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Papers by Christina Conlee

Arqueología y Sociedad, 2014

En ninguna parte del Perú prehispánico se tiene un mayor número de cabezas trofeo como las encont... more En ninguna parte del Perú prehispánico se tiene un mayor número de cabezas trofeo como las encontradas en la costa sur de Perú y, en particular, que datan de la cultura Nasca (1-750 d.C.). Existe un debate en relación con esta práctica, si las cabezas trofeo fueron tomadas durante la guerra como trofeos, asociadas a contextos rituales de fertilidad o como ritos ceremoniales de adoración a sus antepasados. A pesar de ser frecuente las representaciones de cabezas trofeo en el arte Nasca, y su descubrimiento en diversos contextos arqueológicos, solo en algunos casos se han encontrado restos de cuerpos decapitados con su tratamiento mortuorio. Un esqueleto decapitado fue encontrado en el sitio arqueológico La Tiza y arroja más luz sobre la práctica de las cabezas trofeo. Este individuo fue enterrado en la época Nasca Medio cuidadosamente puesto junto a un vaso con la iconografía de una cabeza. El análisis de isótopos de estroncio ha puesto de manifiesto que esta persona era de la región...

Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2022

Most conceptualizations of the state in archaeology remain rooted in Enlightenment ideas of inter... more Most conceptualizations of the state in archaeology remain rooted in Enlightenment ideas of interlocking institutions that existed external to individuals and their interactions. These static conceptualizations often run counter to the temporal and spatial variability in a state's footprint, especially in those cases where a state expanded and endured across a larger region. In this article, we suggest that states are more fruitfully seen as dynamic assemblages that leaders, as well as other agents, attempt to manipulate to achieve their desires. Reconstructing these desires is most feasible at a meso-scale where broader patterns across local assemblages can be more easily discerned. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, we consider the Wari expansion into the southern coast of Peru during the Middle Horizon (AD 600-1000). The variation in Wari-related flows provides insights into the limits and ancillary effects of state-making in the region.

Latin American Antiquity

Coastal–highland relationships were important in the development, expansion, and collapse of anci... more Coastal–highland relationships were important in the development, expansion, and collapse of ancient societies in Nasca, Peru. Connections between the regions began with the earliest occupants and extended through Inca rule; they consisted of the exchange of goods, sharing of ideas, migration, and political dominance. By the end of the Early Intermediate period (Late Nasca, AD 500–650), highland relationships intensified, and during the Middle Horizon (AD 650–1000), Nasca for the first time came under highland control as the Wari Empire brought transformations to the region. By the end of the Middle Horizon, Wari had collapsed, and much of the Nasca drainage was abandoned. People emigrated from the region, probably because of drought coupled with political and social instability. When Nasca was repopulated (ca. AD 1200) in the Late Intermediate period, a new type of society developed that was likely the result of large numbers of highland immigrants.

Documented plaza use in the southern Nasca region (SNR) has demonstrated that communal spaces wer... more Documented plaza use in the southern Nasca region (SNR) has demonstrated that communal spaces were absent at residential sites during the Early Nasca epoch. Indeed, communal rituals and performance were apparently limited to the pilgrimage center of Cahuachi and associated features of the built environment such as the Nasca geoglyphs. This pattern differs significantly from the pre and post-Cahuachi eras, when plazas, and the communal activities that took place in them, were central to many settlements. In this article, we build on previous work to evaluate the use of communal ritual space in the form of plazas and other aspects of the “built exterior” through time in the Nasca region. We employ data collected from multiple sites, from the SNR to the northern Nasca region (NNR) in Ica. We conclude that cycles of sociopolitical complexity, integration, and patterns of pilgrimage were factors in determining the amount, kind, and arrangement of public ritual space in the Nasca region d...

University Press of Florida

Beyond the Nasca Lines examines the origin, rise, fall, and reformation of complex societies thro... more Beyond the Nasca Lines examines the origin, rise, fall, and reformation of complex societies through investigations conducted at the archaeological site of La Tiza in the desert of Nasca, Peru. La Tiza was inhabited for over 5000 years and has the longest occupation of any settlement in the region, providing an unprecedented opportunity to examine the dynamics of ancient complex societies. Although the region is famous for the Nasca Lines (ground drawing on the desert floor) that were created by the Nasca culture (A.D. 100–650), many societies thrived in the region before and after that period. From hunters and gatherers of the Middle Preceramic (ca. 3500 B.C.) to the Inca empire (ca. A.D. 1450), the transformation of society is documented with a particular focus on the cycle of the rise of the Nasca culture, subsequent conquest by the Wari state followed by collapse and abandonment, and then the establishment of a new society in the Late Intermediate Period (ca. A.D. 1200). Many fa...

Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 2005

Journal of …, Jan 1, 2010

Geochemical data from 426 obsidian artifacts collected from a range of sites in the Southern Nasc... more Geochemical data from 426 obsidian artifacts collected from a range of sites in the Southern Nasca Region (SNR), Peru highlight spatial and diachronic patterns in obsidian consumption. We compare source ascription data against different models of obsidian acquisition, and find that, for the most part, people adhered to a simple economic model where the most proximate source was exclusively used. Slight departures from this model during the Archaic, Early Nasca, and Tiza periods suggest obsidian was in some cases acquired through alternative means. For the Archaic period we attribute this to higher degrees of mobility where obsidian acquisitionwas embedded within other activities. For the Early Nasca and Tiza periods we attribute this to the development of alternative exchange relations within the southcentral Peruvian region.We also examine differences in obsidian acquisition across SNR river valleys and by elevation, with greater source diversity occurring in the central valleys and at lower elevations.

by J. Heath Anderson, Ronald "Sonny" Faulseit, Gary Feinman, Tristram Kidder, Nicola Sharratt, Julie A Hoggarth, Christina Conlee, Jakob Sedig, Andrea Torvinen, Scott Hutson, Kari A. Zobler, Thomas E Emerson, Kristin Hedman, Maureen E Meyers, Chris Rodning, Jayur Mehta, Rebecca Storey, Matthew Peeples, Christopher Pool, Victor Thompson, and Richard Sutter

The last several decades have seen the publication of a considerable amount of scholarly and popu... more The last several decades have seen the publication of a considerable amount of scholarly and popular literature concerning the collapse of complex societies, yielding a fair amount of comparative data and hypotheses regarding this phenomenon. More recently, scholars have begun to challenge these works, rejecting the notion of collapse altogether in favor of focusing on concepts such as resilience and transformation. Driven by these developments, archaeologists have turned their attention to what occurs in the aftermath of sociopolitical decline, attempting to identify factors that contribute to the regeneration, transformation, or reorganization of complex sociopolitical institutions. Subsequent research has provided important data shedding light on political environments that were once characterized as “dark ages.” In that time, general theoretical approaches have transformed as well, and recent frameworks reconsider collapse and reorganization not as unrelated or sequential phenomena but as integral components in a cyclical understanding of the evolution of complex societies. The most recent of these approaches incorporates the tenets of Resilience Theory, as developed by environmental scientists.
In March 2013, an international conference held at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale brought together scholars with diverse theoretical perspectives to present and synthesize new data and approaches to understanding the collapse and reorganization of complex societies. No restrictions were imposed regarding chronological periods, geographical regions or material specialties, resulting in a wide-ranging potential for comparative analysis. This publication is the outcome of that meeting. It is not organized merely as a collection of diverse case studies, but rather a collaborative effort incorporating various data sets to evaluate and expand on theoretical approaches to this important subject. The works contained within this volume are organized into five sections: the first sets the stage with introductory papers by the editor and distinguished contributor, Joseph Tainter; the second contains works by distinguished scholars approaching collapse and reorganization from new theoretical perspectives; the third presents critical archaeological analyses of the effectiveness of Resilience Theory as a heuristic tool for modeling these phenomena; the fourth section presents long-term adaptive strategies employed by prehistoric societies to cope with stresses and avoid collapse; the final section highlights new research on post-decline contexts in a variety of temporal and geographic ranges and relates these data to the more comprehensive works on the subject.

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Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology, Jan 1, 2011

… , Blackwell, New York, Jan 1, 2004

... Título del artículo: &quot;Late prehispanic sociopoliticalcomplexity&quot;. A... more ... Título del artículo: &quot;Late prehispanic sociopoliticalcomplexity&quot;. Autor del artículo: Conlee, Christina; Dulanto, Jalh; Mackey, Carol; Stanish, Charles. Libro: Andean archaeology (Blackwell studies in globalarchaeology). Editor: Massachusetts: Blackwell publishing, 2004. ...

After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex …, Jan 1, 2010

The Wari empire was probably the first true imperial power in the Andes, and its expansion, conso... more The Wari empire was probably the first true imperial power in the Andes, and its expansion, consolidation, and ultimate collapse profoundly changed the nature of power and political organization in many areas that were part of its dominion. In the eighth century ad, the ...

Archeological Papers of the American …, Jan 1, 2008

International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Jan 1, 2010

The development of complex societies, irrigation agriculture and sociopolitical transitions are o... more The development of complex societies, irrigation agriculture and sociopolitical transitions are of interest to researchers working in the Nasca region on the south coast of Peru. Occupied for thousands of years, many questions regarding the circumstances of these changes in the area are being investigated. Oxygen isotope analysis provides a method for exploring residential mobility of past peoples during these transitions. This study presents new δ18O data from water sources that would have been used by the ancient inhabitants, providing important information regarding the oxygen isotope variability in the region and the necessary baseline data for migration studies in this region. Our results suggest that the isotopic composition of water sources in the Nasca region is not highly variable. In addition, archaeological human tooth enamel samples from the sites of La Tiza and Pajonal Alto are analysed. The δ18Oc results of the human enamel samples confirm the local nature of the burial population, as suggested by previous strontium isotope analysis (87Sr/86Sr). Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.This article was published online on 13 January 2010. An error was subsequently identified. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected 15 January 2010.