Political power and economy at the archaeological site of Galindo, Moche Valley, Peru

This dissertation presents the results of the Galindo Archaeological Project (GAP). The GAP took place over the course of three field seasons from 2000 to 2002 at the archaeological site of Galindo. Galindo is a large urban settlement located in the Moche Valley on the North Coast of Peru. The site is located at the valley neck, approximately 20 kilometers from the Pacific Ocean.; The principal goal of the GAP was to study the political power of Galindo rulers during the principal occupation of the site in the Late Moche Period (A.D. 600--800). There are three principal sources, or types, of political power. These are ideological power, economic power, and physical coercive power. Physical coercive power includes law enforcement and military power. In order to produce a broad understanding of the political power of Galindo's Late Moche rulers, different phases of the GAP addressed each of these types of political power. One phase of the project involved the examination of fortifications at Galindo, and was designed to inform on the military power of Galindo's Late Moche rulers. Another phase involved the excavation of the residences of different status groups and the analysis of faunal, botanical, and artifactual remains recovered during the project, and was designed to inform on the economic power of Galindo's Late Moche rulers. A third phase involved the excavation of civic/ceremonial contexts and the analysis of portable art from the site, and was designed to inform on the ideological power of Galindo's Late Moche rulers.; A secondary goal of the GAP was to reconstruct the occupational history of the site. Previous research at Galindo indicated that the site was occupied during both the Moche and Chimu periods. It is unclear based on this research, however, exactly when within these periods the site was occupied. The goal of reconstructing the occupational history of Galindo was addressed in a fourth phase of the GAP. This phase involved the excavation of a stratigraphic cut, the analysis of ceramics recovered during the GAP, and the analysis of radiocarbon dates performed on samples recovered from both Moche and Chimu contexts at Galindo.