3. Producción
Browse
3 results
Search Results
- Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, Reconstructing the sequence of an Inca Period (1470-1532 CE) camelid sacrifice at El Pacífico, Peru(Elsevier, 2021-11-26)Animal sacrifice has played an important role as a material expression of the ritual behavior practiced by different societies around the world. In the South American Andes, the ceremonial immolation of llamas is well documented by both ethnohistoric and ethnographic sources. Nevertheless, archaeological evidence of animal sacrifice remains poorly documented. In this paper, we report the burial of two young camelids from El Pacífico, a Formative Period ceremonial site located on the central coast of Peru. AMS radiocarbon dates suggest the ritual sacrifice occurred when the architecture of the site was no longer in use, around the time of the Inca conquest. Based on the presence of cut marks and fly pupae, we suggest that one of the camelids, a yearling llama, was sacrificed by removal of its heart and buried shortly thereafter. Similarly, given the location of cut marks and representation of skeletal parts, we infer that the second camelid was slaughtered for human consumption prior to burial. In accordance with documented Andean rites, archaeological evidence from El Pacifico suggests that practitioners of camelid sacrifice followed a behavioral script following the selection of the animal to its final interment. We hypothesize the costly performance of this ceremony at an ancestral sacred site was part of a social and political strategy for promoting intergroup social cohesion during the arrival of the Incas to the region. - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, From Lost Trenches to Living Data: Using UAV-Mounted LiDAR to Relocate and Contextualize Legacy Excavations at Saqsaywaman, Cusco, Peru(Wiley, 2026-01-01)LiDAR has transformed archaeological prospection by enabling the detection of sites and landscape features at unprecedented scales, particularly in environments with heavy vegetation. However, its methodological and analytical application at the excavation scale remains underdeveloped. In this paper, we develop a prospection‐oriented workflow that implements UAV‐mounted LiDAR to recontextualize legacy excavations within modern geospatial frameworks. We apply this approach at Saqsaywaman, the monumental Inka acropolis overlooking Cusco, Peru, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with nearly a century of intermittent excavation and uneven documentation. Our LiDAR survey covered approximately 69 ha, producing high‐density point clouds and derived terrain models capable of detecting subtle microtopographic signatures of past excavations obscured by vegetation and erosion. These LiDAR‐derived features were systematically compared with historic maps, archival aerial imagery, excavation reports and oral histories, and were verified through ground‐truthing. The analysis allowed us to relocate, with submeter spatial accuracy, over two dozen undocumented or poorly documented excavation trenches. Beyond preventing redundant excavation, this integration of LiDAR and archival data enabled the recontextualization of legacy stratigraphic data, radiocarbon dates and architectural descriptions alongside new excavations. At Saqsaywaman, the approach clarified preimperial occupation sequences in the Cruz Moqo sector and identified previously unrecognized architectural and hydraulic features. More broadly, the study demonstrates how LiDAR can function as a form of archaeological prospection focused on past research activity, extending the scope of prospection beyond site detection to the recovery and synthesis of legacy excavation data. Many major archaeological sites have been excavated repeatedly over decades, leaving behind fragmented records, imprecise maps and unpublished reports that complicate interpretation and risk redundant or destructive re‐excavation. Our workflow offers a replicable model for cumulative and sustainable archaeological research at sites worldwide. - Some of the metrics are blocked by yourconsent settings
Item type:Publication, A Taxonomy for Pre-Hispanic Stone Walls in Southern Peru(Taylor & Francis, 2025-01-01)Due to Peru's outstanding historical and cultural diversity, various pre-Hispanic stone constructions exist. These structures date from the Lithic period (10000 BCE) to the fall of the Inca Empire (1532 CE). Because of environmental conditions and time, these buildings have deteriorated and, in some cases, collapsed. Unfortunately, information about these structures is limited, such as their construction process or structural behaviour. This research proposes a structural classification for southern Peru pre-Hispanic Stone Walls, based on information collected during field visits to different archaeological sites in the regions of Puno and Cusco, Peru. In this taxonomy, eight parameters were considered: the time of construction, the use of the structure, the current height, the leaves and arrangement of the walls, the type of joint, the size of the stones, and the finish of the stones. The classification of the existing typologies was carried out in nineteen stone archaeological sites. This database contributes to the development of the classification of the different stone constructions in Peru, with common criteria for future taxonomic studies of the existing construction typologies.4