mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== Emergence of Civilizations / Anthro 341: Class 18 The Emergence of Civilization in the Andes: Late Preceramic Period ã Copyright Bruce Owen 2002 * The rise of complex societies in the New World was 100% independent from the Old World * The only generally accepted evidence of transatlantic contact is a small Viking settlement on the East coast of Canada * far too late to have had any effect on the rise of New World civilizations Despite many attempts to show transpacific contacts (such as between Japan and the New World) outside of the Arctic, none has ever stood up to scrutiny Even so, it is not impossible that at some point there was some small-scale contact across the Atlantic or Pacific that we have not detected * maybe a Roman ship got blown to Brazil, or some Japanese fishermen drifted to Mexico * but so far there is absolutely no convincing trace of such an event * if it ever happened, it evidently had no significant effect on the local cultures * that would not be surprising: imagine that a bunch of ragged Egyptian or Japanese sailors who couldn't speak the local language landed in an inhabited region, probably in a sorry state from an unexpectedly long journey, needing food, water, and supplies * they probably would not have brought along potters, metallurgists, or other people with useful skills; probably none would have been literate * they probably would not have more than a few random items on board to trade * they certainly would not have the authority to get people to build monuments, the know-how to preach their religion, etc. * so even if such a contact occurred, odds are that it would have had little or no impact So why does it matter that the New World is so separate from the Old? * Because recognizable civilizations emerged in the New World, too * This shows that humans did similar things in creating "civilization" entirely independently * There may be some regularities to this process * Maybe something universal about humans * or something universal about living in large groups Complex societies appeared a little later in the New World than in the Old World * The first monumental architecture in the New World was built in Peru around 3000 BC * but the society surrounding it was apparently not very complex yet * without cities or much status variation * and most of the people in the New World did not start to build large structures or develop complex social organization until at least 1000 years later, after 2000 BC Compare this timing to: * Late Uruk period 3400-3100 BC (400 years earlier) * with writing and a long history of monumental architecture already Egyptian unification around 3050 (just barely earlier) * but again, with a long history of high-status leaders, military conquests, craft specialization, a few cities, etc. Second half of Early Indus period, say 3000 BC (about the same time) * with walled cities, long-distance trade, craft specialists, etc. China: depends on what you compare to, but- * big Hongshan burial mound complex around 3500 BC (500 years earlier) * rammed-earth walls, large towns, "palaces" by early Lungshan Horizon around 2500 BC (500 years after the first New World monumental architecture, but 800 years before any New World towns even remotely comparable in scale) * Shang Dynasty huge cities, royalty, complex economy and society by 1700 BC, roughly contemporary with the earliest complex societies of the New World, which were much smaller in scale and probably simpler in organization (or maybe not...?) So, New World civilizations got rolling a little later. Why? * people entered the New World later (crossed the Bering strait in the late Pleistocene, maybe 15,000 to 17,000 years ago) * so it took longer before there were enough people around? local climate and geography were just slightly less favorable? coincidence? (someplace had to be first) on the other hand, the New World civilizations were not that much later (700 to 2000 years) * compared to 10,000 years since the end of the Ice Age * or about 100,000 years of modern Homo sapiens * we could see this as being remarkably close to simultaneous Notes on the map of the Andes in the Reader * some sites are listed as "optional". You are not responsible for these, and they will not appear on the exam. They are shown because you may have heard of them, and I may mention them in passing. * A number of places are too close together to separate at this scale, and are shown as a single dot. On a test, marking that spot would be a sufficient answer for any of the places indicated. Setting * A band of high, rough Andes mountains runs right along the west coast of South America * the rest of the continent to the east of the Andes is low, gentle terrain sloping very gradually through the Amazonian forest to the Atlantic narrow coastal strip * the coast is extremely dry desert * often cloudy, even foggy, but extremely little actual rain The coastal desert is cut by many short, steep, narrow river valleys * "little Niles" * most areas require canals to farm, but the narrow, relatively steep valleys can be irrigated with short canals * except for the latest times we consider (late Moche), the canals they built were within the means of family groups or villages some valleys flare out near the coast, making a wider area of farmland at their mouth the largest, richest valleys are to the north, while to the south the valleys get narrower and narrower, with less and less farmland most of the valleys are separated from each other by desert, more than a day's walk * although if one travels along the coastline, there are occasional springs that often had small, isolated groups of people living around them the valleys are natural units, partially (not fully) isolated from each other * each had its own varying conditions and history * but for our purposes here, we will often lump many of them together western slopes of the Andes * dry, very steep, barren to scrubby * cut by the upper parts of the coastal valleys * agriculture was possible along the valleys using simple canal systems the high, wide crest of the Andes * a broad band of mountains, valleys, and high plateaus * the high valleys, especially the "intermontaine" valleys that run parallel to the spine of the Andes, contain good farmland * even the floors of these valleys are high (2,800-3,500 meters; 9,000 - 12,000 feet) * some areas allow rainfall agriculture, others require canal irrigation for reliable yields * but again, most of the canals in the periods we will talk about would have required no more than a village or two to build eastern side slopes steeply and very roughly down towards the edge of the jungle * these eastern slopes are where the famous Inka site of Machu Picchu is The Andes are extremely ecologically and culturally varied * we will look mostly at two regions: the north-central coast and the north-central highlands * civilization also emerged in the southern highlands and the south coast * this is the area where I work, but I focus mostly on later periods * less is known about the origins of the early complex societies in the south, so we'll skip them in this class Maritime foundations of civilization hypothesis * In addition to the narrow strips of green river valleys, the coast offers some of the richest sea resources in the world * fish (from the shore and from boats) * shellfish * These were exploited very early (long before agriculture), and were extremely productive * Mike Moseley has suggested that it was the marine resources, not agriculture, that provided the economic basis for early civilization on the coast * we now know that the earliest complex societies used a mix of sea and land resources, but this is still different from any of our other examples. * How important is this difference? * differences in requirements for infrastructure * canals require lots of labor, coordination * boats, nets, etc. may require wealth to build and a small group to man, but less than a canal system differences in importance of coordination and organization * fishers and shellfish gatherers don't need to coordinate their actions much differences in possibility for control? * canals and fields are easily controlled; shorelines and seas are not in a mixed adaptation, using both seafood and inland plants, there may have been interactions between marine specialists living on the coast and gathering or farming specialists living up the river valleys from a very early time * this exchange of large quantities of staple foods between specialized groups living in different places may have been important to the appearance of complex social organization so maybe the factors that led to complex society were different than in other regions or maybe this tells us that the source of food and economic exchange are simply not the key factors for the emergence of civilization... Early occupation of the Andes * Early hunters and gatherers came across the Bering Strait late in the Pleistocene * and spread south through North America and into the Andes by at least 12,000 BC Preceramic period * Agriculture was developed and adopted extremely gradually, with different preferred crops and different timing in different ecological zones * beans and hot chili peppers were collected more intensively, possibly began to be domesticated, around 9000 BC, maybe even a little earlier (Guitarrero Cave) * quinoa (a grain), squash, peanuts in the north by around 7000 BC * maybe maize (corn) by 7000 BC in Ecuador, but not much * camelids (llamas, alpacas) domesticated maybe by 6500 BC * potatoes, coca maybe by 5000 BC * a little maize in various places in Peru by 4500 BC * cotton maybe around 3500 BC larger, partially sedentary populations with only minor agriculture some may have farmed small plots or encouraged wild plants in order to supplement hunted, gathered, and fished foods many probably made regular seasonal rounds, rather than being fully sedentary Late Preceramic (also called "Cotton Preceramic") roughly 3000-2000 BC * no ceramics, no metals, no carved stonework known * Same time as: * Jemdet Nasr, Early Dynastic, Agade in Mespotamia * Early Dynastic, Old Kingdom, 1st Intermediate in Egypt * Long before the Olmecs or Zapotecs started building ceremonial architecture in Mesoamerica (Olmecs: 1400 BC, Zapotecs: 1000 BC at earliest, 500 BC for Monte Albán) Coastal sites * Huaca Prieta * Often said to represent a "typical" late preceramic village on the north coast * actually, a relatively large one, occupied for a relatively long period of time occupied for many centuries, perhaps exceeding 1000 years Built up a mound * not mud brick, as in Mesopotamia, but shell, ash, plant material from decomposing abandoned houses, etc. * Name means "Black mound", describing the soil, rich in charcoal from cooking fires subsistence: * mostly fish (net-fishing from simple boats) and shellfish * but also collected beans, squash, achira (an edible root), chili peppers, and wild fruits * in other sites, evidence for eating kelp leaves: the floats and holdfasts are found in midden, but not the edible leaves. i.e. fishers and foragers, but did not farm much or at all also gathered "industrial" plants: gourds, plants for fiber mats, fibers for nets, etc. simple technology and crafts * hand-knotted textiles, extremely labor intensive * example: pyroengraved gourd container probably comparable to Native Americans along the California coast and San Francisco bay Aspero * But perhaps eight or ten sites were different; Aspero is an example of these * located very close to the coast * Aspero featured 9 to 11 flat-topped mounds ("huacas") * made of rock and soil piled over or against hills; some with unworked stone facing * "Huaca" means a sacred place, usually an artificial platform mound, but sometimes a peak, a special rock outcrop, etc. Huaca de los Sacrificios * earliest radiocarbon date about 2900 BC, first construction probably up to 200 years older (3100 BC?) * this was some 200 to 400 years before the first Egyptian pyramid (Djoser's, 2686 BC) * large main courtyard with smaller rooms around it * a fire pit in the middle of the courtyard, only about 50 cm across, was replastered several times, suggesting repeated fairly small fires: burnt offerings? * named for two burials in the floor of one of the smaller rooms * An adult with only a gourd and probably some textiles * A small infant with a cap covered by 500 beads of shell, seeds, and clay; a gourd bowl, basket, reed mat, several large cotton textiles, and a small carved grinding stone with signs of red pigment on the grinding surface * not necessarily sacrifices, but hints of some individuals or families of greater importance Huaca de los Idolos * earliest radiocarbon date about 3050 BC, probably started a few centuries earlier (3200 BC??) * on a platform 10 m high (32 feet), 30 X 40 m base (about 100 X 130 feet) * top covered by rooms with walls of angular rock in mud mortar * interiors plastered and painted red and yellow * stairway up the front to a central entrance * central room divided by a wall with "clapboard" pattern molded on the outer surface, with T-shaped doorway * next to it, entered by a separate system of hallways, was a room with a central niche opposite the entryway, with a bench or altar built up to the level of the base of the niche * the "Idolos" are at least 13 intentionally broken figurines found in one of the niches (carefully filled with sand for a later reconstruction) * 11 are female, 4 possibly pregnant * some have flat-topped hats; others have bead necklaces; wear thigh-length skirts other offerings include yarn "god's eyes", and a colorful "feather arrangement" the mounds had a modest town around them (15 hectares, 3 times the SSU main quad) * maybe enough people to have built the huacas over a long period of time Caral * evidence that it dates to this period was just announced last year - you may have seen it in the papers or on the news * generally similar to Aspero, but bigger * 14 miles inland from Aspero, in the same valley * slightly later: mounds built 2600 to 2000 BC * 6 large platform mounds with rooms on top * largest is about 140 x 150 meters at the base (450 x 500 feet), and about 20 meters tall (60 feet) * much larger than Aspero mounds * built of bagged stone fill, called "shicra" * dates were run on the net bag fibers, so they are pretty definite as at Aspero, there was some settlement around the mounds * several areas of mud-daubed cane houses, considered to be low-status dwellings * several areas of adobe-walled rooms, considered to be middle-status dwellings * one area of stone and adobe walled rooms on low mounds, considered to be high-status dwellings * but note: the high-status residences are farthest from the monumental mounds * lower-status houses are closer to the mounds * opposite of the Mesopotamian pattern the excavators guess that the population was in the thousands, and call this urban - a city * they may be overstating the case a bit inland location pretty much requires that the people practiced irrigation agriculture * evidence of beans, squash, guava, and cotton (no maize yet) * but lots of fish bone and shell were also found * two possible explanations: * Caral people regularly traveled 14 miles to the coast, or had family members who spent time at the coast * large-scale exchange of food with coastal people, perhaps those living at Aspero and/or similar sites overall impression: * monumental architecture implies mobilization of lots of labor, which usually implies leadership and status differences * but were the mounds built all at once, or did they grow through many repeated, more modest rebuildings that required less impressive labor control? ceremonial architecture (and paraphernalia found at Aspero) suggests ritual specialists differences in residential architecture imply differences in status if there was exchange of staple foods with coastal people, that would suggest a fairly complex economy but probably not really "urban" in density or scale El Paraiso * a bit different from the sites similar to Aspero * dates to the very end of the coastal preceramic and into the next period; earliest date 2000 BC (a bit later than Aspero) * 58 ha complex * mounds up to three stories high * irregular plan suggests accumulation over a long time * restored platform is 8 m (26 feet) high * central court with red clay floor, red painted walls, and four 1-meter diameter fire pits around a sunken central area * total over 100,000 tons of rock fill * estimated 2 million person-days to construct (about 5,500 person-years) * bagged fill (shicra) construction * the number of people who lived there or nearby is debated * relatively little evidence of residence, but some burned midden layers suggest to some investigators that there were many people there * if the population there was low, El Paraiso would have had to draw labor from more distant settlements (unlike Aspero) * this might indicate cooperation between multiple settlements, aimed at building and maintaining a shared ritual site * this cooperation might have encouraged more complex social arrangements, opportunities for status differences, pooled resources sufficient to support ritual specialists, etc. Generalities of the coastal Late Preceramic * subsistence * mostly fishing and shellfish * sea birds, sea mammals * some wild plants * some cultivated plants, but not much * on the coast, cotton and gourds became important first: industrial, not food plants! * net fishing requires large amounts of cotton (wool does not stand up well to sea water) sweet potatoes, manioc, achira, only traces of maize settlement * small, uniform hamlets, few larger settlements or centers * nothing approaching a city (unless maybe at Caral) all together, they comprise relatively large populations within restricted areas of valleys * i.e. plenty of labor in richer valleys, it just wasn't concentrated in large settlements * maybe made possible by rich marine resources * Moseley suggests that the marine resources allowed for the social surplus that was needed to built the big monuments without having a neolithic revolution (farming) * now it seems clear that large populations depended on both marine resources (for protein) and farmed beans, squash, maybe other crops (for carbohydrates) * either in a mixed productive system, or * linked in an exchange system of villages that were at least semi-specialized some ceremonial sites had settlement around them, others maybe did not * some estimated between 1000 and 3000 people - maybe enough to build the monuments * others, if not all, probably had to bring together people from multiple settlements for labor * this centralized activity to build ceremonial monuments might be a first step towards organized society and "civilization" irrigation works * no big ones, but definite small-scale irrigation * But these were NOT cases of huge capital investments * And early Spanish records show that much later, extensive canal systems were managed by local groups without an overarching authority warfare * apparently not much * sites not in defensible locations, no site walls * but, at site of Asia: * Asia is a central coast site, nothing to do with China! * 8 trophy heads (severed human heads, often with a carrying cord, kept for show or ritual purposes - not "trophies" in the common sense!) * wooden clubs with shark teeth * maybe this site or valley were exceptions to the general preceramic pattern stratification * few goods that could not be produced by any household * that is, little to no specialized production no markedly elite burials, although some were definitely richer than others * at site of Asia, 28 burials * most had 2 to 4 textiles * a few had more * one had 12, plus various gourds, bone tools, wooden tubes, a comb, a sling, etc. at various sites, minor differences in grave goods were mostly by sex: males tended to be buried with more stuff monumental architecture * big labor mobilization without cities, clear elites, or state organization * bagged fill (bag included) may represent some way of keeping track of work provided to the project * function of monumental architecture: * no significant storage features or craft workshops * i.e. no obvious economic function (unlike Mesopotamia, maybe Indus) not residential (unlike Mesopotamia, China, Indus) not mainly mortuary (unlike Egypt, China in Late Regional Neolithic) mainly used for ritual (like Olmec and Maya) how could such monuments be possible without: * much agriculture? * notable social stratification that would suggest leaders (or maybe there were some at Caral?) * concentration and redistribution of surplus? * cities, warfare, craft specialization...?? a possible alternative to stratification: "cargo" system * "cargo" = "responsibility" or "task" assigned to someone * rotating capable people through offices of leadership * this is a way to coordinate group activities (like building monuments) without establishing a permanent status hierarchy * although people who have successfully completed numerous cargos become generally more respected and important suggested because it is still in common use in the Andes and Central America can we project this 4000+ years into the past? Not for sure, but we can at least suggest the possibility is this civilization? Late Preceramic (3100-2000 BC) in the highlands * Meanwhile, a completely different tradition developed in the highlands, but we don't have time to go into it much * Ceremonial centers apparently without any people living at them * ceremonial centers in the highlands were accumulations of separate, single ceremonial rooms built and rebuilt near each other, rather than one large complex * each with a ventilated fire pit * probably each room was built and used by a separate family or village group people would come to these sites for a brief stay to build or fix up their ritual room and do their ceremonies in them, then go back to normal life in small, dispersed settlements * probably rain-fed agriculture, possibly small canals * probably supplemented by gathering and hunting Kotosh 2500 - 800 BC La Galgada 2820-1200 BC * fire pits contained burnt plant offerings, including chili peppers (!) These traditions began in the Late Preceramic but continued on in the highlands, with some changes, through the following Initial Period.