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Excavations at Cerro Azul, Peru: The Architecture and Pottery

by Joyce Marcus

This volume is the final site report on the architecture and pottery of Late Intermediate Cerro Azul. During the course of excavation, the University of Michigan Project excavated two tapia buildings in their entirety, saving every sherd from every room, walled work area, feature, and midden. The Project determined the function of every room, including those whose functions changed over time, owing to seismic damage. The types of rooms include residential (both elite and commoner), general storage, a kitchen/brewery with large-scale production of chichi, a guinea pig pen, specialized fish storage rooms, and open courts for weaving. The Cerro Azul pottery was analyzed using the type-variety system, with petrographic analyses of local and nonlocal varieties by James Stoltman. The percentages of pottery types varied room by room, not only chronologically but also according to room function. Primary, secondary, and tertiary deposits were distinguished and showed quantifiable differences. Every sherd from every room of every excavated building was classified and counted, including not only the decorated vessels but also all the utilitarian wares, which were often omitted in earlier Andean studies. The Cerro Azul volume is extensively illustrated, showing both the details of the tapia architecture and the individual pottery collections from each room and midden. 332p (Cotsen Monograph 62, Cotsen Institute of Archaeology 2008)

Review Quote

This volume is an extraordinary account of the excavations conducted by Joyce Marcus and her colleagues at Cerro Azul. The publication provides a wonderfully clear and exceptionally detailed description of the architecture and ceramics, and includes valuable comments about the strategy employed both in excavation, and in the analysis of the excavated material. It is one of the finest published accounts of archaeological excavation in the Andean area, and should serve as a model for the way similar projects are published in the future.

Christopher B. Donnan, Professor of Anthropology, UCLA

Author Information

Joyce Marcus is the Robert L. Carneiro Professor of Social Evolution at the University of Michigan, and the Chair of the Anthropology Section of the National Academy of Sciences. She has conducted research on the origins of prehispanic states in Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru.

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