The Ancient Nasca World: New Insights from Science and Archaeology

673 Pages·2016·42.384 MB·English

by  Rosa Lasaponara, Nicola Masini, Giuseppe Orefici (eds.)

Rosa Lasaponara
Nicola Masini
Giuseppe Orefici
Editors
The Ancient
Nasca World
New Insights
from Science and Archaeology
The Ancient Nasca World
Rosa Lasaponara Nicola Masini
(cid:129)
fi
Giuseppe Ore ci
Editors
The Ancient Nasca World
New Insights from Science and Archaeology
123
Editors
RosaLasaponara Giuseppe Orefici
NationalResearchCouncil(CNR)-Institute CentroItaliano Studi eRicerche
ofMethodologies for Environmental Archeologiche Precolombiane(CISRAP)
Analysis (IMAA) Brescia
Potenza Italy
Italy
NicolaMasini
NationalResearchCouncil(CNR)-Institute
ofArchaeological andMonumental
Heritage(IBAM)
Potenza
Italy
ISBN978-3-319-47050-4 ISBN978-3-319-47052-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-47052-8
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2016956172
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Cover Illustration: Nasca geoglyph depicting a hummingbird in the Pampa of Nasca Archaeological
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Foreword I
Thisisanimportant,extraordinaryandusefulbookformanyreasons.Asthereader
might expect, a book that provides a description of fieldwork and findings that
beganin1982atanarchaeologicalareaofglobalrenown,theNascaareaoftheIca
region in Peru, will reward the reader generously with a very comprehensive pre-
sentation of information and insights. We are dealing here, after all, with an
enormousbreadthofmaterialthathasbeendocumentedfirsthand.Aparallelmight
be drawn to research that rests upon the examination of primary archival written
documentsversusasurveyofsecondarydocuments,yeteventhiswouldnotdothis
work justice. Here we have the primary analysis of material evidence that was
gathered and analyzed by the team of authors themselves. This is an example of
what archaeology can bring to the accumulation of human knowledge: the inter-
pretationofmaterialevidencebythosewhoknowitandhaveremoveditfromthe
context in which it was found. This is what only archaeology can offer the world.
By discharging their responsibility to analyze and publish what they have exca-
vated, the authors in this volume have satisfied what should be the prime directive
for all archaeologists: publish what you excavate. Given the range of excavations
and other research carried out, this is especially worthy of admiration and
congratulations.
Yet there is more. The authors have managed to push the boundaries of
archaeological research in a direction that holds enormous promise. They have, by
doing so, thrown down a challenge to all archaeologists to do the same. The term
landscapearchaeologyisnotnew,ofcourse,butthisbookshowshowitshouldbe
done. The authors use remote sensing technologies not only to discover sites and
features, but even more so to explore the ongoing dialectic between collective
human behavior and the environment. This approach will surely render the infor-
mationgainedfromarchaeologicalresearchnotonlymorecompletebutalsomuch
more relevant to the environmental, social, and political issues that we face today.
The use of archaeogeophysical research by the scholars who have prepared this
book has enabled a profoundly landscape-oriented approach to the surveys (in-
cluding rock art) and excavations (from burials to dwellings and temples and
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vi ForewordI
ceremonial structures, including evidence of human sacrifice dating back to 4200
BCE) that began in 1982 and the intense excavation and anastylosis that has been
done at Cahuachi since 2002. The extent to which aerial and satellite remote
sensinghavebeenusedtoaccomplishthismaywellbeunprecedentedinabookof
thisscope.Assuch,itshouldbeseenasabenchmarkinarchaeologicalscholarship.
In accomplishing this feat, the editors of this book have leveraged the effort
invested in their research in the most admirable of ways. They have provided
training in the use of aerial and satellite imagery through workshops and confer-
ences that draw upon their Nasca work, as well as at other of their research areas
and in other places in the world. This is timely because the treasure trove of
remotely sensed imagery collected from satellite and aerial platforms that are now
available online, grows every day. Let other archaeologists use the doorway that
this book has opened to explore a new world of rapidly expanding research
possibilities.
Mauro Marsili
Foreword II
Several decades ago, as a young student of Mediterranean archaeology, I used to
consult in my school library publications of archaeologists of the nineteenth and
earlytwentiethcenturies.Ilookedwithadmirationandincredulityattheimpressive
numberofvolumesofreports,inwhichresultsofseveralcampaignsofexcavations
in Greece, Egypt, or the Middle East were presented, such as the reports of the
French mission (École française d’Athènes) in Delos (Greece), related to investi-
gations carried out since 1873 and continuing to date. What tenacity and deep
dedication these scholars possessed, who devoted several decades of their lives to
researchintoonesite,suchasClaudeSchaefferwhodevoted40yearsoflife(1929–
1969) to study Ugarit in Syria.
IhadneverexpectedtofindsimilarcasesinAndeanarchaeology,beforearriving
in Cahuachi and meeting Giuseppe Orefici, who since 1982 has directed 33 cam-
paigns of excavations—so, probably constituting the longest episode of uninter-
rupted work in Andean archaeology.
This volume summarizes more than just three decades of archaeological
research, interdisciplinary investigations ranging from the botanical research by
LuigiPiacenzatotheanthropologicalstudiesbyAndreaDrusini.Besidesthem,we
have the results of investigations carried out since 2007 by the ITACA Mission of
Italian CNR, directed by Nicola Masini, including scholarly experts in remote
sensing, archaeogeophysics, geology, diagnostics, and photogrammetry. The
interdisciplinary investigations led by Nicola Masini and Rosa Lasaponara have
been conducted to provide information for the further detection of buried remains,
the study of geoglyphs and puquios, the analysis of ceramics, and the evaluation
and monitoring of archaeological looting and vandalism.
What has motivated all these specialists is definitely the scientific interest and
charmofCahuachi,withitslonghistory,hugesize,andfascinatingcomplexity.No
less important is the personality of Giuseppe Orefici who has been, during the
recentpast decades,tocoordinate dozensofspecialistsandstudents, offeringthem
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the opportunity to develop their own research topics. I personally and my col-
leagues are proud to have had the opportunity to work in Cahuachi1: in fact, the
contribution of one of us (Anna Gruszczynska-Ziolkowska) is included in this
publication.Theimportanceofthisvolumeresidesinthewidepanoramaofvarious
different perspectives into the remains of the Nasca culture, with its monumental
architecture, mysterious geoglyphs, irrigation systems, polychrome ceramic, tex-
tiles, and musical instruments.
Reading this book, it is fascinating for the richness and variety of its contents
and investigation methods which will further enhance our knowledge of Nasca
culture.
The amount of data collected with the use of advanced technologies and sci-
entific approaches is overwhelming and yet more decades will be needed to fully
analyze and publish them.
Probably Cahuachi will become the Délos or Ugarit of Andean archaeology: I
wish this to the Nasca Project, its scholars, and its director.
Mariusz S. Ziółkowski
1MariuszS.ZiółkowskireferstothemissionoftheCentreforPrecolombianStudiesofUniversity
ofWarsawwhichcooperatedwithProyectoNascaforanumberofinvestigations,amongwhichis
themusicologicalstudiesoftheNasca(seeChap.17byGruszczynska-Ziolkowska).
Foreword III
“TheAncientNascaWorld:NewInsightsfromScienceandArchaeology”collects
the innovative results of the Italian research in Peru carried out by the archaeo-
logical mission Proyecto Nasca, directed by Giuseppe Orefici, and the Italian
Mission of Heritage Conservation and Archaeo-Geophysics in Peru (ITACA)
directed by Nicola Masini of CNR, active in Nasca 1982–2007, respectively.
ThevolumeeditedbyRosaLasaponara,NicolaMasini,andGiuseppeOreficiis
the original result of the synergy between two realities of Italian research and the
dialogue between various disciplines, such as archaeology, anthropology, remote
sensing,geophysics,anddiagnostics,inordertorespondtothenumerousquestions
posed by the history of human beings in relation to the environment and to the
physical evidence that has been left in legacy and that we recognize as cultural
heritage.
It seems that the Nasca civilization, with its mysteries and questions that have
long been posed to scholars from countries all over the world, is the ideal ground
for interdisciplinary research and to create a bridge between humanities and
physical scientific disciplines.
Archaeology and science, also through digital technologies, are increasingly
interconnected in order to know, interpret, and actualize the contributions of the
various civilizations and to raise awareness of our origins, as well as to develop a
vision of the future by learning from the past.
Nasca and the ceremonial center of Cahuachi are two emblematic case studies
that help us to understand how humans has been able to exploit, with intelligence
and an intimate and mystic relationship with nature, the few resources that the
environment and the climate of one of the most arid places in the world, the
Atacama desert, granted them.
The great pyramids of Cahuachi, built by exploiting the hills of the Nasca
drainage, marked by floods, and the intelligent filtration systems to retrieve sub-
terranean water, are only some of the most significant examples of this ability that
the Nasca have demonstrated to adapt to their desert environment.
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In this way, they created oases where agriculture flourished, built villages,
erected pyramids, and drew geoglyphs in order to celebrate their intimate rela-
tionshipwiththegodsandtoexpressavisionoftheworldwhichtheauthorsofthe
chaptersofthisvolumehavebeenabletooutlineinthevariousartisticexpressions
(architecture, ceramics, music, textile) and with the most innovative methods of
scientific analysis.
Douglas C. Comer