essay
Early social stratification and subsistence systems: the Caballo Muerto complex
chan chan: andean desert city • Albuquerque • Published In 2010 • Pages: 225-253
By: Pozorski, Thomas George.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Pozorski’s investigations at Caballo Muerto included six weeks of excavations at Huaca de los Reyes. The overall Caballo Muerto complex is described along with a more detailed description of Huaca de los Reyes. The complex is located near the Moche Valley’s neck to take advantage of steeper gradients that allow shorter leadoff canals to water large tracts of land that could have easily supported a population of at least 1200 people. However, housing was not found at Caballo Muerto despite the mounds having domestic refuse in their construction fill. Two other sites are possible contemporary housing areas: Cerro Orejas on the south side of the valley and Gramalote near Huanchaco Bay. Gramalote has been excavated and contains remains of plants that indicate they were grown with irrigation agriculture, most likely near Caballo Muerto. It appears Gramalote, possibly a satellite or colony of Caballo Muerto, exchanged shellfish and other marine products for the agricultural products. Pozorski sees this external (and internal) site stratification as evidence of a ranked status system. Huaca de los Reyes is a U-shaped mound with smaller rooms on the wings where more private activities occurred. There are also 58 friezes including large adobe heads and standing bipedal figures. The heads have human and feline characteristics reminiscent of Chavin. Corporate labor was probably used to build the mounds at Caballo Muerto. “Fifty to 100 individuals … could have easily built the second phase of … Huaca de los Reyes within 25 years.” (page 249). Subsequent occupation is noted for the site and the surrounding granitic hills into the Inca period.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Settlement patterns
- Miscellaneous facilities
- Religious and educational structures
- Visual arts
- Territorial hierarchy
- Community heads
- Diet
- Labor and leisure
- Population
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Coastal Andean Early Formative
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2014
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- South America
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Central Andes
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- essay
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry; 2014
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1973-1974
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 3800-2400 BP (1800-400 BC)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Caballo Muerto and Gramalote, Trujillo province (Moche Valley), La Libertad, Peru
- NotesAdditional notes
- Thomas Pozorski
- for bibliographical references see document 18:[Moseley and Day]
- Reprint of 1982 copy
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 80054567
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Chanchán (Peru)