its abandonment.

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Figure 18. Examples of Late Intermediate monochrome amphorae from burials at Cerro Azul. a, Camacho Black amphora, Vessell of Burial 3; b, Camacho Black amphora, Burial 4, below Individuals la and lb; c, Camacho Reddish-Brown amphora from burial disturbed by looters. (Scale in centimeters)

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The Site of Cerro Azul

35

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Figure 19. Vessels from Late Intermediate burials at Cerro Azul. a, b, two "iews of Camacho Black amphora with face modeled on neck, Vessel 2 of Burial 8; c, Camacho Reddish-Brown olia, Vessel 1, Individual 2, Burial 7. (Scale in centimeters)

Cerro Azul, Peru

36

a

b

Figure 20. Small vessels from Late Intermediate burials at Cerro Azul. a, miniature drum-shaped vessel in highly burnished variant of Camacho Black, Vessel 5 of Burial 1; b, miniature Camacho Reddish-Brown olla with cambered rim, Vessel 3 of Structure 5, a burial cist; c, double vessel in highly burnished variant of Camacho Black, Burial 4, Vessel 2, from below Individuals 1 and 2. (Scales in centimeters)

Figure 21. Late Intermediate figurines from Cerro Azul. a, figurine dressed in plain-weave cloth, with necklace and facial paint, found inside woolen bag belonging to Individual 3 of Burial 4; b, c, broken figurines from Room 3, Structure D. (Scales in centinleters)

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Cerro Azul, Peru

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Figure 22. Late Intermediate figurines from Cerro Azul. a, small figurine from northwest corner of Struc~ure 5, a burial cist; b, small figurine from CoHea _I, Structure D; c, figurine head with traces of facial paint, northwest corner of Structure 5; d, small dressed figurine from Collca 1, Structure D. (Scale in centimeters)

The Site of Cerro Azul

39

misled by their maSSIve supporting platforms into regarding them as "pyramids" (Kroeber 1937, p. 244).

Kroeber correctly described the

terraces on Cerro Camacho as containing hundreds of burials, and spent most of his brief stay at the site excavating some of these, assigning the associated pottery to a "Late Caiiete culture" which immediately preceded the arrival of the Inca on the central and south coast. Because of the simplicity of the burial pottery he found, Kroeber (1937, p. 245) regarded Cerro Azul as a "poor" community when compared with Cerro del Oro-a conclusion he would not have drawn had he excavated one of the major buildings.

STRUCTURED

In 1984 we were able to excavate all of Kroeber's Structure D, a massive

tapia and adobe compound built on an artificial platform

overlooking the southwest corner of the Central Plaza (Figures 23-24). Structure D covered 1640 square meters, and was divided into a series of large walled patios or canchones, each associated with a set of smaller rooms and architectural features. Its outer walls (already a meter thick) were reinforced by meter after meter of tapia buttresses added at different stages in the building's history, and there were signs that rooms had been repaired, doorways closed, and traffic patterns changed during the course of occupation, sometimes in response to apparent earthquake damage (Figures 25-26).

While Structure D could be described as an "elite residential

compound", a great deal of its floor space consisted of storage facilities and controlled-access work areas.

Entry into the compound was through the Southwest Canchon, a large patio (9.5 by 10.3 meters) bordered by a series of benches and storage rooms. This patio was unique in having a scatter of llama dung on its floor, suggesting that llama trains entered here to load and unload burdens, but did not penetrate further into the interior of the building. On the low bench forming the northern border of the patio was a well-made

puiiuna pata or llamkana pata (sleeping or working platform), perhaps assigned to the person overseeing activities in the Southwest Canch6n (Figures 27-28).

41

Figure 23. Excavation in progress on Structure D, Cerro Azu1. In the right foreground appeal'S Room 8, excavated to the level at which the fine, clean sand fill appeared (compare with Figure 32A). Behind it can be seen the excavated Southwest Canch6n, with Feature 6 - an important midden - left as a rectangular pedestal to be fine-screened later that week.

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Cerro Azul, Peru

Figure 25. Apparent earthquake damage at Cerro Azul. The structural crack running from top to bottom of the photograph extended through three rooms, splitting both the doorstep in the foreground and the tapia shelf in the background, and dropping the south half of the shelf 30-40 centimeters below the north half (arrow points north).

Structure D

45

Figure 26. Examples of architectural modifications which changed traffic patterns in Structure D. A, workman squats near stairway leading up to the East Platform, bordering the Southwest Canch6n; in the background, at a, is a blocked corridor that formerly led to Room 7. B, workman squats to right of blocked doorway that formerly led from the Southwest Canch6n to Room 11. Signs of possible earthquake damage can be seen in both photographs.

46

Cerro Azul, Peru

Figure 27. Large tapia platform running along the northern border of the Southwest Canchon. The workman kneels near a smaller, well-made puiiuna pata (sleeping platform) or llamkana pata (working platform), possibly used by the individual who supervised the movement of products into and out of the Southwest Canchon.

Structure D

47

Figure 28. Closer view of the pata shown in Figure 27. The arrow points north, and is marked in both inches (top) and centimeters (bottom).

Cerro Azul, Peru

48

From this patio the South Corridor, a narrow alleyway of obviously limited access, followed an L-shaped 15-meter route into the interior of the bUilding. Here it opened into "Room 2", an 8.8 by 15.5 meter interior patio off which the most "private" rooms in the compound opened. The bestmade of these was Room 1, which may originally have been the sleeping room of the highest-ranking resident; it had a doorway with two stairs or steps, a chest-high shelf or bench along one wall, and a special pattern of construction involving adobes of two different colors (Figure 29A).

Unfortunately, during the course of occupation this room had been rent by an enormous structural crack, presumably as the result of an earthquake, and had to be abandoned (Figure 25). A similar accident had affected Room 3, an adjacent and probably related unit, which was later converted to storage. It appeared that following the damage to Rooms 1 and 3, two nearby rooms (5 and 6) were converted from storage to residential areas by the installation of sleeping benches. These latter rooms were then connected to the "Room 2" patio through the construction of an access ramp, which maintained the pattern of limited access required of elite sleeping quarters.

To the north of the "Room 2" patio lay the Northeast Canch6n, larger (20.3 x 17.5 meters) and less accessible than the Southwest Canch6n, but just as clearly an area for open-air work. On the basis of materials preserved on the floor and in an associated storage bin, CoHca 1 (Figure 29B), at least two activities can be suggested for the Northeast Canch6n.

First, the high number of stored loom parts and discarded

spindles, spindle whorls, and yarn balls indicated that weaving was carried

Figure 29. Some views of Structure D, Cerro Azul. A, Room 1, a well-made residential unit (arrow points north). B, CoHca 1, a storage bin associated with the Northeast Canchon, after excavation. ~

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Figure 67. Views of Room 9, Structure 1, Cerro Azul. A, workmen stand in front of Room 9 with its 7 trapezoidal niches (the feature on the right is not a stairway, but a wall robbed of adobes during the Colonial era). Above and behind Room 9 is Room 7 with its stairway of 3 steps. B, close-up of trapezoidal niche (height, 74 centimeters).

100

Cerro Azul, Peru

Structure 1 is characterized by relatively small rooms constructed from medium-sized adobes (approximately 45 x 25 x 16 centimeters), which contrast with the huge tapia walls we noted for Structure D. The location of Structure 1 on a high, previously-unoccupied promontory overlooking the sea also contrasts with the Late Intermediate preference for locating huge

tapia compounds in the protected saddle below the high promontories.

On the other hand, Structure 1 also incorporates some features we observed earlier in Structure D: narrow corridors, ramps, stairways, and sleeping or storage platforms.

The control of traffic (for occupants and

visitors alike) and the storage of commodities were two concerns reflected in structures of both Late Intermediate and Late Horizon date in the Caiiete Valley. These two concerns seem to have a long history in the Andes and are vital to our understanding of the operation of complex societies there.

STRUCTURE 3

In 1983 we excavated one other Late Horizon building, the one we have called Structure 3 (Figure 68). While the fill was of earth, this twotiered oval platform was dressed on the outside with blocks of sillar or volcanic tuff, fitted so tightly together that a razor blade could not be inserted between them (Figure 69). This form of stone masonry conforms to Inca Imperial style and identifies the structure as one of those built after the Inca Conquest of Huarco.

Today the structure measures thirty meters in length, ten to thirteen meters in width, and over four and a half meters in height; it was spectacularly perched on the very edge of the sea cliff of Cerro Centinela, half on land and half projecting over the sea cliff like a balcony. The building is no longer impressive because hundreds of its facing stones have been removed over the last four centuries to build churches and houses, but in the sixteenth century it must have been one of the more striking works of stone masonry on the coast. Not only would its construction have been extremely dangerous for the workers themselves, but the sillar stones used are also of a raw material not available near Cerro Azul.

Of all the other sillar structures of which we are aware, Structure 3 is most reminiscent of the stone-faced oval structure at Ingapirca in Ecuador (Bedoya 1974, p. 110; Gasparini and Margolies 1980, pp. 296300), which is believed to have been a ceremonial platform dedicated to the sun.

101

Eroded upper stage (red clay & stone fill)

o I

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meters

2

4

5

Figure 68. Ground plan of Structure 3, an oval Late Horizon platform faced with sillar stone, at Cerro Azul. Its contour intervals represent meters above bedrock, not above sea level.

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Figure 69. Inca-style masonry at Cerro Azul. A, rows of sillar stones still preserved around the base of Structure 3 [arrow points north and is marked in both inches (L) and centimeters (R)). B, sillar "balcony" projecting out from sea cliff of Cerro Centinela (photograph courtesy of Alberto Bueno).

THE "FORTRESS OF HUARCO"

The deliberate destruction carried out over the last four centuries makes it difficult to match any of the surviving Late Horizon structures at Cerro Azul with the glowing accounts in the ethnohistoric documents. Tentatively, however, our feeling is that the so-called "Fortress of Huarco" included the entire area between the Pacific Ocean and the eastern (or inland-facing) slopes of Cerro Camacho. These eastern slopes still exhibit traces of massive defensive walls which would have protected the entire promontory on which the site we excavated occurs,; Structures 1 and 3 are apparently Late Horizon public buildings within this fortified area. We will have more to say about this in our final site report.

105

CONCLUSIONS

Cerro Azul

was one of several important Late

Intermediate

communities within the senorio of Huarco. The men fished, using circular cast nets and elongated curtain nets to procure a number of species ranging in size from anchovies to small sharks; they also used slings and bolas for hunting mammals and sea birds. The women wove textiles of cotton (which seems to have been present locally in large amounts) and camelid wool (which seems to have been scarcer, and presumably was supplied from elsewhere).

The community seems to have invested a considerable effort in producing a surplus of dried fish beyond its needs.

These dried fish,

primarily anchovies and sardines, were packed by the thousands into sandfilled storage rooms, presumably to be exported to the rest of the senorio of Huarco and perhaps to a wider region as well.

One of our conclusions is that this organization of fishing was initiated and directed from the top down-a situation not always mentioned by Colonial documents, which usually refer only to "fishermen". We have found no evidence to suggest that the locality we excavated had been occupied prior to A.D. 1100; its founding apparently had to await the rise of the senorio de H uarco.

It was founded from the outset by an

administrative elite who directed the construction of eight huge tapia compounds and a much larger number of smaller storage complexes, and who presumably regulated the activities of hundreds of fishermen. Cerro

107

108

Cerro Azul, Peru

Azul probably can be understood best in the context of a small coastal state under whose aegis an interdependent network of fishing, farming, and craft communities could be administered.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Acosta, Fray Jose de 1940 Historia Natural), Moral de las Indias. [1550) Economica, Mexico.

Fondo de Cultura

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