Early in 1953, the author and Richard Schaedel, while traveling the Carretera Panamericana, undertook an archaeological examination of the coastal regions of Peru from Chala to the Arica area of Chile. The survey was remarkably unproductive. Publications concerning this region are also remarkably scarce. Uhle (1919) published a monograph on the archaeology of the Tacna-Arica area; and Kroeber (1944) discussed briefly the northern part of the region. Other than this, the scientific literature seems to be a blank, although the chronicles state that Inca domination, at least, was an accomplished fact.

The reason for the paucity of sites is seen, in part, in the nature of the country, a description of which may be in order at this point. From Chala south to Atico, a distance of 89 kilometers, the road passes for the most part along a narrow coastal plain which in this area is merely a rocky beach, never more than 3 kilometers wide. Back of this beach the coastal range of the Andes rises very abruptly.