Chavin, the early horizon and the initial period

Pozorski, Thomas George; Pozorski, Shelia Griffis

essay

Chavin, the early horizon and the initial period

origins and development of the andean state • Cambridge [Cambridgeshire] • Published In 1987 • Pages: 36-46

By: Pozorski, Thomas George, Pozorski, Shelia Griffis.

Abstract
The authors re-examine and re-interpret preexisting definitions for the Initial period and Early Horizon using a variety of evidence: ceramics, absolute dates, iconography, and architecture. They find that the "Mother Culture" of all subsequent Andean civilizations is not the Chavin tradition, developing instead during the Cotton Preceramic with separate coastal and highland networks of chiefdoms. The first states formed in the river valleys of the north and central coast during the Initial period, during which the coastal and highland networks continued to function, spreading goods, ideas, and cultural patterns. Interaction spheres and the polities involved are discussed for the Preceramic period though Early Horizon (only data pertaining to the Early Formative/Initial period are indexed for content).

Dating methods in archaeology

Chronologies and culture sequences

Settlement patterns

Territorial hierarchy

Form and rules of government

Communication

Ceramic technology

Religious and educational structures

Visual arts

Comparative evidence

Coastal Andean Early Formative

HRAF PubDate