In this study the Pacariqtambo origin myth of the Inca, as described in a number of different Spanish chronicles, is analyzed through examining archaeological data from the Province of Paruro (Department of Cuzco, Peru). The findings suggest that the rock outcrop of Puma Orco, located in the District of Pacariqtambo, may represent the Tambotoco of the Pacariqtambo origin myth, and that the nearby Inca ruins of Maukallaqta may have contained an oracle of the first mythical Inca, Manco Capac. It is suggested that these ruins were built by the ruling elite of Cuzco to commemorate their mythical progenitor and to legitimate their sacred status within Inca society.

Recent debate about the development of complex societies on the north coast of Peru has turned on the relative importance of marine vs. terrestrial resources and the extent to which different resource zones are upset by El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. While ENSO events are cited frequently as having important consequences for Prehispanic Andean societies, in fact there are few archaeological data about the nature of cultural responses to a specific ENSO event. Archaeological data from two Chimu settlements in the Casma Valley, Peru—Quebrada Sta. Cristina and Manchan—document the occurrence of a fourteenth-century A.D. ENSO event and some of the cultural responses to that prehistoric El Niño.

It has been claimed that the puquios, a subterranean irrigation system of the Nasca drainage, are a unique Prehispanic innovation. However, documentary evidence indicates that many puquios were constructed and managed by Spaniards. In Iberia such systems were built by Islamic engineers and were extended by Christians after the Moors were expelled in 1492. The Spaniards brought this technology to Mexico and the Andes, beginning in the mid-sixteenth century. They employed it in agriculture, in urban water systems, and to drain mines. This paper presents new evidence on the 21 Andean areas where puquios were constructed and controlled by the Spaniards and evaluates arguments pertaining to the origin of the Nasca puquios.

High-precision trace-element analyses for 208 geological samples representing 25 mesoamerican obsidian sources were obtained using instrumental neutron-activation analysis to measure a total of 28 elements per sample. These are the first detailed chemical studies ever published for many of the source areas. Especially intensive analyses were made for six sources in the states of Veracruz and Puebla in Mexico from the region of Pico de Orizaba volcano. In addition, source determinations are provided for 65 artifacts from the Olmec site of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, Veracruz. The investigations presented here constitute an important basis for associating obsidian artifacts with specific sources, thereby making possible the reconstruction of Prehispanic trade system.

We analyzed the remains of small mammals from two rockshelters in the pre-Andean mountains of central Chile. A significant fraction of the remains exhibited evidence of burning. Burned remains were present from 4460 to 1520 B.P. and belong to rodent species of large body size and weight that are either diurnal or colonial. We suggest that rodents were a constant food item for humans in central Chile, and that rodent species were selected based on body size and conspicuousness.