Notice: This is the official website of the All Empires History Community (Reg. 10 Feb 2002)

  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Register Register  Login Login

First Andes civilisation explored

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Guests View Drop Down
Guest
Guest
  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: First Andes civilisation explored
    Posted: 23-Dec-2004 at 19:45


First Andes civilisation explored
Sketch of ancient Norte Chico people, NIU
The civilisation had large ceremonial structures and agriculture
An ancient civilisation was flourishing in Peru over 5,000 years ago, making it the oldest known complex society in the Americas, Nature magazine has reported.

Archaeologists used radiocarbon dating to chart the rise and fall of the little known culture, which reigned over three valleys north of Lima.

The society, whose heyday ran from 3000 to 1800BC, built ceremonial pyramids and complex irrigation systems.

The find casts doubt on the idea that Andean civilisation began by the sea.

"The scale and sophistication of these sites is unheard of anywhere in the New World at this time," said Jonathan Haas, MacArthur Curator of Anthropology at the Field Museum, Chicago.

"The cultural pattern that emerged in this small area in the third millennium BC later established a foundation for 4,000 years of cultural florescence in other parts of the Andes."

Bleak valleys

The civilisation, which was characterised by stone pyramids, large ceremonial structures and agriculture, spread over three windy valleys in the Norte Chico region of Peru.

Winifred Creamer at an archaeological site in the Norte Chico, NIU
The settlements spread over three windy and bleak valleys in the Norte Chico region of Peru
There were about 20 separate residential centres, which seemed to compete with each other to produce the most imposing architecture - some creating buildings as high as 26m (85ft).

They may even have had religion, the researchers believe.

"They probably did have organised religion," said co-author Winifred Creamer, a Northern Illinois University (NIU) anthropologist. "Objects have been yielded which do point to religion, like anthropomorphic figurines."

The ancient society had a close inter-dependent relationship with nearby coastal settlements, which were uncovered much earlier by archaeologists.

The people of the inland Norte Chico area grew cotton, which they traded with their coastal neighbours in exchange for fish. In turn, the coast dwellers used the cotton to make their fishing nets.

Evolving complexity

Archaeologists have long known about the settlements on the coast in Peru. They were simple fishing communities and academics thought they represented the first civilisation in South America.

But carbon dating proves the inland sites of Norte Chico were just as old as the coastal dwellings, forcing experts to reassess the idea that all early civilisations were based by the sea.

Winifred Creamer digging at an archaeological site in the Norte Chico, NIU
Professor Creamer is glad she got to explore these sites before they were buried by modern farms
"In Norte Chico, the path of cultural evolution in the Andean region diverged from a relatively simple hunting and gathering society to a much more complex pattern of social and political organisation," said Alvaro Ruiz, of NIU.

"With this new information, we need to rethink our ideas about the economic, social and cultural development of the beginnings of civilisation in Peru and all of South America."

After 1800 BC, when the settlements were abandoned, it is likely that the Norte Chico people moved to other parts of Peru, taking their innovations and culture with them.

"One very likely scenario is that they took their irrigation further north and further south to areas that were more productive," said Professor Creamer.

"It is interesting that in the Casma valley, which is directly north, there are even bigger pyramids, and that was the next major cultural event."

Question of qualification

Professor Creamer believes it is possible that other major Andean cultures, like the Chavin civilisation, which thrived about 3,000 years ago, may have descended from the Norte Chico people, or been culturally influenced by them.

However, there is still some discussion as to whether the Norte Chico society actually qualified as a "civilisation" itself.

Different anthropologists have different definitions of the word, and the Norte Chico people fell outside some of them.

An overview of Caballete in the Fortaleza Valley, NIU
Other civilisations may have descended from the Norte Chico people
"Some people would say they were not a civilisation," said Professor Creamer. "They had very few arts and crafts for example - they were pre-ceramic.

"And if civilisation needs urbanisation - well, we don't know if these sites qualify as urban centres yet."

Whatever the definition of civilisation, Professor Creamer and her team are just glad archaeologists discovered these historic sites before they got destroyed by modern agriculture.

"Peru has laws to protect sites like this one, but they don't always work," she said. "We are very lucky we got to explore these sites before they were buried under drip irrigation or chicken farms."

Back to Top
pytheas View Drop Down
Samurai
Samurai
Avatar

Joined: 14-Dec-2004
Location: Wales
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 130
  Quote pytheas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 24-Dec-2004 at 01:45

I want to point to the last five paragraphs and the reference the excerpt:

"The ancient society had a close inter-dependent relationship with nearby coastal settlements, which were uncovered much earlier by archaeologists.

The people of the inland Norte Chico area grew cotton, which they traded with their coastal neighbours in exchange for fish. In turn, the coast dwellers used the cotton to make their fishing nets."

and...

"But carbon dating proves the inland sites of Norte Chico were just as old as the coastal dwellings, forcing experts to reassess the idea that all early civilisations were based by the sea."

Okay, so my most fundimental problem with the findings reported in the article above can be found within the above two excerpts. Since both the coastal fishing settlement and the inland cotton-producing settlement co-existed and yielded carbon-14 dates that reflected ocupation periods for both settlements to be the same time.  Who's to say that both settlements originated from the same group of people that came from the sea.  I don't buy that claim that because we have an inland settlement, they couldn't have come from the sea, especially seeing as how they clearly traded peacefully and probablly interacted in other benign ways with one another.  I do appreciate the chance to read the article.  Cheers! 

Truth is a variant based upon perception. Ignorance is derived from a lack of insight into others' perspectives.
Back to Top
Guests View Drop Down
Guest
Guest
  Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04-Feb-2005 at 17:39
....but what is the definition of civilization? And what makes any one definition absolute?
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Bulletin Board Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 9.56a [Free Express Edition]
Copyright ©2001-2009 Web Wiz

This page was generated in 0.125 seconds.