Beyond the Nasca Lines: Ancient Life at La Tiza in the Peruvian Desert

Abstract

Beyond the Nasca Lines examines the origin, rise, fall, and reformation of complex societies through investigations conducted at the archaeological site of La Tiza in the desert of Nasca, Peru. La Tiza was inhabited for over 5000 years and has the longest occupation of any settlement in the region, providing an unprecedented opportunity to examine the dynamics of ancient complex societies. Although the region is famous for the Nasca Lines (ground drawing on the desert floor) that were created by the Nasca culture (A.D. 100–650), many societies thrived in the region before and after that period. From hunters and gatherers of the Middle Preceramic (ca. 3500 B.C.) to the Inca empire (ca. A.D. 1450), the transformation of society is documented with a particular focus on the cycle of the rise of the Nasca culture, subsequent conquest by the Wari state followed by collapse and abandonment, and then the establishment of a new society in the Late Intermediate Period (ca. A.D. 1200). Many factors were involved in these shifts, and included the organization of kinship groups, shifts in subsistence strategies, influxes of immigrants and new ideas, religious movements, climate change, trade and social networks, and external imperial policies. This book is unique from previous studies in Nasca in that it takes a diachronic perspective and addresses the long prehistory of the region from the perspective of a particular site.