Unveiling Pachacamac
Unveiling Pachacamac
New Hypotheses for an Old Andean Sanctuary
New data from the past 25 years of research at an important pre-Hispanic site
The sacred Andean site of Pachacamac, inhabited for over a thousand years before the Spanish Conquest, has an enduring presence in Peruvian history and plays a pivotal role in the formation of current views about religion and thought in the pre-Hispanic period. Unveiling Pachacamac is the first volume to synthesize the past quarter century’s abundance of new data and hypotheses on this important sanctuary.
Gathering contributions from an international array of leading researchers working at the site, this volume examines deep theoretical questions about social change, interregional interactions, the nature of religion, and issues of cultural continuity. It is also the first book to look at the site in relation with its territory and hinterland. As Pachacamac is widely considered an archetypal Andean shrine, used by researchers as a vital reference in comparative analyses of sanctuaries and religions in precapitalist societies, this volume will have a long-lasting impact on the field of archaeology.
Contributors: Andrea Gonzales Lombardi| Barbara Winsborough | Denise Pozzi-Escot | Enrique López – Hurtado | Giancarlo Marcone | Izumi Shimada | Katiusha Bernuy | Krzysztof Makowski | Lawrence S. Owens | Lucy Salazar | Peter Eeckhout | Rafael A. Segura | Richard Burger
“Pachacamac is an iconic and well-known site with a long history of investigation. In this informative volume, researchers working at Pachacamac over the last few decades summarize their work in the context of earlier studies. The book is a must for anyone interested in Andean prehistory or in the comparative study of religious centers and their role in complex, multi-polity societies.”—Daniel H. Sandweiss, coeditor of Maritime Communities of the Ancient Andes
“Scholarship on Pachacamac is part of the bedrock of Andeanist archaeology and ethnohistory. This volume is essential reading not only for scholars engaged in the archaeology of the central Peruvian coast but for anyone interested in better understanding how our fields came about—and, perhaps, where we’re going.”—Parker VanValkenburgh, author of Alluvium and Empire: The Archaeology of Colonial Resettlement and Indigenous Persistence on Peru’s North Coast
Giancarlo Marconeis chair of the Department of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and director of the Center for Impact and Social Responsibility at the Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología (UTEC) in Peru.
