Monumental Adobe Architecture of the late prehispanic Northern North Coast of Peru - article ; n°1 ; vol.71, pg 41-78

Izumi Shimada, Raffael Cavallaro

Description

Journal de la Société des Américanistes - Année 1985 - Volume 71 - Numéro 1 - Pages 41-78
Specific construction techniques distinguish the monumental truncated adobe pyramids of the northern North Coast of the Middle through the Late Horizon, from those of earlier periods located in the southern half of the North Coast. The pattern of adobe marking is also quite different from that seen at Moche ; the model which best accounts for it is the ' discontinuous domain ' model.
Arquitectura monumental de adobe del norte de la Costa Norte del Perú durante el periodo prehispánico tardío. Ciertas técnicas de construcción diferencian las pirámides truncadas de adobe de la parte septentrional de la costa norte (desde el Horizonte Medio hasta el Tardío) de las más antiguas situadas en la parte sur de la Costa Norte. Las marcas de los adobes son también diferentes de las que se encuentran en Moche. El « dominio salpicado » es el modelo que muestra mejor esta diferencia.
L 'architecture monumentale d'adobe du nord de la Côte Septentrionale du Pérou pendant la période préhispanique récente. Certaines techniques de construction distinguent les pyramides tronquées de la partie septentrionale de la Côte Nord des Horizons Moyen à Récent, de celles plus anciennes situées dans la partie sud. La distribution des briques marquées par leurs fabricants diffère aussi de celle observée à Moche ; le modèle qui en rend mieux compte est le « dominio salpicado » (ou contrôle éparpillé).
38 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique

Informations

• Publié par: JOURNAL_DE_LA_SOCIETE_DES_AMERICANISTES
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1985
• Nombre de lectures: 9
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

Izumi Shimada
Raffael Cavallaro
Monumental Adobe Architecture of the late prehispanic Northern
North Coast of Peru
In: Journal de la Société des Américanistes. Tome 71, 1985. pp. 41-78.
Abstract
Specific construction techniques distinguish the monumental truncated adobe pyramids of the northern North Coast of the Middle
through the Late Horizon, from those of earlier periods located in the southern half of the North Coast. The pattern of adobe
marking is also quite different from that seen at Moche ; the model which best accounts for it is the ' discontinuous domain '
model.
Resumen
Arquitectura monumental de adobe del norte de la Costa Norte del Perú durante el periodo prehispánico tardío. Ciertas técnicas
de construcción diferencian las pirámides truncadas de adobe de la parte septentrional de la costa norte (desde el Horizonte
Medio hasta el Tardío) de las más antiguas situadas en la parte sur de la Costa Norte. Las marcas de los adobes son también
diferentes de las que se encuentran en Moche. El « dominio salpicado » es el modelo que muestra mejor esta diferencia.
Résumé
L 'architecture monumentale d'adobe du nord de la Côte Septentrionale du Pérou pendant la période préhispanique récente.
Certaines techniques de construction distinguent les pyramides tronquées de la partie septentrionale de la Côte Nord des
Horizons Moyen à Récent, de celles plus anciennes situées dans la partie sud. La distribution des briques marquées par leurs
fabricants diffère aussi de celle observée à Moche ; le modèle qui en rend mieux compte est le « dominio salpicado » (ou
contrôle éparpillé).
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Shimada Izumi, Cavallaro Raffael. Monumental Adobe Architecture of the late prehispanic Northern North Coast of Peru. In:
Journal de la Société des Américanistes. Tome 71, 1985. pp. 41-78.
doi : 10.3406/jsa.1985.2252
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/jsa_0037-9174_1985_num_71_1_2252MONUMENTAL ADOBE ARCHITECTURE
OF THE LATE PREHISPANIC NORTHERN
NORTH COAST OF PERU
Izumi SHIMADA *
and
Raffael CAVALLARO *
Specific construction techniques distinguish the monumental truncated adobe pyramids
of the northern North Coast of the Middle through the Late Horizon, from those of ear
lier periods located in the southern half of the North Coast. The pattern of adobe mar
king is also quite different from that seen at Moche ; the model which best accounts for
it is the ' discontinuous domain ' model.
Arquitectura monumental de adobe del norte de la Costa Norte del Peru durante el
periodo prehispánico tavdío.
Ciertas técnicas de construcción diferencian las pirámides truncadas de adobe de la
parte septentrional de la costa norte (desde el Horizonte Medio hasta el Tardío) de las
más antiguas situadas en la parte sur de la Costa Norte. Las marcas de los adobes son
también diferentes de las que se encuentran en Moche. El « dominio salpicado » es el
modelo que muestra mejor esta diferencia.
L 'architecture monumentale d'adobe du nord de la Côte Septentrionale du Pérou pendant
la période préhispanique récente.
Certaines techniques de construction distinguent les pyramides tronquées de la partie
septentrionale de la Côte Nord des Horizons Moyen à Récent, de celles plus anciennes
situées dans la partie sud. La distribution des briques marquées par leurs fabricants dif
fère aussi de celle observée à Moche ; le modèle qui en rend mieux compte est le « domi
nio salpicado » (ou contrôle éparpillé).
Among various factors that have attracted both professional and public in
terest in the prehistory of the North Coast of Peru are the monumental trun-
* Department of Antropology, Harvard University.
J.S.A. 1985, LXXI : p. 41 à 78. 42 SOCIÉTÉ DES AMÉRICANISTES
cated adobe pyramids of different cultures and periods. The two largest adobe
pyramids in the New World are the Pyramid of the Sun (over 340 m long,
160 m wide and 40 m high) at the site of Moche near the modern city of Tru-
jillo and Huaca Fortaleza (ca. 270 m long, 185 m wide and 55 m high with a
290 m long ramp) at the site of Pampa Grande at the neck of the Lambayeque
valley, the largest coastal river valley in Peru (Figures 1, 2). Paul Kosok's Life,
Land and Water in Ancient Peru (1965) provides excellent photographic docu
mentation of the location, abundance, diversity and immensity of these adobe
structures. Certainly, past fieldwork and consequently our current understanding
of North Coast prehistory have been strongly biased toward ' ceremonial cen
ters ' with monumental pyramids.
A. L. Kroeber (1926, 1930) began systematic study of monumental adobe
structures on the North Coast by noting variations in adobe bricks, construction
techniques, state of preservation, location, and overall size and shapej as well as
the need to explore their chronological and cultural dimensions. On the basis
of environmental, linguistic and, most importantly, architectural differences, he
distinguished two zones, one encompassing the Jequetepeque and valleys to the
north, and the other valleys to the south. He (1930 : 63) noted that the trun
cated adobe pyramids of the northern North Coast were characterized by their
free standing or valley bottom location, heavy rain damage, steep-sides, zig-zag
or winding ramps and ' chamber-and-fill ' construction technique. He made
numerous field observations that deserve elaboration and testing.
Kosok (1965) and R. P. Schaedel (1951a, b, 1966a, b), employing airphotos
and * sketch-cartography ', worked as a team and independently, to improve the
inventory and define the spatial-temporal parameters of monumental structures
on the northern North Coast. Schaedel (1951a, 1968, 1972) clearly established
in the literature the model of the isolated ceremonial center with major adobe
structure and a small resident population. Meanwhile, working with J. Ford,
G. R. Willey (1953 ; Ford and Willey 1949) offered a diachronic and functional
characterization of monumental constructions as an integral part of the Viru
valley settlement pattern study. In addition to these early basic studies, there
have been numerous but often superficial or limited discussions of monumental
structures on the North Coast.
The impressive site of Pacatnamu has received much attention since the early
excavations by Ubbelohde-Doering (e.g., 1959). Keatinge (1977, 1982 ; Keatinge
et al. 1975) focused on the transition from religious to secular architecture,
while Hecker and Hecker (1982) offered an architectural typology and a detailed
site map in 25-cm intervals (also see Kosok 1965). In addition, a long term
project under the direction of С. В. Donnan is now under way.
Although, overall, much has been written on the monumental adobe structu
res of the North Coast, there are surprisingly few in-depth studies of construc
tion techniques and materials. Schaedel's (1966a) study of the Huaca Dragon
construction is one of the few detailed studies. Kroeber' s observations (1930 :
59-61) on segmentary construction and variation in adobe bricks were only
recently elaborated by Moseley and. others (e.g., Moseley 1975 ; Hastings and
Moseley 1975 ; Bruce : personal communication, 1982 ; Cavallaro 1982 ; Caval-
laro and Shimada n.d. ; Mackey and Klymyshyn 1981 ; Shimada et al. <• NORTHERN COAST
OF PERU
О 50 100
KM
Fig. 1. — The North Coast of Peru and some of the major sites mentioned in the text. 44 SOCIÉTÉ DES AMÉRICANISTES
Illustration non autorisée à la diffusion
Fig. 2. — Major sites and other archaeological features in the Lambayeque region. The map is
based on P. Kosok's survey data with some modifications. The canals shown in the transitional
area between the Zaňa and Jequetepeque valleys are questionable.
1981). The major gaps in our knowledge of specific construction techniques
and materials need to be filled before we can achieve a holistic understanding of
monumental adobe architecture on the North Coast. It is our aim in this paper
to (1) describe a series of specific construction techniques and materials that we
hypothesize distinguish the monumental truncated adobe pyramids of the nor
thern North Coast (defined here as encompassing 5 valleys — from the Motupe
valley to the north to the Jequetepeque to the south) dating the Middle
through Late Horizons (A.D. 550-1532 ; Table 1) from those of earlier periods
and located in the southern half of the North Coast, and (2) consider their
behavioral and societal implications. We suggest the chamber-and-fill techni
que, associated flooring/roofing, and encased column foundation are innovat
ions that first emerged in a brief period of rapid, broad-spectrum socio-political
(and perhaps even environmental) changes at the beginning of the Middle Hori
zon (Moche Phase V). These techniques became an integral part of the nor- ADOBE ARCHITECTURE 45 MONUMENTAL
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