Some South American history from 1000-500BC

Skulls with cranial deformation from the Paracas culture

This is a post about South American history from 1000-500BC. Please remember that I am not an expert on this time period at all and there is much that is still unknown and still being discovered by archaeologists. However, notwithstanding these caveats, the broad outlines of what I will describe here will hopefully be mostly correct. The dates presented here will be very broad estimates and may well be wildly off. This is a time before writing in this part of the world, so the main sources will be entirely archaeological. While oral history is important, this particular time period is too far in the past for oral history to be useful here.

For the purposes of this blog, South America will comprise of the continent of South America, excluding the islands of the Caribbean, which have been dealt with briefly in the blog post about the history of North America.

Site of Chavin de Huantar

By the beginning of this time period pottery usage had become widespread. Thus the civilisations of this time are referred to as ceramic rather than pre-ceramic civilisations.

Around century of the 1000's BC, the site of Sechin Bajo, as part of the Casma-Sechin culture, may have been conquered by outside invaders, leading to a change in the tradition. The Casma-Sechin settlement of Las Haldas appears to have ceased building new monuments from around this time, possibly because of change in political circumstances. But this is mostly unproven however. Both sites continued to be occupied for much of the next millennium.

In the century of the 900's BC because of the change in material remains of the Casma-Sechin culture, the archaeologists assign the previous period as the Initial Period and speak of the Casma-Sechin culture after the possible conquest event as Early Horizon.

Lance idol at Chavin de Huantar

Around this time the religious site of Chavin de Huantar, a religious site further inland in the Andes, became important. It had existed some centuries previously, but began to flourish during this time period. The culture that used this site is referred to as the Chavin. The site was decorated with labyrinthine tunnels and intricate stelas, as well as a large pyramid. The site was probably ceremonial, as it was unwalled and there was no other similar site in the lands of the Chavin culture.

In the mid-800's BC the Chiripa culture along the southern shore of Lake Titicaca was flourishing. The Middle Phase of the Chiripa culture ended and the Late Phase began. The small town of Chiripa, which gives its name to the culture, appears to have expanded around this time, covering an area of around 7 hectares.

In the south of what is now the country of Peru, the Paracas culture began to flourish around this time in the arid deserts of the Ica region. The land is near the coast and mountains and even has rivers flowing through it, but is dry. The Paracas culture appeared to have understood the unforgiving topography and adapted to it. They mummified their dead, created spectacular ceramics and textiles, some of which have survived, and may have pioneered the practice of making geoglyphs in the region. They also practiced cranial deformation and many people in this culture would have very unusually high-shaped skulls as a result. Their culture would later merge into the Nazca culture in the same region, which would take these cultural traits and continue them.

Paracas culture textiles

Around the 700's BC pre-Muisca tribes may have settled in Colombia and engaged in agriculture. We know that the peoples of Colombia began to become more urbanised during this time period, but there were no major historical cultures noted there as yet.

Around the century of the 500's BC, the Cupisnique culture, on the northern Pacific Coast of Peru, began to decline. They may have been the cultural forerunners of the later Moche culture. The Cupisnique culture leave behind large numbers of ceramic objects, including many figures showing decapitators and decapitatees. This was also typical of the later Moche pottery. They may also have had some connections to the more inland Chavin culture and to their religious traditions.

Around this time Chavin de Huantar seems to have undergone major changes. The site itself was still occupied, but the people began to reuse the older monuments and the older temples and plazas were built over and turned into small dwellings. An elaborate relief stela, called the Lanzón Stela was erected around this time. It may have represented a new deity or a new method of worship. There are many interpretations of these events, but it seems reasonable to assume that there were major changes in the Chavin religious tradition around this time.

And thus the period draws to a close, with the rise of new cultures and the decline of older ones. The Paracas culture in particular would prove influential to later cultures in the region.

Paracas culture geoglyph

Related Blogs:
Some South American history from 4000-2000BC
Some South American history from 2000-1000BC
Before the Incas