2 - A sample of ancient Andean architecture: a critical description

Summary

We are just as amazed by the vast number of them …

Bernabe Cobo 1990 [1653] on coastal huacas

The following summarizes archaeological data from twenty-two Andean sites spanning the period of approximately 5900 BC to AD 1470. These sites are located in central and northern Peru, principally in the central highlands and Pacific coast (Figure 2.1). The sites range from relatively small structures to truly monumental constructions; some are located in the midst of residential zones and yet others lack evidence of significant habitation. Some of these sites are unique, while others fit comfortably into well-documented architectural traditions. For all their variation, these sites may not truly represent the range of prehispanic Andean constructions; the current data rarely are sufficient to reconstruct well-defined settlement patterns or to evaluate these sites' positions in regional settlement systems. Simply, our knowledge of Andean architecture is outweighed by our ignorance.

Thus, the sample is not ideal, but there are good reasons for selecting these particular sites. First, the focus was somewhat arbitrarily limited to central and northern Peru – an area familiar to me – and therefore ceremonial centers located elsewhere in the Andes, such as the Archaic site of Asana (Aldenderfer 1990, 1991), were excluded from the sample. Further, I selected sites for which detailed plans based on excavated data were available, and which had maps showing the relationship of a particular structure to the larger settlement.