Primary State Formation in the Virú Valley, North
Coast of Peru
Jean-François Millaire1
Department of Anthropology, Social Science Centre, The University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5C2, Canada
Edited* by Charles S. Spencer, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, and approved February 22, 2010 (received for review September 29, 2009)
The origins of urban life and functioning states are two of the most
fascinating research problems in anthropological archeology and a
topic that has intrigued generations of scholars working on the
Peruvian north coast. In this region, Andeanists have documented
the rise of Moche as a dominant culture during the first millennium
A.D., and the emergence of urban life and stately institutions at this
society’s principal center. Although there is a broad consensus that
Moche represents an archaic state, it is still unclear whether it is an
example of primary state formation or a case of a second-generation
state. To document this question, archaeological excavations were
recently carried out at the Gallinazo Group site in the Virú Valley.
Results from a radiocarbon dating program indicate that a function-
ing state probably emerged in this valley during the second century
B.C., possibly preceding Moche by a few centuries. These results
necessarily raise question regarding the nature of state develop-
ment on the north coast of Peru and, in particular, whether there
was a single center of state development in this region or multiple
sites where similar conditions and processes led to the parallel emer-
gence of functioning states.
state development | Andes | Gallinazo Group | radiocarbon dating
T he origins of urban life and functioning states are two of the most
fascinating research problems in anthropological archeology. In
the last 40 years or so, scholars have worked to define and document
the development of state-level societies in six areas where first-
generation states are known to have emerged, including Egypt,
Mesopotamia, the Indus River Valley, Northern China, Meso-
america, and the Andes (1–12). Definitions of the state are varied, yet
most scholars agree that they are political organizations regarded by
those who live in them as politically independent and in which spe-
cialized leaders have the authority to control the social, political,
legal, economic, and cultural activities, as well as the use of force.
States are visible archaeologically through a number of material
indicators, including a four-tiered settlement system, evidence of
defensive works and expansion, temples and palaces, tribute collec-
tion and redistribution systems, and specialized craft production (1,
5, 12, 13). These should not be understood as elements of a definition
of the state but rather for what they are: clues for identifying an
anthropological and political phenomenon archaeologically (5).
Although Andeanists have contributed to the inquiry into pri-
mary state formation (10), research on early statecraft in this
region is still in its infancy. The Early Intermediate period in
Andean prehistory (∼200 B.C. to A.D. 800) witnessed the emer-
gence of urban life and functioning states along the littoral of
northern Peru—a coastal landscape which consists of a narrow
land strip bordered by the Andes Mountains to the east and by the
Pacific Ocean to the west. Life here was possible only thanks to a
series of rivers that flow westward, creating fertile oases separated
by harsh barren lands. Each valley was different in terms of water
availability, marine and terrestrial resources, vulnerability to nat-
ural disasters, access to trade routes, etc.—factors that inevitably
contributed to the shaping of the prehistoric political landscape.
In the recent decades, a number of field research programs
conducted in this region helped to document the rise of Moche as a
dominant culture and the emergence of urban life and stately
institutions at this society’s principal center, Huacas de Moche.
6186–6191 | PNAS | April 6, 2010 | vol. 107 | no. 14
The Moche capital was built on the southern margin of the Moche
Valley, a few kilometers away from the present city of Trujillo (Fig.
1), and featured a large residential sector laid out in an orthogonal
grid plan with habitation compounds of varying size and quality as
well as workshops (14–18). The residential sector is framed be-
tween two large buildings used for civic and ceremonial activities,
including public gathering and human sacrifice (19–21). Recent
work at the site indicates that the settlement was occupied by the
second century A.D., and that it experienced a seemingly con-
tinuous urban growth until it was abandoned during the eighth
century (15, 16, 20, 22). This city was the paramount center of a
complex settlement system in the Moche Valley, which featured a
four-tiered administrative hierarchy engaged in the centralized
management of irrigation, trade, and defense (13).
Although the nature of Huacas de Moche’s political influence
is still debated, evidence indicates that it developed into a mul-
tivalley expansionist state around A.D. 300 (10, 13, 15, 23–29). In
recent years, Andeanists have offered a number of explanations
for the spread of Moche art and architecture, which range from
two or more independent polities that ruled over contiguous
territories (30, 31) to a constellation of political entities spread
along the littoral, marked by periodic alliance of contending
government systems that shared a common cultural tradition (13,
23, 32–35).
Although there is a broad consensus that Huacas de Moche was
the seat of an early archaic state, it is still unclear whether this rep-
resents a case of primary state formation (first-generation state)—in
which stately institutions emerged in a “context of nonstate societies,
without contact with other preexisting states” (1)—or an example of
second- or third- generation state. Likewise, the question remains
whether there was a single center of state development along the
Peruvian north coast or multiple sites where similar conditions and
processes led to the parallel emergence of functioning states. In his
review of the origin of state societies in South America, Stanish (10)
came to the conclusion that not one but three states (Moche, Wari,
and Tiwanaku) independently emerged in the Andean region during
the first half of the first millennium A.D., leading him to question the
very notion of pristine state development. Similarly, Billman (13)
noted that the debate has now shifted from whether Moche society
had developed a functioning state to how many concurrent Moche
states emerged along the north coast of Peru during the Early In-
termediate period.
In a provoking study conducted a few years earlier, Fogel (36)
posited that in fact Moche leaders had merely built upon existing
political institutions, and that the emergence of the Andean state
had taken place at an earlier time, in the Virú Valley (Fig. 2). Here,
she argued, the Virú (Gallinazo) polity had developed a number
of institutions typical of functioning states, including a complex
Author contributions: J.-F.M. designed research, performed research, analyzed data, and
wrote the paper.
The author declares no conflict of interest.
*This Direct Submission article had a prearranged editor.
1
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jean-francois.millaire@uwo.ca.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/
0911226107/DCSupplemental.
www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0911226107

Fig. 1. Map of the north coast of Peru.
valley-wide administrative system and an urban capital at the
Gallinazo Group site. Although Fogel’s study aroused interest, her
argument regarding the antiquity of Virú state development
remained extremely fragile, considering that no absolute chro-
nology was yet available for this ancient polity. Indeed her argu-
ment essentially rested on a ceramic seriation (37) that has
recently been questioned by a number of Andeanists (38). Nev-
ertheless, scholars generally agree that the Virú polity had devel-
oped many material indicators traditionally associated with
archaic states (5, 10, 13, 23), pointing to the need for more research
in this region and the establishment of an absolute chronology for
the Virú polity. This paper seeks to shed light on this problem by
reviewing information currently available on the Virú polity, and
by presenting unique data on the chronology of the Gallinazo
Group site, the primary center of the Virú Valley at the time and
most likely the seat of regional leadership.
Research on the polity that ruled over the Virú Valley during
the Early Intermediate period was initiated during the first part
of the 20th century by Bennett (39, 40), Larco Hoyle (41), and
Willey (42). The Virú polity’s† occupation of the valley was
marked by the emergence of a distinctive type of pottery (Gal-
linazo Negative) adorned with negative-resist painted designs.
The distribution of this corporate-style ceramic on settlements
throughout the valley floor provided archaeologists with an
opportunity to study this society’s hold on the land and people
and to undertake a reconstruction of its complex history.
As part of the Virú Valley Program, Willey (42) undertook a
vast study of settlement patterns and convincingly showed how,
during this period, prehistoric population size reached its max-
imum in the valley and how Virú administrators coped by
extending the cultivated area to sectors that were previously
unused—including the lands surrounding the Gallinazo Group.
†
This archaeological culture was traditionally referred to as Gallinazo, but this term is
problematic (38), as it has been used to describe two ceramic ensembles: utilitarian
incised and appliquéd pottery (Castillo Incised and Modeled wares) and Gallinazo Neg-
ative fine ware. Incised and appliquéd pottery are found in every valleys of the Peruvian
north coast, from Casma to Piura, and throughout the sequence of at least certain
regions where sufficient research has been done. Gallinazo Negative, on the other hand,
is essentially a corporate style largely restricted to the Virú Valley.
Millaire
This was achieved by expanding the existing irrigation canal sys-
tem, and creating intakes high-up in the middle valley. Willey also
showed how Virú leaders were successful at creating a unified
valley command over the entire area, materialized through the
construction of a four-tiered settlement system, including an urban
center of exceptional dimensions (the Gallinazo Group), midsized
administrative or defensive settlements, villages, and hamlets.
To test Willey’s model, in 2002 the author, together with
Peruvian and Canadian colleagues, initiated fieldwork at Huaca
Santa Clara—a midsized administrative settlement built by
members of the Virú polity on the flanks of a small hill that
dominates the center of the valley floor. Excavations led to the
discovery of an imposing system of storage facilities on the hill-
sides, as well as moderate-sized civic buildings perched on the
hilltop and lower ridges (43). Radiocarbon dates obtained from
this site range from 2010 ± 50 B.P. to 1350 ± 60 B.P., indicating
that this center was occupied for a relatively long period between
the second century B.C. and the eighth century A.D. The available
evidence also suggested that Huaca Santa Clara functioned as an
important node in Virú’s valley-wide administrative network,
which included other midsized settlements, four of which formed a
unified system of fortification at the valley neck (44)—the only
entry point from the highlands, and an area where major irrigation
canal intakes are located.
Virú’s principal center was undoubtedly the Gallinazo Group: a
concentration of mounds located on the north side of the river in
the lower valley, built through the accumulation and subsequent
erosion of material deposited by hundreds of years of human
occupation. Of the 30 mounds that feature Virú’s corporate
ceramic type (Gallinazo Negative), only six present civic archi-
tecture, whereas the others essentially represent raised habitation
platforms of varying sizes. Work at this site was initiated by Ben-
nett (40), whose sizable excavations brought about a wealth of
information on this polity’s capital, exposing compact networks of
room units arranged in honeycomb patterns and hinting at a long
and sustained occupational history. Despite the general sig-
nificance of the Gallinazo Group site for research on the origin of
urbanism and state development, however, only a handful of field
projects were subsequently carried out in this part of the valley.
Noteworthy is Fogel’s survey work at the Group in 1990, and her
analysis of surface ceramics and architecture (36).
In 2008 our team undertook fieldwork at the site, as part of a
broader study of the Virú polity. Our first task at the Group was to
map the mounds using a high-precision differential GPS to pro-
duce an accurate 3D model of the ancient ruins and surrounding
landscape (Fig. 3). Excavations in open areas and in deep stratified
deposits were subsequently carried out at Huaca Gallinazo (V-59),
the largest mound of the Group, adding a substantial amount of
data to Bennett’s seminal work at this site. Structures buried a few
centimeters below the surface were identified with the use of a
gradiometer and cleared through shovel shining (skimming the
surface with the shovel blade and large paint brushes to reveal the
top of the walls), providing us with a glimpse into early urbanism at
the site (Fig. 4). Based on the site plans available we have learned
that the space was occupied by a number of architectural com-
ANTHROPOLOGY
pounds, each of which featured a compact network of multiroom
residential units with living and storage spaces as well as patios.
Excavations revealed the existence of a diversity of architectural
form and building quality, which ranged from modest dwellings to
imposing houses with courtyards.
Nonresidential buildings dominate some of the mounds, pointing
to the existence of a consolidated power with the means, resources,
and vision to commission monumental projects for civic or cere-
monial use. Indeed, the design of the edifices, the sheer volume of
work involved, and the construction techniques used all point to the
existence of a clear program of public architecture. The largest civic
building (∼82,000 m3) stands at the core of Huaca Gallinazo, and
although it was heavily destroyed by looters, the architecture is
PNAS | April 6, 2010 | vol. 107 | no. 14 | 6187
Fig. 2. Satellite image of the Virú Valley. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Landsat Program 2000, Landsat ETM+ scene ELP009R066_7T20000602,
SLC-Off, US Geological Survey, Sioux Falls.
extremely well preserved under a thin layer of adobe dust. This
imposing structure is made up of a combination of in-filled cham-
bers and building columns made of thousands of piled adobes set
one against another—a construction technique that was common on
Moche sites (45). It is dominated by towering platform and an
adjacent terrace (Southern Terrace) that fronts a wide plaza—
presumably used for large public gatherings and ceremonial activ-
ities. This architectural pattern (stage-like platform fronting plaza)
was also popular on Moche sites (46).
The Group is of exceptional dimensions, with mounds spread
over an area of ∼600 ha of flatlands, although the total occupied
area of the mounds was only ∼40 ha. Population estimation is
complex, considering that the Group’s urbanscape featured a
dense residential environment made up of thousands of small
rooms crammed together in an agglutinative manner. Using
indices developed for other agglutinated settlements (47, 48)
results in population size ranging from 14,400–28,800 people,
depending on how much of the total space was occupied by res-
idences at any one time.‡
In sum, the Early Intermediate period in Virú was marked by
important social (increase in population size), economic
(increased production capacity), and political (creation of a
unified valley command) transformations, archaeologically visi-
ble through a number of material correlates. These include an
increase in the overall number of settlements in the valley, the
extension of the total area under cultivation, the construction of
new irrigation canals, and the establishment of a four-tiered
administrative system—in which subsidiary centers were involved
‡
These population estimates are very much in line with those for the capital of another
primary state, Monte Albán in Mexico’s Oaxaca Valley. According to Blanton (49), the
population estimate of Monte Albán is 10,200–20,400 during the Late Monte Albán I
phase (300–100 B.C.), which Spencer and Redmond (1) and others have argued is when
the Monte Albán state formed.
6188 | www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0911226107
in the day-to-day management of resources and defense against
competing neighboring polities—as well as a large and densely
populated agglomeration, featuring an imposing civic building
presumably used for large public gatherings. These data are
interesting from the point of view of primary state formation
research, since they seem to support Fogel’s hypothesis that Virú
leaders successfully developed institutions traditionally asso-
ciated with archaic states, and that their political capital was an
urban settlement. This raises a number of questions, including
ones regarding the nature of early statecraft in this region of the
world (first- vs. second-generation state; single or multiple cen-
ters of development). Until the chronology of this polity’s hold
on the Virú Valley is established, however, any further discussion
will remain conjectural. The second part of this paper presents
results from a program of radiocarbon dating conducted by the
author at Huaca Gallinazo since 2008, which was aimed at re-
establishing the chronology of this key site in Andean prehistory.
Results
Over the course of the last two field seasons, one of the main
objectives of our work at Huaca Gallinazo was to obtain samples
of organic material from different occupation levels for radio-
carbon dating. Exploratory trenches were excavated through
stratified deposits, and open-area excavations were also under-
taken to study the late occupation levels—sections of whole
rooms were opened while maintaining bulk walls along at least
two sides of the trenches to ensure stratigraphic control. We also
cleaned part of an immense looting trench on the tall adobe
platform that dominates Huaca Gallinazo to document the
construction of this civic building. These excavations offered a
wealth of “short-life” organic material suitable for radiocarbon
dating, and the opportunity to monitor change in material cul-
ture through time. Samples for radiocarbon dating were col-
lected from 10 excavation units in the residential sector and on
Millaire
 Fig. 3. 3D model and photograph of the central mounds of the Gallinazo Group.

and around the civic complex (Fig. 4, U-1 to U-10). The ana- old. The corpses were wrapped inside shrouds reinforced with wood
lytical data for the 20 samples analyzed are reported in Table S1. twigs. When analyzed, the twigs from both burials yielded coeval
Five dates were obtained through radiometric analysis, while the conventional radiocarbon ages (Beta-253102: 1650 ± 40 B.P.; Beta
others were analyzed through accelerator mass spectrometry. 253103: 1660 ± 40 B.P.). The second living space (U-4) was a large
rectangular room (∼4 × 14 m) immediately to the north of Bennett’s
Residential Sector. Fourteen radiocarbon dates were obtained
V-59A excavations (40). It featured a sequence of eight distinct
from the residential sector. In this area, excavations were carried
layers of refuse which covered an uneven clay floor at ∼2 m below
out in deep test pits and in open areas. In all excavation units, the
the present surface. On the floor we uncovered a hearth, which was
ceramic assemblage included utilitarian wares (dominated by
Valley Plain, Castillo Plain, Castillo Incised, and Castillo Modeled), sampled and analyzed (Beta-233871: 1820 ± 40 B.P.).
as well as fragments of Gallinazo Negative decorated pottery. The other two units excavated in this sector (U-5 and U-6) were
Previous excavations were carried out through the site’s deep small size (∼160 × 160 cm) chambers, featuring storage jars set
stratified deposits (40, 50), revealing an uninterrupted occupation within the clay floor. Samples were collected from the layer below
that would have spanned centuries,§ but until recently no absolute the first clay floor in each chamber. Because of the shallowness of
chronology was available to date the occupation of Huaca Galli- the deposits (the samples were collected less than 1 m below the
nazo. Two deep stratigraphic test pits were excavated with the present surface), we posited that the samples would date the ter-
objective to obtain a terminus ante quem for the occupation of the minal occupation of the site. The two samples analyzed produced
site. For work safety reasons, however, we could not reach the relatively late conventional ages (Beta-233869: 1550 ± 70 B.P.;
deepest strata in either of these units. The first test pit (U-1) was Beta-233870: 1540 ± 70 B.P.), suggesting that the residential
excavated through the floor of a small storage chamber and sector could have been occupied until as late as A.D. 650, based on
reached a depth close to 5 m. Four clay floors and six refuse layers the calibration of these dates using two-sigma statistics (95%).
were identified. Although organic material was present in each
stratum, only two samples were retained for analysis. Those sam-
ples are from the fills below floor 1 (Beta-253100:1720 ± 40 B.P.)
and floor 2 (Beta-253101:1860 ± 40 B.P.). The second test pit (U-
2) was unusual in that we reopened an early archaeological trench
(Strong and Evans’ Strata Cut I), enlarging it by 50 cm toward the
east and sampling each layer. Five samples were analyzed; they
come from the layers of fill below floor 1 (Beta-233868:1680 ± 40
B.P.), floor 2 (Beta-233867:1900 ± 70 B.P.), floor 3 (Beta-
233866:1960 ± 50 B.P.), floor 4 (Beta-233865:1870 ± 60 B.P.), and
floor 5 (Beta-233864:1720 ± 40 B.P.).¶ Results from these test pits
therefore indicate that the residential sector at Huaca Gallinazo
could have been occupied by 50 B.C. in calibrated age, although
the earliest occupation levels have not yet been reached.k
Open-area excavations were also carried out in the residential
sector. The first unit (U-3) was a large patio (∼9.5 × 10.5 m) in the
ANTHROPOLOGY

center of an architectural compound. Here we identified the

remains of four successive clay floors. Samples of organic material
were collected below the third (Beta-253104: 1750 ± 40 B.P.) and
fourth (Beta-253105: 1820 ± 40 B.P.) floors. Two human burials
were also uncovered: an adult female and a child less than two years

§
One test pit excavated at Huaca Gallinazo (Strata Cut 1) reached a depth of more than
7 m, revealing layer upon layer of habitation levels (50).
¶
This last date is unreliable in view of its departure from the temporal pattern shown by
the others in this sequence (floors 1–4), where the 2-sigma calibrated estimates range
back to the first century B.C.
║
All calendar calibrations reported here are expressed with two sigma statistics (95%). Fig. 4. Map of Huacra Gallinazo with adobe walls and excavation units.

Millaire PNAS | April 6, 2010 | vol. 107 | no. 14 | 6189

Civic Building. Four units were excavated on and around the civic
building that dominates Huaca Gallinazo. A deep test pit (U-7)
was excavated near the northwest corner of the building to date the
initial construction phases. Following the exterior facade of the
adobe structure, we reached a depth of 5.5 m below the present
surface, identifying five successive occupation floors abutting the
facade. Samples of organic material were collected from the layers
of fill below floor 2 (Beta-253106: 1750 ± 40 B.P.), floor 4 (Beta-
253107: 1780 ± 40 B.P.), and floor 5 (Beta-253108: 1880 ± 40 B.P.).
The results indicate that the civic complex was built early in the
site’s history, possibly around A.D. 50, although the earliest
occupation levels have not yet been reached.
Two more dates came from excavation carried out on a high
terrace located on top of the civic building (Southern Terrace),
which features a network of rooms of varying sizes. Excavations in
Unit 8 exposed a rectangular chamber with three successive clay
floors and refuse layers. A piece of cane from the fill below floor 1
was sampled and analyzed (Beta-260854: 1730 ± 40 B.P.). A
common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) from a small storage room (U-
9) was also analyzed (Beta-253109: 1690 ± 40 B.P.). These two
samples came from what was likely the penultimate occupation
level of the Southern Terrace, and therefore provide a terminus
post quem for the abandonment of the civic building.
The last excavation unit (U-10) was designed to study the
towering platform that dominates the civic building by cleaning a
section of a large looter’s pit. Rubble was cleared on a 4-m wide
section, revealing the building sequence. Toward the bottom of
the profile, a layer of charred material that marked a clear break
in the construction sequence was sampled and analyzed (Beta-
260852: 1720 ± 40 B.P.). Above this stratum, the profile shows at
least two more building phases, each of which increased the
platform height using a combination of loose fill material and
adobe building columns.
The three radiocarbon dates obtained from the top of the civic
building are roughly coeval, ranging between A.D. 230 and 420
in calendar years. The fact that the sample from the bottom of
the profile in Unit 10 is contemporaneous with the ones from the
near-terminal occupation of the Southern Terrace can be
explained by the general construction sequence. Although it
cannot be established that these samples come from strati-
graphically contemporaneous levels, they come from strata
located essentially at the same elevation above mean sea level
(between 32.84 and 33.22 m). Based on preliminary analyses, it
seems likely that the Southern Terrace originally extended fur-
ther north, and that the towering adobe platform was a late
addition to the building.
Discussion
These radiocarbon dates provide strong evidence for a long and
uninterrupted occupation of both civic and residential sectors at
Huaca Gallinazo, indicating that the site could have been occupied
Fig. 5. Plot of calibrated dates (2σ) for samples from Huaca Gallinazo.
6190 | www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0911226107
from as early as the first century B.C. until as late as the seventh
century A.D. (Fig. 5). These results take into account the full range
of the two-sigma statistics, however, something that necessarily
stretches the calibrated ranges. The present evidence nevertheless
strongly supports the idea that the Gallinazo Group was occupied
throughout the first half of the first millennium A.D. and that the
founding of the settlement occurred at an even earlier date.
Indeed, based on information gathered during our survey, we
evaluate that there are at least 3 m of occupation deposits below
the deepest sample analyzed, which could represent more than 100
years of refuse deposition and construction fill. It seems reason-
able to posit that Huaca Gallinazo was first occupied sometime
during the second century B.C. This would agree with results
obtained previously at the midsized Virú administrative center of
Huaca Santa Clara, where the earliest sample analyzed also sug-
gested a possible founding date in the second century B.C. (33).
These results are significant in view of primary state formation
research on the Peruvian north coast. Not only do they provide
important information on the occupation of the Gallinazo Group
site, but also help to establish the chronology of the Virú polity’s
hold on the valley. Indeed, according to Willey (42) the founding of
the Group was closely related to the extension of the cultivated
area on the northern margins of the valley, and to the massive
public work required for expanding the existing irrigation canal
system. Based on this scenario, the site’s construction would have
marked the materialization of Virú leader’s political success and
possibly the emergence of a new social order. The data obtained
from this radiocarbon dating program therefore seem to sub-
stantiate Fogel’s hypothesis regarding the early formation of a
regional state in Virú sometimes during the second century B.C.,
evidence that calls for a reevaluation of the nature of early state-
craft in this region.
These results raise questions regarding the notion of pristine state
development on the north coast of Peru. Based on the available
chronological evidence, one could be tempted to posit that the
leaders of the Virú polity were the first to take steps toward the
establishment of a functioning state “without contact with other
preexisting states” (1). Such a conclusion would seem premature,
however, considering the large gaps that still exist in the chronology
of other major settlements in this region where signs of incipient
statecraft have been documented archaeologically, including at
Huacas de Moche, the most important center of the post-A.D. 300
period. Indeed, although excavations in the urban sector conducted
by Topic (44), Chapdelaine (51), and Uceda (22) revealed a long
and uninterrupted occupation, absolute dates for the deepest
occupation levels—associated with the founding of this impressive
capital and possibly with the in situ crystallization of another archaic
state—are not yet available. The same predicament affects earlier
Moche Valley settlements where important signs of socio-political
transformation have been documented archaeologically, including
Cerro Arena (52) and Cerro Oreja (24).
Millaire
 Another, possibly more fruitful, approach for future research
might be to leave the concept of pristine state development aside
until more radiocarbon dates are available and instead explore the
possibility that there was never a single center of state develop-
ment along the Peruvian north coast but, rather, multiple centers
of state development (10, 13). In a context where each coastal
valley was slightly different in terms of environment, resources,
access to trade routes, etc., the debate should now shift from
whether Moche society developed the first state in the Andean
region to how many different incipient states emerged along the
Peruvian north coast in the centuries around the turn of the
common era.
Methods
As a rule, excavation followed the site’s stratigraphy, which usually features
the following sequence: beaten clay floor, refuse fill, leveling fill, beaten clay
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floor, and so forth. All but one of the samples were from sealed stratigraphic
layers (below a clay floor) to ensure the quality of the results. Moreover, all
samples were “short-life” organic material (such as food remains or thatching
material), reducing the chance of obtaining disproportionately early dates
because of the “old wood effect.” All of the samples were removed from their
archaeological context by the author using clean stainless steel tools and
stored directly into foil paper. In the field laboratory, each sample was
inspected, placed in clean foil paper, and bagged. All samples were pretreated
and analyzed by Beta Analytic Inc.** All calibrations of radiocarbon age to
calendar years for Huaca Gallinazo samples are based on INTCAL04 (53).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. I am grateful to Estuardo La Torre Calvera, Jeisen
Navarro Vega, and Magali Morlion for their help in the field and in the
laboratory. My warmest thanks go to Charles Spencer, Elsa Redmond, Magali
Morlion, and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments as I
worked on the present article. This research was made possible thanks to
generous financial support from The University of Western Ontario and
from the American Museum of Natural History.
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**Information on pretreatment and analytical procedures is available at Beta Analytic.
PNAS | April 6, 2010 | vol. 107 | no. 14 | 6191