Archaeology Magazine - September 1954 - 44

THE

CHILLON

VALLEY

PERU

cultural and stylistic manifestation is found at the beginning of the next epoch, the Formative. This is the
culture of the famous highland site of Chavin de
Huantar, called Chavinoid in its coastal phase. Chavinoid traits have a broad distribution along the coast
but tend to vary rather widely regionally.
After the Chavinoid, cultural development appears to
have been by individual valleys or groups of valleys for
a considerable length of time. This era, embracing a
good part of the Formative and all of the Regional
Florescent epochs, was the most brilliant, artistically
speaking, of the entire Peruvian prehistory. In this period occur, probably at least partially contemporaneously, such great art styles as Mochica in the North, Proto-Lima or Maranga in the Center, and Nazca in the
South. In spite of evidence of inter-regional trade there
is little or no stylistic blending. On the other hand,
stylistic manifestations within a region tend to show
their influence on one another.
Superseding the Regional Florescent epoch is the
epoch of Great Fusion when related stylistic and cultural traits are again broadly distributed on the coast,
transcending the three regional divisions. This is the
epoch when the influence of Tiahuanaco is so widely
diffused. In spite of the fine work done by the late
Wendell C. Bennett in trying to resolve this problem,
it is still not fully clear whether this influence came
directly from Bolivian Tiahuanaco or was diffused
from Peruvian centers in the highlands; hence these
styles must bear for the present time the designation of
Tiahuanacoid.
The Tiahuanacoid epoch may be divided roughly
into three periods. Among the better known cultures of
the first are Mochica-Wari in the North, Middle Ancón
I in the Center, and Pacheco in the South. The second
Tiahuanacoid period displays such styles as Wari-Lambayeque in the North, Middle Ancón II in the Center,
and Nazca Y in the South. The third and last Tiahuanacoid period produces such styles as various aspects of
the Cajamarca style on the North Coast, the Late Ancón
I or Black-White-Red Geometric on the Central, and
the earliest phases of the Chincha or lea on the South.
Following the epoch of Great Fusion is that of Kingdoms and Confederations, during which strong regional
political entities reappeared on the coast. Noteworthy
among these, with their attendant cultural manifestations and distinctive ceramic styles, are Chimu in the
North, Chancay or Huaura in the Center, and Chincha
172

contro

or Ica in the South. This is followed by the Imperial
epoch, when the Inca Empire absorbed or conquered
not only all of coastal and highland Peru and Ecuador,
but parts of Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Colombia as
well. During this period pure Inca ceramics are found
all along the coast in association with strong Inca influence on the local cultures ; these styles are called, for
example, Inca-Chimu, Inca-Chancay,and Inca-Chincha.
With this epoch Peruvian prehistory comes to a close,
abruptly terminated by Pizarro's conquest in 1532.
Dates have purposely been omitted from this summary as, in the absence of sufficient Radiocarbon 14
dates, they might be incorrect and misleading. However,
Radiocarbon and other evidence tend to place part of
the Chavinoid period around 1000 b.c. and part of the
Mochica around the time of Christ.

The Chillón river valley is one of a group which
make up the Central Coast region of Peru. It is a medium-sized member of this group and seems to have
supported a normal population for its flow, though it
was never large enough to be the focus of a valleygroup culture, kingdom or confederation. It is the valley north of the Rimac, "the valley of Lima," and its
mouth is located only some seven kilometers from the
mouth of the Rimac. However, about eight kilometers
inland the Chillón veers to the northeast while the
Rimac keeps on in a generally east-west line, so that
when the elevation of 1000 meters is reached there is
considerable distance between the two. I mention especially the 1000-meter line as it roughly marks the
boundary between coastal and highland cultures. Notwithstanding the proximity of the most fertile area of
the Chillón to that of the Rimac, the former tends to
be associated with the cultures focused in valleys to the
north of it, while the Rimac's affinity seems to be for
the valleys to the south. We have not yet been able to
account archaeologically for a division at this point.
There is not the slightest geographical reason for it although it is borne out, for the later periods at any
rate, by several of the Chroniclers, those Spanish and
Hispanicized Inca writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries who set down accounts of Peruvian life
and history before the Conquest.
The Chillón valley (See Map, Figure 1) contains
important archaeological sites among which are, reading from the river mouth eastward, Marquez, Chuqui-

Archaeology Magazine - September 1954

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - September 1954