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Household archaeology, together with community and regional settlement information, forms the basis for a unique local perspective of Andean prehistory in this study of the evolution of the site of Lukurmata, a pre-Columbian community in highland Bolivia. First established nearly two thousand years ago, Lukurmata grew to be a major ceremonial center in the Tiwanaku state, a polity that dominated the south-central Andes from a.d. 400 to 1200. After the Tiwanaku state collapsed, Lukurmata rapidly declined, becoming once again a small village. In his analysis of a 1300-year-long sequence of house remains at Lukurmata, Marc Bermann traces patterns and changes in the organization of domestic life, household ritual, ties to other communities, and mortuary activities, as well as household adaptations to overarching political and economic trends.
Prehistorians have long studied the processes of Andean state formation, expansion, and decline at the regional level, notes Bermann. But only now are we beginning to understand how these changes affected the lives of the residents at individual settlements. Presenting a "view from below" of Andean prehistory based on a remarkably extensive data set, Lukurmata is a rare case study of how prehispanic polities can be understood in new ways if prehistorians integrate the different lines of evidence available to them.
Originally published in 1994.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
List of contents
Illustrations and Tables Ch. 2Household Archaeology Ch. 3Lukurmata: Setting, Methodology, and Previous Research Ch. 4Lukurmata's Earliest Occupation Ch. 5Ties with Tiwanaku Ch. 6Continuity and Change Ch. 7The Rise of the Tiwanaku Polity Ch. 8Lukurmata during the Tiwanaku III Period Ch. 9Late Tiwanaku III Period Structures Ch. 10Terminal Tiwanaku III Period Occupation: Specialized Architecture Ch. 11Lukurmata and the Tiwanaku State Ch. 12Lukurmata at Its Height Ch. 13Lukurmata's Decline during the Tiwanaku V Period Ch. 14The Post-Tiwanaku Period at Lukurmata Ch. 15Conclusion: Lukurmata Households and the Tiwanaku State Appendixes I: Tabular Household Data II: Faunal Remains from Lukurmata Domestic Occupations III: Radiocarbon Dates from Lukurmata Domestic Contexts IV: Regional Time Chain V: Field Designations of Burials Mentioned in the Text VI: Ceramic Descriptions References Index
About the author
Marc Bermann
Summary
Household archaeology, together with community and regional settlement information, forms the basis for a unique local perspective of Andean prehistory in this study of the evolution of the site of Lukurmata, a pre-Columbian community in highland Bolivia. First established nearly two thousand years ago, Lukurmata grew to be a major ceremonial center in the Tiwanaku state, a polity that dominated the south-central Andes from a.d. 400 to 1200. After the Tiwanaku state collapsed, Lukurmata rapidly declined, becoming once again a small village. In his analysis of a 1300-year-long sequence of house remains at Lukurmata, Marc Bermann traces patterns and changes in the organization of domestic life, household ritual, ties to other communities, and mortuary activities, as well as household adaptations to overarching political and economic trends.
Prehistorians have long studied the processes of Andean state formation, expansion, and decline at the regional level, notes Bermann. But only now are we beginning to understand how these changes affected the lives of the residents at individual settlements. Presenting a "view from below" of Andean prehistory based on a remarkably extensive data set, Lukurmata is a rare case study of how prehispanic polities can be understood in new ways if prehistorians integrate the different lines of evidence available to them.
Originally published in 1994.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Additional text
"[This book] represents a significant contribution to the archaeology of the household. Bermann's high standards of field excavation and scholarship admirably show the potential of household archaeology and for studying broad questions of sociopolitical evolution and culture change."
