The Puemape site and the Cupisnique culture: A case study on the origins and development of complex society in the Central Andes, Peru

The rise of complex societies of northern Peru is related to the little known Cupisnique Culture (ca. 2200--300 B.C.). Traditionally the Cupisnique Culture has been understood as a result of the influence of the Chavin civilization over great part of the Central Andes. In this regard Cupisnique was taken as the northern regional manifestation of the Chavin phenomenon, labeled uncritically as "Coastal Chavin", "Chavinoid", or "Classic Chavin". The "Chavin" culture, found at the Andean highland center of Chavin de Huantar has been seen as a "mother culture" or source of formalized religious ideology, ceremonialism and monumental architecture in the Andes. Research on Chavin has overshadowed that on the Peruvian North and Central Coast, and Chavin derived models have been used to interpret the pristine rise and development of complex societies on the coast. This study discusses the archaeological data gathered at the north-coastal site of Puemape for understanding the coastal nature of the Cupisnique culture. The analyzed cultural and organic data came from a stratigraphic sequence of domestic, funerary and ceremonial contexts.; The survey done in different microenvironments around and inland of Puemape, as well as ecological descriptions, established the parameters for understanding the coastal adaptation of the Cupisnique inhabitants of Puemape. Analysis of organic remains from different ecological settings provides information about the economic foundations of the site. The study of 66 burials in terms of temporality, grave types, orientations, presence, amount, and absence of grave goods associated, funerary treatments, sex, age, disposal of the dead, and cultural modifications indicates a high degree of conservatism in Cupisnique funerary customs. In addition, using a north coastal regional temporal and cultural perspective, the local origin and development of Cupisnique from the Preceramic to the Late Cupisnique Phase is argued. Preliminary glimpses about social inequality and socio-political organization in Cupisnique times are outlined. In this regard is argued that a given economic specialization and shamanism were linked and established the basis for Cupisnique political-religious leadership. It is also suggested that there was a quite strong continuity in traditional cultural preferences and technologies from the northern Preceramic to the Muchik culture nowadays. It is proposed that the abandonment of the Cupisnique occupation at Puemape was the result of a natural catastrophe with apparent drastic consequences in the Cupisnique heartland as a whole.; It is concluded that Cupisnique was a culture in its own right rather than derivative of Chavin and that many so-called Chavin conventions in fact started during the Cupisnique Cultural development, being traditional on the north coast but innovative at the Chavin de Huantar site.