Huerequeque: An inland outpost of the Initial Period Sechín Alto Polity in the Casma Valley of Peru

Abstract

The Sechín Alto Polity effectively controlled the Casma Valley zone on the Peruvian north coast during the Initial Period (2100–1000 cal b.c.) through an inclusive administrative strategy whereby large inland centers and their component monumental architecture served specific, complementary functions within the polity. Smaller satellite sites established on the coast insured a supply of marine protein to the inland agricultural centers. The political strategy of the Sechín Alto Polity also included expansion inland to colonize the mid-sized site of Huerequeque at a key location in order to annex abundant agricultural land, to access a trade route to the highlands, and to extend and define the eastern Sechín Alto Polity boundary farther. Huerequeque is unique, however, because of its distinct cultural heritage, and excavations there have made it possible to examine the process through which the expanding polity established an administrative presence, imposed Sechín Alto Polity practices, and eventually abandoned the site. More broadly, elucidating this process is critical to a better understanding of the development and expansion of complex societies.

Keywords:

• Peru
• Initial Period
• complex society
• Sechín Alto Polity
• Huerequeque

Acknowledgments

Permission to excavate at Huerequeque was granted by the Peruvian Instituto Nacional de Cultura and Ministerio de Cultura. Funding was provided by National Science Foundation grant 0924535, the University of Texas-Pan American, the American Petroleum Institute, and an anonymous donor. We would also like to credit Victor Vasquez and Teresa Rosales for identifying the animal bone and Paul Valentich-Scott for help with the mollusk identifications. Our thanks also go to our excavation team of Peruvian and U.S. students and workmen.

ORCiD

Thomas Pozorski http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7819-1930

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shelia Pozorski

Shelia Pozorski (Ph.D. 1976, University of Texas at Austin) is Professor of Anthropology, retired, at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. She co-directed Proyecto Arqueolόgico Huerequeque and numerous other projects in the Casma Valley. Her research interests include the development of complex societies in South America, prehistoric subsistence, and ecology.

Thomas Pozorski

Thomas Pozorski (Ph.D. 1976, University of Texas at Austin) is Professor of Anthropology, retired, at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. He co-directed Proyecto Arqueolόgico Huerequeque and numerous other projects in the Casma Valley. His research interests include the development of complex societies in South America, prehistoric agriculture, and geoarchaeology.

Bobbie Lovett

Bobbie Lovett (M.A. 1991, University of Texas-Pan American) is Lecturer in Anthropology, retired, at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. She served Proyecto Arqueolόgico Huerequeque as field director. Her research interests include archaeological field methodology, development of complex societies, and lithic analysis.

Rosa Jave Marín

Rosa Jave Marín (Licenciada 2000, Universidad Nacional de Trujillo) co-directed Proyecto Arqueolόgico Huerequeque and has served as principal investigator on dozens of cultural resource management projects in Peru. Her research interests include ancient Peruvian complex societies and attitudes of indigenous communities towards local archaeological sites.