My project will focus on prehispanic settlements in the Jequetepeque valley, Peru.  The Jequetepeque valley is located on the north coast of Peru, parallel to a series of east-west running river valleys.  Barren tracts of desert lie between the rivers.  Construction of irrigation systems allows a variety of plants, including maize, beans, and squash, to be cultivated.

I want to examine settlement patterns during the late Formative Period (1800 BC - 500 BC), during which canal systems have been implemented in most river valleys of coastal Peru (as inferred from the archaeological data).  The late Formative Period also witnessed the introduction of ceramics and the construction of monumental architecture.  It was a time of rapid social, cultural, and political development.

Summary of the Formative Period

 

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