Date and Duration of Occupation of Cerro León

Ringberg's (Reference Ringberg2012) analysis of 162,000 sherds recovered from Cerro León indicated that the site was occupied sometime during the Gallinazo and Early Moche phases (AD 1–400). Absent are Salinar-phase pottery types (400–1 BC), such as Puerto Moorin White-on-red, Puerto Moorin Plain Red, and Huacapongo Polished (Brennan Reference Brennan1978; Collier Reference Collier1955; Strong and Evans Reference Strong and Clifford Evans1952). Consequently, the site was occupied at some point after the end of the Salinar phase. Castillo series types account for 23% of the pottery assemblage, the most common of which are Castillo Plain and Valle Plain (Ringberg Reference Ringberg2012:253), the primary utilitarian wares in the lower and middle Moche Valley from the Gallinazo phase through the end of the Late Moche phase in the AD 800s. Also present in the assemblage are Castillo Incised, Castillo Modeled, and Gallinazo Negative, types that were produced during a more limited period in the Gallinazo and Early Moche phases (AD 1–300; Collier Reference Collier1955; Strong and Evans Reference Strong and Clifford Evans1952). Early Moche-phase decorated pottery, such as Moche I and II stirrup-spout bottles (Donnan Reference Donnan1999; Larco Reference Larco Hoyle2001) and Huancaco Red and White (Strong and Evans Reference Strong and Clifford Evans1952:327–344), are absent. Also absent are Middle Moche phase decorated pottery, such as painted cántaros, single-spout or stirrup-spout bottles, floreros, and ceramic whistles, trumpets, and rattles (Donnan Reference Donnan1999; Donnan and Mackey Reference Donnan and Mackey1978; Russell et al. Reference Russell, Banks, Briceño and Shimada1998; Uceda and Armas Reference Uceda, Armas and Shimada1998). The only Moche-phase type recovered was one fragment of a hollow figurine in Compound 6 (Ringberg Reference Ringberg2012:179–180).

Six AMS dates corroborate the ceramic analysis (Table 1). All the samples were from undisturbed primary contexts, such as hearths and floors, and are associated with daily domestic activities. We dated fragments of maize cobs and charred twigs, rather than wood charcoal, to avoid problems caused by old wood and cross-sectional errors (Schiffer Reference Schiffer1986). Although the dates cluster between AD 1 and AD 350 (Figure 3), Cerro León probably was not occupied for that entire span. Analysis of remodeling events of Compounds 1, 3, and 6, combined with a pottery use-life study, indicates that the compounds were occupied for approximately 100–200 years between AD 1 to 350 (Ringberg Reference Ringberg2012).

Figure 3. Plot of calibrated radiocarbon dates from Areas 1 and 2, Cerro León (MV-225), based on SHCal13.

Table 1. AMS Dates from Areas 1 and 2, Cerro León.

Note: Dates recalibrated on OxCal, using the ShCal13 curve.

^a Ringberg Reference Ringberg2012.

^b Huckleberry and Billman Reference Huckleberry and Billman2003.

Manufacture and Exchange of Pottery

Our research indicates that only a small proportion of the pottery recovered from Cerro León was manufactured at or within 5 km of the site and that most of the pottery came from the adjacent highlands. Following Shepard (Reference Shepard1985; see Stoltman Reference Stoltman, Haliday, Goldberg and Reid Ferring2000; Velde and Druc Reference Velde and Druc1999), Ringberg conducted a petrographic study of pottery from Cerro León and other EIP Moche Valley sites, along with clay-source surveys within the Moche Valley. She also conducted a technological analysis (Rice Reference Rice1987; Rye Reference Rye1981) of rims, bases, and body sherds from Cerro León and defined four pottery wares: Castillo, Cerro León, Otuzco, and Quinga series (Table 2).

Table 2. Descriptions of the Four Pottery Wares Identified at Cerro León.

Cerro León, Otuzco, and Quinga series pottery originated in the nearby highlands and were transported to Cerro León and other HEIP sites in the chaupiyunga. Cerro León and Quinga series pottery likely originated in the Carabamba Plateau, whereas Otuzco series pottery was from the Otuzco Basin in the upper Moche Valley. Clays and tempers of Castillo wares probably came from a massive source of alluvial clay near the Huacas de Moche in the lower Moche Valley. The highland origins of Cerro León, Otuzco, and Quinga wares, along with the coastal origins of Castillo wares, are indicated by petrographic differences in aplastic inclusions that connect these wares to source regions in the lower valley and the adjacent highlands (Ringberg Reference Ringberg2012:180). The three highland wares constituted 76% of the pottery from Cerro León, whereas 23% of the sherds were lower-valley Castillo wares (Table 3).

Table 3. Frequencies of All Pottery Types per Residential Compound.

Cerro León, Otuzco, and Quinga series sherds are clearly distinct from Castillo series sherds in terms of manufacture, firing atmosphere, clay color, temper, surface treatment, and decoration (Figures 4–6). These distinctions probably were the result of discrete groups of highland potters learning their potting traditions while using local highland clays, tempers, and minerals for paints. Numerous large EIP fortified hill towns have been identified on the Carabamba Plateau and Otuzco Basin that contain Otuzco and Quinga series pottery (Topic and Topic Reference Topic and Topic1982). The nearest highland EIP hill towns are within 20–40 km of Cerro León, a short distance but a significant gain in elevation (>3,000 m). The distinct source regions and manufacturing traditions of the pottery assemblage at Cerro León indicate strong ties with potting communities in the highlands and significantly less engagement with Yunga potters.

Figure 4. Cerro León Series decorated pottery fragments.

Figure 5. Upper two rows, Quinga series white paste bowl fragments; bottom row, Otuzco series yellow paste cántaro fragments.

Figure 6. Castillo series vessel fragments with plastic decoration.

Domestic Architecture

High-status dwellings at Cerro León, such as Compounds 1, 3 and 6, were built in a distinctive style that is defined by three main elements. The first is the use of upright slabs with small, thin chinking stones. Second, massive unmodified stones, some which weigh more than 500 kilos, were used for door jambs, lintels, and thresholds. Exterior corners also often were formed by large upright rocks. Third, compounds were completely enclosed by masonry-and-quincha walls. Lower walls were masonry with the upper wall of caña brava (Gynerium sagittum) and wood posts, known as quincha. This vernacular style of domestic architecture is distinct from local Gallinazo and Moche-phase domestic architecture in the middle and lower Moche Valley, which was typically built from adobes or uncoursed stone (Bawden Reference Bawden1977, Reference Bawden1982; Billman et al. Reference Billman, Montero and Chunga2000, Reference Billman, Montero and Chunga2002; Chapdelaine Reference Chapdelaine, Isbell and Silverman2002).

Furthermore, the spatial layout of Compound 1, the largest residential compound at Cerro León, was uncharacteristic of the middle and lower Moche Valley in the EIP. Divided into three distinct spaces (Figure 7), this triadic organization of domestic architecture is not found in Yunga-style domestic architecture in the Moche Valley (Bawden Reference Bawden1977, Reference Bawden1982; Billman et al. Reference Billman, Montero and Chunga2000, Reference Billman, Montero and Chunga2002; Chapdelaine Reference Chapdelaine, Isbell and Silverman2002). The largest of the three areas in the compound was the private residential space, which was surrounded by masonry-and-quincha walls. The only entryway into this domestic space led to a large patio built on two terraces (Features 14 and 18), with a retaining wall running down the center. On the lower terrace (Feature 18), we found evidence of three activities: maintenance of stone-hoe tips for farming, metalworking, and the small-scale manufacture of mudstone beads and pendants (Briceño and Billman Reference Briceño and Billman2018). On the upper terrace (Feature 14), there was a small kitchen with an attached ramada for shade (Feature 12 and 41, respectively). On the north end of the patio were four small rooms (Features 6, 15, 16, and 20), which were heavily plastered and probably used for food storage. From the upper terrace, steps led to another smaller patio (Feature 33) and to the entrance to Feature 5, the main cooking and sleeping area. Feature 5 was accessed through a small room and a corridor (Features 23 and 7, respectively). A storeroom (Feature 6) was located off the corridor.

Figure 7. Public, private, and ritual sectors in Compound 1, Area 1, Cerro León.

The second area of Compound 1 was used for public rituals associated with the high-status household that lived in the compound. Although adjacent to the enclosed private area, this public area had a separate entrance, which led to two large patios. The Feature 11 patio was a level, open space with a viewshed that encompassed most of the quebrada below and the surrounding middle valley. In contrast, the Feature 32 patio was enclosed by a masonry wall and had one entrance, accessed only by a trail leading up from the valley floor. The west end of the patio had two terraces constructed from massive boulders (Features 43 and 44). A stone staircase (Feature 42) provided access to the two terraces from the patio. These terraces appear to have been stages for performances presented to audiences in the patio below.

The third area of Compound 1 was located adjacent to those two stage-like terraces. An entryway on the lower terrace led directly to this part of the compound. This area consisted of a long terrace (Features 22 and 37) and three masonry rooms (Features 8–10). The terrace showed evidence of the production of large quantities of food. On it were a large batán (grinding stone), numerous large hearths with windbreaks, and a storeroom (Feature 35). The three adjacent rooms were constructed from thick masonry walls and were accessed through roofs, which were on the same level as the terrace. On the edge of the terrace were two slab-lined pits, each containing the remains of a camelid. Human phalanges, a dog burial, fragments of decorated pottery, and a crystal projectile point were found in these three rooms, which likely functioned as burial chambers or crypts. Although the crypts were adjacent to the private living space in the compound, they were separated by a massive masonry wall (80 cm thick and more than 1.5 m tall).

Domestic Rituals and Burial Practices

Ethnohistoric sources indicate that the Indigenous people of the coast and highlands of the central Andes had distinct religious and ceremonial practices before Spanish contact (Isbell Reference Isbell1997; Lau Reference Lau2002; Moore Reference Moore2004; Ramírez Reference Ramírez1996; Tsai Reference Tsai2020). Briefly stated, many Indigenous ethnic groups in the highlands of the central Andes venerated the physical remains of ancestors, which were periodically removed from crypts for ritual performances (Isbell Reference Isbell1997; Lau Reference Lau2002; Tsai Reference Tsai2020). In contrast, Indigenous religious traditions on the coast focused on the performance of public rituals for large audiences—often numbering more than 10,000 people—at massive ceremonial complexes consisting of plazas and mounds (Billman Reference Billman1996; Moore Reference Moore1996; Uceda Reference Uceda, Uceda, Mujica and Morales1997, Reference Uceda and Pillsbury2001).

The layout of Compound 1 indicates a unique set of burial and ritual practices unlike those known for Yunga people in the EIP. The arrangement of domestic areas, crypts, special-purpose kitchen areas, and performance space within the household structure reveals that the people residing at Compound 1 were living with their ancestors, who were placed in crypts that were readily accessible to the living. Based on the arrangement of space, we propose that the dead were periodically removed from their crypts and used in rituals that took place on the terrace-stages (Features 43 and 44) above the public patio (Feature 32). These rituals likely were accompanied by feasts, as indicated by the presence of adjacent cooking facilities and the many storerooms within the compound. Similar crypts also were found at other dwellings at Cerro León. Compound 3 had a large, slab-lined pit dug into its main terrace-patio. Although the pit had been looted, excavation and screening of fill and backdirt yielded fragments of decorated pottery and human phalanges. Other dwellings at Cerro León also had large, looted slab-lined pits.

Although there was variation in Gallinazo and Moche phase burials on the north coast, there was remarkable consistency in mortuary practices (Donnan Reference Donnan and Dillehay1995; Millaire Reference Millaire2002, Reference Millaire2004). In the overwhelming majority of cases, burials were sealed and never again opened (Donnan Reference Donnan and Dillehay1995; Millaire Reference Millaire2002, Reference Millaire2004). In rural areas such as the middle Moche Valley, Yunga people typically sequestered the deceased in cemeteries away from their settlements (Billman Reference Billman1996; Donnan Reference Donnan and Dillehay1995), whereas at urban settlements, the deceased were buried in cemeteries within settlements, in pits excavated into dwellings well after abandonment of the dwelling, or within dwellings in sealed graves below the floors (Donnan Reference Donnan and Dillehay1995; Donnan and Mackey Reference Donnan and Mackey1978; Millaire Reference Millaire2002:107–109). There were exceptions to these patterns; for example, Millaire (Reference Millaire2004) documented 65 cases of a sample of 507 Moche burials where the dead were moved after burial or decomposition. These examples include secondary burials where bodies were allowed to decompose and then buried. In other examples, tombs were reopened to add bodies or to remove bodies, body parts, or grave offerings. Secondary offerings of skulls and skeletal elements also have been found in a variety of contexts (Millaire Reference Millaire2004).

Millaire establishes that Moche people maintained relationships with the dead after they were buried; however, their relationship with the dead appears to have been different from what was uncovered at Cerro León. At Sipan, Huaca Cao Viejo, and Huaca de la Luna, some elite chamber tombs in large mounds were reopened, and bodies were removed or moved (Millaire Reference Millaire2002:377–382). However, chamber tombs in mounds were not designed to be reopened. To add or remove burials, tunnels had to be excavated to the tombs; then the tunnels were refilled, and the tombs resealed. At San José de Moro, Nelson (Reference Nelson1998) documented that some bodies in boot-shaped tombs were partially disarticulated due to their delayed burial. However, there is no evidence that bodies were periodically removed and returned to the tombs. This practice would have been difficult given the boot shape, and it would have resulted in more extensive disarticulation of bones.

The meticulous research by Millaire (Reference Millaire2004) and Donnan (Reference Donnan and Dillehay1995) of hundreds of Moche burials definitively demonstrates that the mortuary practices uncovered at Compound 1 differed from those found in Moche homes, huacas, and cemeteries. The treatment of the dead at Cerro León suggests a different worldview, one more akin to highland practices (Isbell Reference Isbell1997; Lau Reference Lau2002; Tsai Reference Tsai2020). The dead lived on and were active agents in the negotiation of identity and power relations. The physical remains of the dead were perhaps a means by which households at Cerro León proclaimed their identity and negotiated their status. It bears noting that when people left Cerro León, they may have taken the remains of their ancestors with them. We found no evidence of desecration of tombs or a violent abandonment of Cerro León. Tombs were empty except for a few phalanges, sherds, and small items, which may have been accidentally left behind when bundles of human remains and sacred objects were removed at abandonment of the community.

Foodways

Although evidence indicates that most of the pottery used at the site was highland in origin, this finding alone does not necessarily demonstrate that the people of Cerro León had a highland group identity. To fully understand the relationships between pottery and identity, we must examine how pottery was used. Studies in the prehispanic US Southwest, for example, have shown that foodways, domestic spatial organization, and the nondecorative traits of pottery vessels can be reliable indicators of group identities (Clark Reference Clark2001; Lyons Reference Lyons2003; Neuzil Reference Neuzil2008). Analysis of form and function of both utilitarian and ceremonial pottery from Cerro León indicates how the choices that people made structured their daily life and periodic ritual activities. Those choices enabled residents to materialize and maintain a multigenerational highland cultural identity throughout the occupation of the site.

Residents preferred unique, highland-made vessels for a suite of tasks related to the preparation, cooking, serving, and storage of food (Figure 8). Highland wares at the site include the full range of vessel forms necessary for daily domestic life; in contrast, Castillo wares (manufactured on the coast) were limited to a few types of cooking ollas and large tinajas for liquid storage (Figure 9). No Castillo serving wares (neither bowls nor jars) were present. In addition, two functional types were found only in highland wares: bowls for toasting maize or beans, and colanders, possibly used for smoking meat (Ringberg Reference Ringberg2012:193). Collectively, the pottery assemblage indicates a culinary tradition that was different from assemblages of Castillo series pottery found at other contemporary EIP sites in the middle and lower valley.

Figure 8. Reconstructions of Cerro León series highland vessels: (A) cooking and toasting vessels; (B) liquid and semiliquid consistency food serving and storage containers.

Figure 9. Reconstructions of Castillo Series coastal vessels: (A) cooking vessels; (B) liquid storage and serving vessels.

Although plainwares were manufactured in both the highlands and coast, more than 90% of the fineware feasting assemblage was of highland origin. Residents of Cerro León preferred highland-made vessels, with highland-specific decorative motifs and decorative techniques, for special events, such as feasting and ancestor veneration. These finewares would have been highly visible, signaling to guests the household members’ ideas of place, origin, and worldview. Serving wares used within the home and on special occasions consisted of small, decorated, hemispheric bowls and polychrome or polychrome-resist jars for serving liquids. Individual serving bowls and decorated serving jars are rarely found at Gallinazo and Early Moche phase settlements in the valley with only Castillo series assemblages. Potters in the lower valley, who produced Castillo series pottery, rarely made bowls and decorated jars, perhaps because they had different traditions of household and supra-household commensality. Yunga potters did manufacture decorated finewares for grave goods and other ceremonial acts; however, these vessels were manufactured differently from highland finewares and had different decorative styles and motifs (Bennett Reference Bennett1950; Strong and Evans Reference Strong and Clifford Evans1952). The choices in the production and use of fineware pottery indicate that the residents of Cerro León habitually used highland-style pottery within households and at ceremonial occasions to signal and maintain their highland identity (sensu Wiessner Reference Wiessner1983).

An important feature of the large assemblage at Cerro León (162,000 sherds) is its absence of hybrid styles or forms. Furthermore, only a few examples indicate the production of highland vessel forms with coastal-sourced materials or the use of highland materials to produce coastal forms. Even though the site was occupied for between four and eight generations (100–200 years), manufacturing techniques, forms, and styles from the highlands and the coast did not mix. Materially expressing a highland identity and ties with mother communities in the sierra apparently was extremely important to households at Cerro León throughout the occupation of the site.

These findings raise the question of why certain types of Castillo vessel forms were present in household assemblages. There are several possible scenarios accounting for this pattern. Highlanders at Cerro León may have traded for certain Castillo-ware forms because they were useful for specific tasks, while retaining highland vessels for most utilitarian tasks and all ceremonial events. For example, Valle Plain tinajas were ideal for storing large quantities of water or chicha (maize beer) because their thick, well-fired walls are strong and their porous fabric cools the contents for drinking.

Another possibility is that Castillo-style vessels were received as a part of alliance-building exchanges made with neighboring Yunga settlements. Pottery may have been exchanged not only because of its utilitarian value but also to reinforce alliances between communities (Marcus and Silva Reference Marcus, Silva and Rostworowski de Diez Canseco1988; Stanish Reference Stanish1992). Marriage exchange is another a well-known means of building alliances in the Indigenous and colonial eras in the Andes. If Yunga women married into Culle households at Cerro León, then they may have retained aspects of their identities by using Castillo and Valle Plain pots in private, low-visibility contexts, such as interior kitchens. These nondiscursive spatial and material markers may have represented a distinct community of domestic practice, in contrast to public feasting contexts dominated by a highland culinary tradition where the use of fineware serving bowls and jars with highland design elements proclaimed both the status and social identity of the host.

Another distinct aspect of household foodways at Cerro León was the disposal of domestic trash. People at the site disposed of refuse and maintained kitchens in a manner different from Yunga people in the EIP. Across the valley from Cerro León, our excavations at the Middle Moche-phase Yunga settlement of Ciudad de Dios revealed that kitchens had plastered floors and were regularly swept clean, with domestic trash and cooking ash dumped outside household compounds in discrete middens (Billman et al. Reference Billman, Montero and Chunga2000, Reference Billman, Montero and Chunga2002). At Moche urban centers, residents often disposed of trash in abandoned rooms and reused trash as construction fill.

In contrast, at Compound 1 at Cerro León, trash and ash were spread out evenly across the floor and then compacted by wetting of the floor and by foot traffic. Occasionally, a few basketfuls of local silt-clay sediment were spread across the floor, forming a thin plaster-like floor on top of compacted layers of ash and trash. Looted kitchens at other compounds at Cerro León revealed the same pattern. The spreading of ash and trash may have been part of the maintenance of kitchens; ash might have reduced smells and infestations of rodents and insects. Although likely a quotidian act of kitchen maintenance, periodic capping of the kitchen floors with silt-clay sediment may have been part of a ritual of kitchen renewal, perhaps after important life events. Hauling sediment up from the quebrada required a considerable expenditure of energy. Whatever the case, differences in the maintenance of kitchens probably were another part of daily life that shaped and expressed Culle identity at Cerro León.

Personal Adornment

Because textiles did not preserve at Cerro León, our analysis focused on style, material type, and manner of manufacture of personal ornaments. We recovered a large sample of beads and pendants from households at Cerro León, which we compared to those recovered from Ciudad de Dios. Ciudad de Dios residents wore beads and pendants made from shell (including spondylus), turquoise, lapis lazuli, or fired clay. These types of ornaments were mass produced by households at Huacas de Moche (Uceda and Armas Reference Uceda, Armas and Shimada1998). In contrast, residents at Cerro León manufactured and used jewelry made from gray or red mudstone, sources of which are found along the primary footpaths between Cerro León and the Carabamba Plateau. The use of different materials and styles of beads and pendants indicates that households at Cerro León preferred a distinctive style of personal adornment.