Northern exposures: Recuay-Cajamarca boundaries and interaction

Abstract

This study aims to provide a trial characterization of boundary maintenance in the Recuay tradition of the Early Intermediate Period, ca. AD 1-700 (all age ranges are cited using cal AD dates as per Lau 2002-2004). By boundary maintenance, I mean the process of ascribing and communicating socio-cultural difference (Barth 1969). The process has been researched at different scales, from kin groups to communities to nations (Bentley 1987; Eriksen 1991; Hutchinson and Smith 1996; Lightfoot and Martinez 1995; Stark 1998). I review archaeological evidence for interaction in northern Peru to examine ways in which Cajamarca and Recuay peoples made purposeful choices through material culture. © 2006 Springer.