Unveiling Pachacamac

Book excerpt: New data from the past 25 years of research at an important pre-Hispanic site The sacred Andean site of Pachacamac, inhabited for over a thousand years before the Spanish Conquest, has an enduring presence in Peruvian history and plays a pivotal role in the formation of current views about religion and thought in the pre-Hispanic period. Unveiling Pachacamac is the first volume to synthesize the past quarter century’s abundance of new data and hypotheses on this important sanctuary. Gathering contributions from an international array of leading researchers working at the site, this volume examines deep theoretical questions about social change, interregional interactions, the nature of religion, and issues of cultural continuity. It is also the first book to look at the site in relation with its territory and hinterland. As Pachacamac is widely considered an archetypal Andean shrine, used by researchers as a vital reference in comparative analyses of sanctuaries and religions in precapitalist societies, this volume will have a long-lasting impact on the field of archaeology. Contributors: Andrea Gonzales Lombardi| Barbara Winsborough | Denise Pozzi-Escot | Enrique López – Hurtado | Giancarlo Marcone | Izumi Shimada | Katiusha Bernuy | Krzysztof Makowski | Lawrence S. Owens | Lucy Salazar | Peter Eeckhout | Rafael A. Segura | Richard Burger