ANDEAN PAST - Latin American Studies Program - Cornell University

Barnes:Editor'sPrefacewhich most likelyoccurred between A.D. 1350and A.D. 1370. Satterlee and his colleaguesreconstruct the geological and climatic conditionsthat led to catastrophic flooding. Theydocument its traces, and explore the implicationsthat severe drought in the sierra, combinedwith unusual rainfall at lowerelevationsand tectonic action, would have for prehistoricagriculture in Peru's coastal valleys.In "BodilessHuman Heads in Paracas NecropolisTextile Iconography" Anne Paul examinesrepresentations of disembodiedheads inParacas textile iconography created between100 B.C. and 100 A.D. Paul argues that onlyabout twenty-fivepercent of such heads maybeliteral trophy heads. Others may,in somesense,be "symbols of the intense concentrations ofpower in heads", or symbolsofa returning spirit.In this study Paul contradicts s'omeof her ownearlywor~with an exemplaryacademichonesty.This issue of Andean' Past contains. threearticles concentrating on aspectsof Ecuadorianarchaeology. In ~'TheJel( Phase Complex at LaEmerenciana, a Late Valdivia Site in SouthernEIOro Province, Ecuador"John Stallerpresentsthe la.te Valdivia ceramic sequence as viewedfromhis excavations at the LaEmerencianasite.Basing himself on an attribute analysisof over30;000 sherds, Staller proposes 15formalclassesfor Jel! ceramics and re-evaluates the finalphases of the Valdiviasequence which ended inthe first half of the second millennium B.C.Staller suggests that rather than being therecipient of technological innovations, theprehispanic cultures of coastal Ecuador introducedinnovations to the Andean highlandsandto what is now coastal Peru.Maria Masucci also evaluates Ecuadorianpottery in her article, "Defining CeramicChange and Cultural Interaction: Results ofTypological,Chronological, and TechnologicalAnalysis of Guangala Phase Ceramics". Masucciconsiders the time between 500 B.C. and500 A.D. to have been a period of dramaticsocietalchange in the northern Andes. Increas-ing complexity,combined with expanding tradeand interregional contacts, and florescence inlocal art stylesmay indicate regionalchiefdoms,according to Masucci. Examining GuangalaPhase ceramics from survey and excavation inthe EIAzl1carValleyof southwest Ecuador,Masuccidevelops a detailed typologyand chronology,thus adding to our basic knowledge of theIntermediateArea. .David Bloweralso focuses on Ecuador, butextends his consideration to the Andes as awhole. In "The Many Facets of MuUu:MoreThanJustaSpondylusShell",Blowerarguesthatthe Quechua word muUu, while sometimestaken to mean only the bicolored, rosy-orangeto white Andean bivalve and the products madefrom it, in fact has a much larger semantic field.By combining information from early Spanishchronicles and dictionaries with modem ethriographicpractice, iconography, and archaeologicalevidence, Blower concludes that muUucanrefer to a variety of sacred objects, in a range ofcolors, and with several symbolic associationclusters including food, water, and femalesexuality.. In another paper drawing heavily uponethnographic sources,in this casepreviouslyunpublisheddocuments transcribed here, CatherineJulien explores "Inca Estates and the Encomienda:Hernando Pizarro's Holdings inCusco". Julien's ultimate purpose is to reconstructInca patterns of land tenure and use,looking beyond Spanish arrangements. Shefocuseson royal coca plantations. The presentpaper thus makes a set with her work on cocaproduction on the Inca frontier in the yungasof. Chuquioma, published in Andean Past5.During the past decade, propelled in largepart by advances, and failures, in geochemicalanalysis, direct d.ating, recording techniques,and neuropsychology, rock art research hasmoved to the forefront of archaeological interest.Once mostly the province of enthusiasticamateurs, there are now several internationaljournals devoted to the field. Among these is