Maney Publishing

The Second Season of Investigations at the Initial Period Center of Cardal, Peru
Author(s): Richard Burger and Lucy Salazar-Burger
Source: Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Autumn, 1991), pp. 275-296
Published by: Maney Publishing
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 275

The Second Season of Investigationsat the

Initial Period Center of Cardal,Peru

Richard Burger
Yale University
New Haven, Connecticut

Lucy Salazar-Burger
Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History
New Haven, Connecticut

The 1987/1988 field seasonat the U-shapedcivicceremonialcenterof Cardal in the Lurin

Valley,Peru, includedmappingand excavationofpublicand domesticarchitecture.Occu-
piedfrom 1150 to 800 b.c., Cardalprovidesevidenceof a moreelaborateground plan than
waspreviouslyrecognized,includingdual causewayed plazas, and 10 semisubterraneancir-
cular courts.Excavationsof thepublic architecturerevealedtheperiodicburial and con-
structionof ritual buildings,includinga steepcentralstairwayand an atrium whoseexte-
rior wall was decoratedwith a polychromemural ofaga gantic mouthband with massive
fangs and interlockingteeth. The investigationson thepyramidsummit alsoyieldedevi-
denceof a free-standingbuilding with a dual altar, and a burial area. Informationon do-
mesticarchitectureand subsistencerecoveredfrom behindthepubliccomplexis also dis-
cussed.Finally, Cardal is comparedto Garagay,a coevalU-shapedcenterin the
neighboringRimac Valley,and it is argued that the evidenceavailabledoesnot supportthe
hypothesisthat thesemonumentalcenterswereconstructedby "complexsocieties"in the tra-
ditionalsenseof the term.

Introduction
Cardal was one of the four civic-ceremonial centers in
the lower Lurin Valley of Peru during the late Initial
Period (FIG. i). Its most conspicuous features are the
monumental terraced platforms laid out in a U-shaped
format around a large central courtyard. Other features,
like the small free-standing buildings of Cardal's residen-
tial section, are visible only after excavation. The entire
site covers some 20 ha, but the habitation area appears to
have been confined to a small portion of it, perhaps only
2 or 3 ha.
First discovered in 1967 by Thomas C. Patterson and
studied the next year by his student Harry Scheele (1970),
Cardal was the focus of excavation in 1985 and 1987/
1988 by the Proyecto Lurin (Burger 1987). With the
completion of the second field season, our knowledge of
Cardalhas been considerably broadened and surpassesthat
currently available for any of the other 30-odd Initial
Period centers with U-shaped public architecturebetween
the valleys of Lurin and Pativilca (Ravines and Isbell
1976; Williams 1971, 1980).
An overall sense of Cardal'schronology and subsistence
system was achieved by the end of the second field season.
It was established that the site had been founded ca. 1150
b.c. (uncalibrated) and was continuously occupied until
ca. 800 b.c. At present, 27 radiocarbon measurements are
available (TABLEi), ranging from 3120 b.p. to 2690 b.p.
This suite of measurements includes samples from some
of the oldest as well as most recent deposits at the site.
The pottery recovered during the excavations is consistent
with the late Initial Period age implied by the "C mea-
surements.
Located less than 1 km from the Lurin River, Cardal's
position would have offered direct access to the rich al-
luvial bottomlands. During the late Initial Period, the
fertile banks of the valley adjacent to Cardal must have
been watered by gravity canals from river intakes further
upstream and/or springs like the one found today at Pan
de Azucar, the large rock outcrop facing Cardal. This
spring at present provides irrigation water for cultivating
the valley floor, supplementing the canalized river flow
(Matos et al. 1964). While Initial Period canals have yet
to be located, it would not have been possible to maintain
a population large enough to build the Initial Period cen-
ters of Cardal, Mina Perdida, Parka, and Manchay Bajo
based on floodplain farming alone. The structures at Car-

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276 Investigationsat Cardal,Peru/Burgerand Salazar-Burger
dal alone represent labor in excess of two million person-
days.'
Cardal occupies a pocket of land surrounded on three
sides by the rocky slopes of an Andean spur. Technically,
this spot is a pediment, a fan-like geomorphological for-
mation. The silt and angular gravel eroded from the slopes
above compose the subsoil underlying all of the cultural
deposits, and also cover the cultural remains in much of
the site. The resulting soils are of poor quality from an
agriculturalperspective (ONERN 1975). Moreover, Car-
dal would have been difficult to irrigate during the Initial
Period, since it is located 20 to 30 m above the floodplain.
The canal running along the lower side of Cardal damaged
a portion of the site's western platform and definitely
postdates the constructions. The maximum elevation canal
currently used to irrigate the site's plaza must have been
built at an even later date. As noted in an earlier study,
there is no evidence for the Initial Period irrigation of the
plaza area or any other part of the site (Burger 1987:
366-368). It would therefore seem that the lands on
which Cardal was founded were not used for agriculture
during the Initial Period, and that this may have been a
factor in its selection, along with its proximity to the lower
irrigated farmlands and its natural protection against sea-
sonal riverine flooding.
An additional advantage of Cardal's location would
have been its proximity to the area of seasonal fog vege-
tation (lomas). At present, highland herders of goats and
cattle descend on the slopes overlooking the site in July
to take advantage of the lomas vegetation, and there are
even richer lomas resources within 45 minutes by foot.
The recovery in our excavations of plant remains (Umlauf
1988) and large land snails (Scutulus sp.) native to the
lomas show that the Initial Period farmers at Cardal ex-
ploited this habitat for food, fuel, and perhaps medicinal
plants. There is likewise evidence for the gathering of
rushes and the hunting of small game along the river's
edge.
Although the shoreline is two hours on foot from Car-
dal, it was the ocean that provided most of the animal
protein for Cardal's residents (TABLE2). Otoliths of me-
dium-sized fish such as lorna (Sciaenadeliciosa)and corvina
(Sciaena gilberti) are particularly conspicuous, but even
1. Thomas Patterson (personal communication 1982) has estimated
the labor required to build the central and lateral platform mounds to
be 1,614,933 person-days. If the public works involved in constructing
the elevated central plaza and the newly documented, more northerly
plaza features are taken into account, however, this figure has to be
revised upward to approximately 2 million person-days (Burger 1987:
366). The basis for these calculations is summarized elsewhere (Patterson
1983).
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*sisicaya
PERU Chil aco a
MalpasoA
Palm0
*Cieneguilla
Manchay
BajoA INITIAL PERIOD SITES
cARDAL A Civic-Religious center
Parka Mina Perdida Small site
* Modern town
Pachacamac 15
Lurin Kilometers
PACIFIC P. -
0
?.4O~I:.CFAM&K.:
Figure 1. Map of the Lurin Valley showing the location of Cardal and
other Initial Period/Early Horizon sites.
more important in the diet were small fish such as an-
chovies (Engravulidae). The intensity of anchovy con-
sumption only becomes apparent when the excavated soil
matrix is submitted to flotation or fine screening (Reitz,
personal communication, 1987). Molluscs, particularly
mussels and clams, are the most frequently-recovered food
residues using standard archaeological methods, and they
were clearly of importance for daily subsistence. Other
marine foods like crab and sea urchins were also occasion-
ally eaten (Huaypaya, personal communication, 1987).
Preliminary analysis of the bird bone by Elizabeth Reitz
and Diana Matthiesen likewise indicates a heavy maritime
emphasis. The consumption of sea birds, including booby,
cormorant, gull, and pelican was surprisingly common.
Although terrestrialgame, especially deer, was sometimes
garnered, it appears to have been relatively unimportant
in the daily diet. Camelid bone appears in small quantities
from the refuse. The species of these animals has yet to
be determined, but they do not appear to represent a
major source of animal protein either (Miller, personal
communication, 1989).
Along with most other investigators (e.g., Patterson
1983) we believe that the late Initial Period economy of
U-shaped centers like Cardal was fundamentally agrarian
and that the bulk of the diet, at least from a caloric stand-
point, was composed of plant foods. The wide range of
cultigens availablealong the central coast during the Initial
Period has been well documented at sites like Anc6n,
which have close to optimal conditions for preservation.
Nevertheless, the staple crops at Cardal have yet to be
determined, though sweet potato, manioc, and maize are
all plausible candidates. At Cardal, where the preservation
 18, 1991 277
JournalofFieldArchaeology/Vol.

Table 1. Radiocarbon measurements from Cardal and Mina Perdida, Lurin Valley, Peru.
Radiocarbon
Provenience Laboratoryno. Material years*
Cardal
Sector IIA, floor of wall M-2, Units 1-14,121 charcoal 3030 + 90
406/407
Sector IIA, upper floor of wall M-32, 1-14,122 charcoal 2880 + 90
Units 408/406
Sector IIA, Stratum O, Units 39/45 1-14,123 charcoal 2880 ? 90
Sector IIA, Stratum T, Unit 47 1-14,130 charcoal 3120 + 90
Sector IIA, Floor 2, Unit 445 1-14,770 charcoal 2850 + 90
Sector IIA, Floor 3, Unit 445 1-14,772 charcoal 2800 + 90
Sector IIA, Stratum C, Unit 443E I-14,771 charcoal 2690 + 90
Sector IIA, fill covering mural on the I-15,564t fiber bag 2850 + 80
exterior face of the atrium, Middle
Temple
Sector IIIA, Room B, Unit 271, Floor I-14,247 charcoal 2730 + 90
12
Sector IIIA, Room B, Units 247/253/ I-14,238 charcoal 2750 + 90
254, Stratum i2 on Floor 6B
Sector IIIA, Room B, Stratum C, GX-1622 charcoal 2850 ?- 105
100-110 cm (Scheele 1970)
Sector IIIA, same as GX-1622 GX-1623 charcoal 2935 + 110
(Scheele 1970)
Sector IIIA, fill covering mural on the I-14,249t fiber bag 2800 ?- 90
exterior face of the atrium, Middle
Temple
Sector IIIA, fill covering mural of atrium, I-15,565t fiber bag 2930 + 80
Middle Temple
Sector IIIA, fill covering staircase #4 I-15,566t fiber bag 2920 +- 80
Sector IIIA, Exc. 3, Unit 535 1-15,567t charcoal 2900 + 80
Sector IIIA, Exc. 3, Units 363/362, 1-15,568t charcoal 2930 + 80
Stratum e, open fire
Sector IIIA, Exc. 3, Units 363/362, 1-15,568t charcoal 2930 + 80
stratum e, open fire
Sector IIIA, Exc. 3, Units 363/364/370, 1-15,569t charcoal 2950 + 80
Stratum i, on top of staircase
Sector IIIB, Exc. 2, Units 109/112, I1-14,132 charcoal 3050 + 90
Floor 6
Sector IIIB, Exc. 2, Units 113/114, I1-14,133 charcoal 3060 + 90
Floor 6
Sector IIIB, Unit 212, Stratum d6 1-14,124 charcoal 3050 + 90
Sector IIIB, Exc. 1, Units 7/10, Floor 2 1-14,131 charcoal 2980 + 90
Sector IIIB, Exc. 6, Units 1-6, 1-15,570t charcoal 3060 + 80
Stratum d
Sector V, Unit 126, Stratum c 1-14,125 charcoal 2880 + 90
Sector V, Unit 259, Stratum d 1-14,125 charcoal 3070 + 90
Sector V, Southern extension Units I- 14,251 charcoal 2980 ?- 90
40/41/43, Floor 1
Mina Perdida
Eastern wing, fill beneath levelled surface I-14,252 fiber bag 2870 90
Central platform, fill beneath summit 1-14,253 fiber bag 2900 --t 90
Central platform, burned floor in eastern 1-14,254 charcoal 3120 ? 90
section, several meters beneath summit
surface
Western wing, approx. 3 m beneath 1-15,577 fiber bagt 2960 ? 80
summit surface

*Conventional measurements utilizing the Libby half-life without calibration.

tSamples collected during 1987/1988 field season.
tSample has a '3C value of 26.0 relative to the PBD standard. The normalized age using this value becomes
2790 + 90 b.p. (T. Buckley, personal communication 1985).

is generally poor due to the proximity of the lomas and beans, bottle gourds, and peanuts, as well as fruits like
recent irrigation, we have recovered remains of various guava, pacae, and lucuma (Umlauf 1988). Although the
domesticated crops including maize, squash, hot pepper, people responsible for building Cardal are presumed to

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278 Investigationsat Cardal,Peru/Burgerand Salazar-Burger

Table 2. Animals identified from Cardal. probablywere the focus of most domestic activities.It is
name
Scientific Commonname unlikely, considering this utilization of space, that the
Anisotremusspp. Sargo residentialpopulationin this sectorof the site could have
Anthozoa Coral exceeded300 people.As will be seen,thereis alsoevidence
Anura Frog/toad
Ardeidae Heron family
for a limitednumberof habitationson the summitof the
Ariidae Sea catfish family pyramid-platforms during the centuryprior to the aban-
Camelid spp. Camelid family donmentof the site.
Canidae Dog family One of the principalobjectivesof the secondfieldseason
Cervid spp. Deer
Clupeidae Herring family
was to locate additionalzones of habitation,if such areas
Columbidae Dove family existed.Our effortsfocusedon the largeopen areasto the
Cricetidae Rodent east and north of the public architecture.Testpitson the
Echinoderm Sea urchin
Engraulidae Anchovy family
open plain to the east of the site yielded no evidenceof
Falconiformes Bird of prey order structures.Only sparseculturalremainswere recoveredin
Haemulidae Grunt family one cut andthe otherpits wereculturallysterile.Similarly,
Lagidium peruanum Vizcacha surveyandsystematictestingof the northernzone did not
Laridae Gull family revealany significantevidence of residentialoccupation.
Larus spp. Gull
Paralabrax spp. Cabrilla Thus, it appearsthat the populationliving at Cardalmay
Paralonchurusperuanus Coco have been small.It would seem plausiblethat this center
Passeriformes Song bird order serveda larger,but less archaeologically visiblepopulation
Pelecanusspp. Pelican
Phalacrocoraxspp. Cormorant scatteredin isolated homesteadsand hamlets along the
Procellariiformes Tube-nosed swimmer order valleyfloor or slopes, as suggestedby Ravinesand Isbell
(i.e., shearwaters)
Sciaena deliciosa Drum (lorna) (1976: 266-267) for Garagay.Remains of such settle-
mentswere not discoveredin earliersurveysby Patterson,
Sciaenagilberti Drum (corvina)
Scomberomorus spp. Mackerel Scheele, and others, nor have such remainsbeen docu-
Scombridae Mackerel family mented in the neighboring Rimac Valley. Nevertheless,
Sphyrnaspp. Hammerhead shark the hypothesisof a dispersedruralpopulationlinked to
Sula spp. Booby
the centerswith monumentalarchitecturecannot be con-
vincinglyevaluatedwithout a comprehensivesurfacesur-
have been farmers, it is difficult to demonstrate this, other vey supplementedby a strategyof subsurfacetesting. Fi-
than by recourse to circumstantial arguments, such as the nally, the area to the west of Cardal currentlyunder
site's location. Among the artifacts recovered from the cultivationhas yet to be investigatedand may still yield
refuse and burials are cobbles with pecked central holes new evidenceof occupation.
and considerable edge wear. These are interpreted by many At Cardal,as in laterprehistoricAndeancommunities,
investigators, including ourselves, as clod breakers and/or it is possible to identify repetitivearchitecturaland arti-
digging stick weights (e.g., Disselhoff 1967: 212; Burger factual patternsthat constitute the basic modularunits
1984: 197). If so, these materials would confirm the fact within the residentialarea(see Stanish1989; alsoBawden
that the residents of Cardal were actively involved in cul- 1982 andTellenbach1986). It is generallypresumedthat
tivation. The recovery of cotton seeds and other non- these segregatedbuildings or groups of structuresand
edible cultigen residues in the refuse provide complemen- their associatedfeatures,referredto as householdclusters
tary evidence for the processing of cultigens in household in Mesoamerica(Winter1976), arethe archaeologicalex-
contexts. pressionof the minimalunit of those people who lived
together and sharedin basic domestic activities(Stanish
Residential Areas 1989: 11). Judgingfrom the size of the house structures
From the outset, the center of Cardal was dedicated to at Cardal, the households here may have corresponded to
public activities within the context of monumental con- nuclear families or modified nuclear families, as was the
structions, while the southern edge (Sector IIIB) was used case in Inca times and has been documented for 19th and
for habitation (Burger 1987: 370-371). The 1987/1988 20th century Quechua communities.
excavations confirmed the distribution of house structures The basic household cluster in Cardal's Sector IIIB in-
and refuse throughout this southern sector. The buildings cluded a rectangular house structure, an outdoor kitchen
appear to be dispersed, rather than agglomerated; and the area, an open patio, a toss zone for refuse, burials, a
houses are associated with fairly extensive patios, which storage structure, and, possibly, an outer perimetric wall.

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 18, 1991 279
JournalofFieldArchaeology/Vol.

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Figure 2. Photograph of a residential structure excavated in Sector IIIB, from the south.

One example (FIG. 2) was excavated during the second it, probably for household storage of foodstuffs. Similar
field season. The house measured 6 m x 5.46 m and was houses and free-standing storage features were encoun-
divided into four rooms during its final period of use. The tered during the first field season (Burger 1987: fig. 7).
lower walls of this building were constructed of irregular High, dry-laid walls were uncovered and may have origi-
angular stones laid in mud with the occasional inclusion nally encircled these residential complexes. The five radio-
of small, irregular ovoid adobes. The interior and exterior carbon measurements of samples from houses in Sector
of the walls were plastered with mud and finished with a IIIB have produced dates ranging from 1110 b.c. to 1030
fine layer of light clay. Since there is little evidence of wall b.c.
fall, it is likely that the upper portions of the structure The Cardal household clusters differ significantly from
were made of perishable material, such as wattle-and-daub the domestic architecture reported from the north coast
(quincha), perhaps supporting a flat, thatched roof. There at the Initial Period site of Montegrande (Tellenbach
is no indication of hearths or cooking inside the rooms, 1986: 215-224). In contrast to Cardal, the houses at
but the burned corner of the passageway area behind the Montegrande generally consisted of a single rectangular
dwelling suggests that cooking was done in the open, room with a stone-lined rectangularor circularhearth near
adjacent to the residence. the center of the floor. Moreover, the Montegrande houses
The dead were interred in and around the houses have interior areas with modes of only 12.7 sq m and 7.8
throughout Sector IIIB, and during the excavation of the sq m, less than half the size of the well-documented houses
complete house two separate pit burials were uncovered. at Cardal. From a technological perspective, the Monte-
An open patio existed in front of the building and a small grande houses feature thin, plastered walls of cane set in
structure with bin-like compartments was located behind clay; they lack the thick stone and clay wall bases seen at

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280 Investigationsat Cardal,Peru/Burgerand Salazar-Burger

. ........

.7A

Figure 3. Photograph of the southern side of the dual altar found on the summit of the central mound
(Sector IIIA). The view is to the north and the central plaza and eastern lateral wing of the pyramid
complex are seen in the background.

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Cardal. Finally, the subsurface pits and formal storage
structures characteristic of Cardal are absent from Mon-
tegrande domestic areas. Thus the newly discovered
houses at Cardal do not resemble Initial Period houses
from Montegrande in size, construction technique, or lay-
out, and this contrast points to the potential of delineating
regional traditions of domestic architecture to comple-
ment ongoing investigations of the diverse traditions of
monumental architecture.
During the first field season, a free-standing, multi-
room building (Scheele's Room B) was uncovered on the
pyramid summit that resembled the habitations below in
its architecture and associated refuse. Its walls were thicker
and higher than the buildings in Sector IIIB and vertical
log timbers were apparently set into the center of its
exterior wall, presumably to support the roof. The utili-
zation of a recessed jamb technique to decorate its door-
ways likewise suggests greater elaboration in the architec-
ture. This complex, however, is similar to the other houses
in the arrangement and size of rooms, the high doorway
thresholds, the building materials and techniques, and the
outside cooking arrangement. It was originally presumed
that this and other summit households belonged to social
units of higher status than those housed below, but con-
temporaneity of the dwellings of the two areas has yet to
be established. An alternative possibility is that the resi-
dential area was shifted to the pyramid summit late in
Cardal's history, perhaps reflecting changes in local social
organization and ideology. The '4C dates from our exca-
vation of the summit residence described here were 800
b.c. (1-14,238) and 780 b.c. (1-14,247).
Another possible residence on the summit was investi-
gated during the second field season. This structure like-
wise dates to the final period of public architecture. It was
heavily damaged by erosion in the nearly three millennia
since Cardal's abandonment, and only the bases of the
walls remained. In one of the rooms the interior walls had
been painted black and a pit hearth was located in the
center of the chamber. This structure had been built above
an earlier building of very different character.
Set on its own low platform on the summit, the older
building consisted of a series of small rooms and narrow
passageways. Access to its interior was by way of a broad,
inset staircasewhich narrows abruptly before reaching the
top of the platform. The main features of this complex are
two central rectangularrooms, each with a three-level altar
set back-to-back against a common wall (FIG. 3). The
identical altars were apparently connected by a window.
Seen from the side, these altars resemble the "step-block"
motif so often depicted on the Initial Period ceramics of
Anc6n and other contemporary sites. The symmetrical
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JournalofFieldArchaeology/Vol.
18, 1991 281
gi
01:::
M
miE
Figure 4. Graffito of a circular face etched on the wall face next to the
northern stepped altar (Sector IIIA).
arrangement of these altars points strongly to the dual
organization of religious worship in some of the cere-
monies at Cardal.
Graffiti had been carved on the wall face next to one of
the altars. The themes appear to be related to the religious
ideology, rather than the profane subjects. Among these
images is a concentric cross, a complex winged figure, a
round face (FIG. 4), and a profile head with a nasal extru-
sion or scroll, reminiscent of the Garagay mural. Initial
Period graffiti with religious themes also exist in areas of
ceremonial activity at Garagay and Huaca Lucia, and a
later case has been documented for Cahuachi (Shimada
1986: 177-179; Silverman 1987: figs. 23-26; William
Isbell, personal communication 1984). Judging from
14C measurements associated with this altar complex, its
construction was completed prior to 2950 + 80 b.p.
(1-15,569), and it appears to be roughly contemporary
with the atrium of the Middle Temple.
The Atrium Zone of the Central Mound
One of the principal areas of excavation during the
1987/1988 field season was the atrium zone of Sector
IIIA at the apex of the U-shaped complex. The atrium is
located at the very center of the terraced pyramid. The
main axis of the site, along which paired causewayed plazas
and paired circularcourts were arranged, bisects this locale
of obvious symbolic and ritual significance (FIG. 5). In
fact, it would appear that a N-s ceremonial pathway led
from steep slopes to the north of the site up to the central
plaza below the staircaseof the atrium.2Before excavation,
2. Other areas with atria appear to exist at Cardal. Exploratory work
on the eastern platform has tentatively identified an atrium in the center
of this mound. The mural fragment discovered by Scheele (1970) prob-
ably decorated the exterior walls of this atrium.
282 Investigationsat Cardal,Peru/Burgerand Salazar-Burger

0
II I

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o :--.,
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",i .:.:.?''?`'
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0/ Co"u.rt. .:•
II- • :77;
Na

," I7 :
Dl A r
0 5
0B~l n C t r 0..
::

a l
Du Alar
B DualAltar
Suke Co rt
N,''",

Figure 5. Plan of the public architecture at Cardal.

a depression in the 12-m-high mound suggested that an
atrium existed in this spot and exploratory investigations
in 1985 located the walls defining the atrium and the open
landing in front of it. One of the reasons for studying this
area was to document public architecture directly com-
parable in location and function with that studied by
Ravines and Isbell (1967) on Monticulo B at Garagay, in
order to better evaluate the relationship between the cer-
emonial architecture of coeval Initial Period centers in
Lurin and Rimac. The atrium and landing at Cardal are
located along the principal axis of the site, which runs 170
east of true north, and in the middle of the central mound.
The central pyramid (Sector IIIA) at Cardal measures
approximately 130 m x 45 m, and its exterior consisted
of stone retaining walls plastered with clay. In the later
building phases, the northern face of the pyramid included
at least three terrace levels, the first of which measured
approximately 2 m in height. It was canted back for
greater stability, and painted with dark red pigment. As
in the rest of the public architecture, the pyramid walls
were made of coarse, irregular stone quarried from the
adjacent slopes to the east and set in clay mortar brought

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from the banks of the Lurin River to the west. Clay
deposits suitable for construction do not exist at the site
itself.
Access to the atrium area was by way of a massive
central staircase set into the parament of the pyramid. The
staircasemeasured 6.5 m in width and was constructed of
stone rubble and earth encased in a thick layer of clay.
Excavations exposed a sequence of four superimposed cen-
tral stairways that display little change over time in loca-
tion and orientation (FIGS.6, 7). The final and most heav-
ily damaged staircase (Staircase 1) led to the final set of
public summit constructions, dubbed the Late Temple.
The second and third staircases (Staircase 2 and Staircase
3) correspond to the Middle Temple's original staircase
and its replacement during a major phase of renovation.
It is likely that the most deeply buried of the stairways
discovered is associated with the atrium of a still older
temple level, most of which was not uncovered. Additional
staircases and atria probably exist within the core of the
central mound.
The three staircasesof the Middle and Late Temples are
constructed in a similar manner. The general form of the
steps is produced by medium-sized stones encased in a
thick layer of clay; most of the hearting of the staircases
consists of earth and gravel. The steps are unusually low
(14-16 cm) and narrow (16-18 cm), with a pitch (or
gradient angle) greater than 400. The resulting staircaseis
steep and difficult to scale. At the same time, it is visually
very impressive, and its steepness serves to emphasize the
great height of the artificialpyramid. The stairs themselves
are inherently fragile and incapable of sustaining heavy
use. There are 34 steps in Staircase 2 of the Middle Tem-
ple, including several steps that extend beyond the face of
the stepped pyramid (FIG. 6). In the final staircase (Stair-
case 1), and perhaps in the earlier ones as well, the last
step was extended laterally to form a low, narrow pedestal
at the pyramid's base. The builders plastered the surface
of the steps with light clay and painted the sidewalls of
the staircase white. The steps rose without break directly
from ground level at the foot of the pyramid to the atrium
level-a height of almost 8 m in the case of the Late
Temple and 6 m in that of the Middle Temple. The earliest
of the four staircasesdiffers from the others. It has broader
steps (19-22 cm) and larger stones were used to give the
stairs their form.
At the top of the central staircase of the Middle and
Late Temples there was a narrow landing open on the
north overlooking the plaza and steep steps. The well-
preserved Middle Temple provides a clear idea of the
architecturaldesign (FIG. 8). The landing is defined by the
exterior face of the 2-m-thick atrium wall on its south and
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18, 1991 283
JournalofFieldArchaeology/Vol.
by parallel platform walls on the east and west. The re-
sulting U-shaped construction overlooked the central
plaza, and activities on the landing could be viewed from
below. A low-relief clay mural decorates the walls of the
landing, flanking the broad entryway into the atrium
(FIGS. 9, 10). This frieze was part of the facade of the
Middle Temple. It was created at the same time as Stair-
case 3, and it continued to be visible while Staircase 2 was
in use.
An approximate date for the sculpting of the frieze and
the construction of the Middle Temple in general is of-
fered by a radiocarbon measurement of 2920 ? 80 b.p.
(1-15,566), derived from a shicrafiber bag in the fill used
to cover Staircase 4. The process of building the Middle
Temple began with the laying of this fill. The age of the
mural can be bracketed by two measurements from shicra
bags used to fill in the Middle Temple and cover its dec-
oration. The two resulting dates from this material, which
must immediately postdate the final use of the mural,
produced ages of 2800 ? 90 b.p. (1-14,249) and 2850
? 80 b.p. (1-15,564). Thus the preliminaryresults suggest
that the Middle Temple and its frieze were completed
around 970 b.c. and that it may have been utilized for
about a century. Sometime during this period, a major
renovation of the atrium complex was carried out, in
which a new staircase was superimposed immediately
above the original one, and a new, slightly higher floor
was added to the landing and parts of the atrium.
The combination of the fluctuating humidity and ab-
sorption of salts, compounded by the poor wall construc-
tion and lack of building foundations, have produced prob-
lems of conservation. The upper portion of the landing
wall and its decoration were destroyed when part of the
Late Temple collapsed into the plaza sometime after Car-
dal was abandoned. Fortunately for archaeologists, most
of the mural of the Middle Temple was protected and
preserved by the bagged fill that was deposited around it
in order to build the Late Temple.
The mural (FIG. 10) represents a mouth band of inter-
locking triangular teeth and massive upper fangs. A lower
horizontal band, painted red and probably representing
the lower lip, runs below the teeth, and a parallelupper lip
once existed above them, judging from a few poorly-
preserved fragments in the western side of the landing.
The upper fangs overlap the lower lip and were painted
yellow, thereby contrasting with the lips. The most com-
plete of the remaining fangs measures over 1 m in length.
The end of the mouthband facing the atrium entryway is
left open with the lower lip turned downward. Evidence
from the 1985 excavations revealed a symmetrical image
on the landing walls to the west of the entryway. When
284 Investigationsat Cardal,Peru/Burgerand Salazar-Burger

1141.

iiiiiii~iiiiii4L

owi

Ow~l Awl
....... ....

Figure 6. Photograph of the lower terrace and superimposed central staircases 1, 2, and 3 of the central
platform (Sector IIIA). The view is to the SE.

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 18, 1991 285
JournalofFieldArchaeology/Vol.

6
Back
13.:0Q- Staircase . , :,,,: ., ,;, . - ....
r-;2' -:. •
.....

60o. Staircdsei~"iC~ 0
-',

LA Wal

WBack
Stnead
Fall"u?~?bC:
Qtone
-n0.0e Fl
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FaFRIEZE
rae Fl
,: ~b~ilP
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,
?O~j ;I-" ii IIJH
....
~ 2m.",
~-~~Odn
;-?~`i'OO~-?!0

Figure7. Sectionprofileshowingthe superpositionof constructionsin the atriumin SectorIIIA,

includingfragmentsof staircasesof the LateTemple(1), MiddleTemple(2 and 3), and the preceding
buildingstage (4).

seen from the plaza,the muralrepresentationcould have The atrium (FIGS. 7, 8) is a large rectangular room
been seen as a single frontalfangedmouth with an open- measuring 13.5 m (E-w) x 9.4 m (N-s). Its massive walls
ing in the middlefor the atriumentryway,or astwo profile rise 2.1 m, and their upper section is decorated by a plain
mouths. clay coping or cornice beginning 1.5 m above the floor
The muralis enormousand easily seen from the open (FIG. 11). This slightly-rounded clay band is attached to
plazas.It was intentionallypositionedsome 80 cm above the wall in the same manner as the polychrome mural
the landing floor so that the terracingof the pyramid- outside. The walls, like the platform terraces and the sides
platformwould not obstructthe view from below. Visi- of the atrium stairways, are canted so that the tops of the
bilityis furtherenhancedby the sculptedreliefemployed. walls are set back up to 60 cm from the wall base. The
The modeling projectssome 15 cm from the face of the construction of the walls is the same as that of the landing,
wall. Judgingfrom the multiplelayersof clay and paint, but the finishing of the wall surfaces was done with fine,
the muralwas frequentlyrepairedand, in some cases,the unpigmented light-brown clay plaster. The room was re-
color schemewas reversed.Before being filledin for the plastered on more than one occasion without changes in
constructionof the Late Temple, the polychromemural color or decoration.
was whitewashed. A U-shaped portion of the floor along the back and
While the frieze shows evidenceof numerousrenova- sides of room was differentiated from the chamber'scenter
tions, the landing itself displaystraces of only a single by a small rise, comparable in concept but not in magni-
refurbishment.A new floor was laid down on top of the tude to the two- or three-level floors found in the cere-
original surfaceand separatedfrom it by a thin layerof monial chambers in many regions of the Andes. Access
earthandgravel.This upperfloor articulateswith Staircase from the landing was by way of a broad entryway, ap-
2 (FIG. 7). Our stratigraphicobservationson the staircase, proximately 1.5 m in width. The western side of this
landing,and atriumwere facilitatedby a large cut made entrance was destroyed by the vandalism mentioned ear-
by vandalsin the centerof the summit,probablyduring lier. There is no evidence of the massive posts that would
Colonialtimes. A similardisturbanceoccurredat nearby have been necessary to support a roof over the atrium.
MinaPerdida(Bonavia1965) and at HuacaLa Floridain There are, however, small postholes indicating the pres-
the RimacValley. ence of poles, perhaps to support some covering for pro-
A smallwallwas addedto the Nwcornerof the landing. tection and shade along the sides of the room.
It differsin thicknessand surfacingfrom the other walls, A wedge-shaped back staircase 3.5 m in width led out
and it may have been constructedto help stabilizethe fill of the inner atrium chamber and onto a higher platform
coveringthe friezeduringthe buildingof the LateTemple. surface on the flattened summit of this section of the
No comparablefeatureabutsthe NEcornerof the landing. temple mound. There are additional buildings at this level,

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286 Investigationsat Cardal,Peru/Burgerand Salazar-Burger

I
I
I

A-]-
I
- I
t--- ---- 4 ---------- _-- --- A
I I
I II I
Ii
o
I Io
--I
- -
I A
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I
I vJLa ____
i ' I

' I L__ _____ __ __ ___ __ __

C C~ I L. -- - _ ________ C
LLL
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I I I Post Hole
I_

I OC2 oyhoeFil
Adito
Ioe
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Los o
r--

0_2m___lychrome Frieze

S Later Addition

Figure 8. Plan of the atrium area of Sector IIIA and central staircase of the Middle Temple.

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FRIEZE
• Red
E Yellow
Figure 9. Hypothetical reconstruction of the Middle Temple's outer
walls, central staircase, and decorated landing (Sector IIIA).
but they have yet to be uncovered. Evidence was also
found of a smaller lateral staircase set into the middle of
the western wall of the atrium; a symmetrical counterpart
of it probably exists on the eastern side of the room. The
western staircase leads up to the flattened top of the wall,
which could have been used as a walkway and/or a landing
providing access to yet-undocumented lower rooms in the
depression to the west of the atrium area.
The floor of the landing and atrium lacked residues from
the activities carried out there. Sections of the original
floor of the atrium and landing were apparently exposed
to fire, however, judging from the heat-reddened color of
the floor in these areas. Portions of the atrium floor were
renovated, but not the entire room.
As noted, the construction of the Late Temple began
with the filling of the atrium and landing of the Middle
Temple with bagged fill. During the initial part of these
activities, a series of burials was made in pits dug into the
atrium floor or in the initial layer of fill deposited in the
room. The stratigraphy leaves no doubt that these inter-
ments postdate the use of the Middle Temple and predate
the completion of the Late Temple.
The bodies were interred in flexed positions, usually
facing down without a standardized orientation. Males
and females of a broad range of ages are represented. The
burial rite appears to have included the wrapping of the
body in cloth and fiber mats, often after the application
of red pigment to the region of the head. Burial goods
were rarely recovered and, when encountered, they were
usually confined to simple items of personal adornment
and tools used in daily life, such as spindle whorls, cooking
pots, and perforated stones interpreted as agriculturalim-
plements.
There was, however, one distinctive burial (#13) of an
adult male of special status. Unlike the others, he was
buried wearing red-painted bone earspools and a necklace
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18, 1991 287
JournalofFieldArchaeologylVol.
of 13 large canine teeth. The drilled canines have been
tentatively identified as those of male sea lions, each of
which has a pair of such fangs. The earspools are also
made from sea mammal bone, possibly whale or dolphin.
The buried individual held a painted bone tool (punzdn),
which may have served as a weaving implement.
The variation of age and sex in the burial population,
as well as the nature of the grave goods, argues against
the interpretation of these interments as human offerings.
The pit burials and occasional utilitarian grave goods in-
stead seem to conform to the pattern of interment docu-
mented from the residential area of Sector IIIB.
The atrium burials are not randomly distributed
throughout the chamber. All of them are located just
inside the entryway, along the site's centerline. None were
found in the ample space adjacent to the southern or
eastern walls, despite the crowded situation in the entry-
way. The selection of this spot, like the burial in the atrium
area itself, must be understood in terms of the cosmology
of the builders of Cardal and their beliefs concerning the
afterlife.
The Atrium of the Late Temple
When the Late Temple was built, the Middle Temple's
atrium was buried with care so as not to damage either
its friezes or the clay surfacing of the second staircase or
walls. The composition of the fill varied. Some portions
of the chamber were filled mainly with bagged stone and
rubble, while other portions contained large quantities of
silt and gravel. These lenses of fill interdigitate, reinforcing
the stability of this unconsolidated material. Ritual en-
tombment, like that described for the atrium of the Middle
Temple, can be documented for much of Cardal's history.
It is a feature held in common with other early civic-
ceremonial centers in coastal and highland Peru (e.g.,
Izumi and Terada 1972: 30; Burger and Salazar-Burger
1985: 116; Shimada 1986: 166-172). Nevertheless, the
buildings of the Late Temple were not filled before their
abandonment and, as a consequence, the atrium, landing,
and staircase of the Late Temple were exposed to the
elements and cultural disturbance for nearly 3000 years.
Most of these constructions were destroyed as a result.
The landing area and most of the staircase collapsed into
the plaza, along with much of the fill that served as its
base, as did the upper retaining walls that terraced the
north face of the temple. At present, the base of the
parament of the Late Temple is buried beneath a deep
talus of eroded material extending 4 m back from the edge
of the mound.
The lower walls of the Late Temple's atrium survived
and reveal that this room was basically the same in ground
288 Investigationsat Cardal,Peru/Burgerand Salazar-Burger

- ... .

: -: - 7T- 154
M,

....
.....

:-
:-
-: : .- :

i~i
' : :-i i _i _: -i - - : I- - -i: - IBM:
-1 47 f A.7 4 -
: -": A

Figure 10. Photograph of the central staircase and surviving polychrome mural decorating the exterior
of the Middle Temple's atrium, from the NW (Sector IIIA).

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 18, 1991 289
JournalofFieldArchaeology/Vol.

plan and dimensions as that of the Middle Temple (FIG. circularpit analogous to those found in front of the murals
12). The bottom of its walls is separated from the top of in the atrium at Garagay (Ravines and Isbell 1976: 260-
the Middle Temple's walls by only a thin layer of gravel. 262). Another find on the floor of the Late Temple's
While the rooms are formally similar, the uppermost atrium was a fragment of a clay mural. It had probably
atrium appears to be more poorly constructed than the been brought there from another summit building shortly
one below. Its staircases have fewer steps and its walls are after the atrium ceased to function. The fragment depicts
less than half the thickness of its immediate predecessor. the lower portion of a frontal face with flared nostrils, a
No evidence of decoration is visible with the exception of downturned mouth, and four prominent fangs. This mon-
the red painted walls of the lateral staircase. Rubble from strous visage was painted red with contrasting white ca-
the collapsed wall of the Late Temple's atrium does not nines (FIG. 13). It is reminiscent of the Garagay central
contain fragments of clay mural and the room was appar- atrium mural in its naturalistic modeling and in its scale.
ently plastered with light clay, as was the Middle Temple's Both clay sculptures were designed to be seen at close
atrium. The remnant walls are not high enough to deter- quarters.
mine whether a coping decorated the upper wall.
The floor of the Late Temple's atrium was damaged by Concluding Remarks
a late Prehispanic reoccupation of the summit, but a sem- This article offers only a preliminary view of work in
icircular fragment of a feature was uncovered near the progress, and it would be premature at this point to ad-
back staircase. It is possible that this is a remnant of a dress in detail the complex issues of socioeconomic and

Figure 11. Photograph of rear staircase of the atrium, Middle Temple (Sector IIIA). Note the modeled
coping on the upper atrium walls, and the superimposed walls of the Late Temple's atrium.

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290 Investigations at Cardal, Peru/Burger and Salazar-Burger

oc~ooo~oQ
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Figure 12. Plan of the Late Temple's atrium and central staircase area (Sector IIIA).

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 18, 1991 291
JournalofFieldArchaeology/Vol.

:::: --:h:.-__
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political organization of Initial Period coastal societies that _:::i-il~-i-i---i~z.i:i
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led us to initiate the research. Nevertheless, the findings
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of the second field season can be briefly reviewed at this -------w:ia,__
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juncture to consider how they confirm or modify the :-:_::?:::~_::_-:-
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current understanding of the organization and history of ':i-i:i-ii--
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:--:
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iii~ii~:::::';:-:-:----:::-':-:-
----'
Zii_:-:_-i:i-_
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---iiilii~ii~i-i$
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housing and as a burial ground in addition to their well
-::
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known function as a locus for ceremonial activities. More- :-::_
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-:::_
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.-. ::::::j:-::--~i'"i'~LiiLi~-
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-i-ii
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over, the work at Cardal has produced evidence that ritual ;:::::::--::::::
::

activity on the summit was not limited to the open land- i:i--iii~ii~3i:iii-:iii:isiciiii
: ::::::i::
ings and large inner sanctuaries or atria, but also included
small enclosed chambers with dual altars isolated from the
view of the public. These two unprecedented discoveries
i-i~i--~-ai~-i
heighten our awareness that the tradition of early religious :-:-::::
:::
-:::-:-:
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architecture and ritual on the Central Coast remains only
dimly understood at present.
Similarly, the partial clearing of Cardal in 1987/1988 ,::::-:-:j::j::::1::

has revealed a site plan (FIG. 5) more elaborate than any

previously described for Central Coast centers with U- :::::::
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:::
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shaped architecture. These new results complement our

-__:__
---_:--_
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1985 discovery of eight sunken circular courts ringing the ~~~--i-:lii
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perimeter of the pyramid-platforms, and the system of
::::::::-:::j---,:-:---::,--~-:-_~--:-
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elevated pathways leading into the central courtyard ii~i9a~~il-i
~i'~:iii~ii~i'ssi~i:---:--_:-i~ii-
:iiiiii:i-i-~:i
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-:---:-~:i:::~::-::
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:::::::::::: ::::-:::::::i::::
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through the opening between the central mound and the
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: : :.-:~iii-,~~l~l~
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western wing. As noted earlier, the second field season
Figure 13. Modeled polychrome mural fragment of a lower face with
additionally documented the existence of a ceremonial flared nostrils, downturned mouth, and interlocking teeth. Photograph
pathway along the centerline of the site and three adjacent taken at the time of its discovery in the atrium of the Late Temple,
plaza sectors, the first of these containing the elevated Sector IIIA.
central plaza, the second containing paired sunken circular
courts, and the third (and northernmost) containing dual-
causewayed rectangular plazas. All are united by their The exterior spaces of the ceremonial architecture at
common conformity to the site's orientation and their Cardal were designed to accommodate public gatherings
arrangementwith respect to the site's centerline. The three of different sizes and composition. The central plaza, in-
zones are physically linked by the central ceremonial path- tended to bring together the different social segments in
way, which leads from one plaza to the next until it ter- a single space, is the best known of these. Equally striking
minates at the central plaza. At the base of this linear is the provision for smaller gatherings in dual and perhaps
arrangement is the monumental staircase, decorated land- opposing and/or complementary plazas on either side of
ing, and atrium described in the previous section. the centerline. It is tempting to see in this design an early
Secondary axes running perpendicular to the principal expression of the moiety organizational principles char-
axis also exist in each of the plaza areas and would have acteristic of later Andean society. Finally, there are the
structured some of the ceremonial activities. There seems multiplicity of small, sunken, circular courts ringing the
to be an atrium overlooking the central elevated plaza on site, perhaps utilized by the smaller, lower-level social units
the east wing, and another atrium-like environment is making up the dual divisions (i.e., lineages, ayllus,3etc.).
faintly visible directly to the east of the sunken circular 3. The definition of the ayllu has been the focus of anthropological
courts. Similarly, the causewayed plazas at the northern debate for much of this century, probably because it was used in more
extreme of the site appear to be linked to a small, inde- than one way and because it has no exact equivalent in anthropological
terminology. It is occasionally defined as lineage, but this restrictive
pendent platform mound directly to their east. Thus it definition fails to suggest the breadth of the concept. The ayllu is defined
would appear that multiple E-w axes coexisted with the here as a landholding kin group whose members share responsibility for
central N-S axis. certain specified ritual and agricultural activities.

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292 Investigationsat Cardal,Peru/Burgerand Salazar-Burger
This arrangement is reminiscent of sites in the sw United
States, where dispersed small kivas for localized sodalities
complemented the large central "great kivas" used for
community ceremonies.
The foregoing description of Cardal's public architec-
ture does not address the historical dimension of site lay-
out. The configuration outlined above only characterized
the final phase of public activities at Cardal. It expresses,
and was the product of, the evolving structure of the
community responsible for its construction. Fortunately,
the work at Cardal has also begun to give a more accurate
idea of its architectural history. The excavations in the
atrium area of the central mound offer evidence of the
classic pattern of vertical growth through ceremonial en-
tombment and subsequent renovation through construc-
tion of almost identical buildings immediately above the
buried structures. Such patterns imply ideological con-
tinuity within the cyclical parameters of sacred time
(Burger and Salazar-Burger 1985). There is equally com-
pelling evidence at Cardal of architecturaltransformation
and change through lateral growth and the introduction
of alien elements.
Perhaps the most conspicuous example of the latter was
the additon of sunken circular courts to the complex. On
the outer terrace of the eastern wing, a series of these
circular courts was built above what appear to have been
walled rectangular enclosures. In the sw portion of the
site in Sector V, the construction of one of these circular
courts (EC-4) destroyed part of the original system of
raised walkways leading into the plaza (Burger 1987:
367).
The dual circular courts flanking the central pathway
likewise appear to have been added to the original archi-
tecture, along with an extension of the eastern wing and
the construction of a circular court on its summit. We
hypothesize that these additions constitute the first major
lateral expansion of the complex to the north, extending
the limits of the original U-shaped complex. A second
stage of lateral expansion is hypothesized to have pro-
duced the northernmost sector (Sector I), which included
the two causewayed plazas, the four low, circularplatforms
or column bases, and the low platform to the east. The
construction of the causewayed plazas had apparently not
yet been completed when Cardal was abandoned.
When the excavation and mapping results are synthe-
sized, the picture is one of a site growing both vertically
and horizontally, with a concomitant increase in architec-
tural complexity, as reflected in the range of architectural
elements, the diversity of artificial spaces, the number of
secondary axes, and the absolute size of the ceremonial
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complex. This vision of architectural transformation is
comparable to the hypothetical sequence of architectural
change proposed for the Cupisnique complex of Huaca
de los Reyes in the Moche Valley (Conklin 1985).
Unlike the situation at Huaca de los Reyes, the phases
of construction at Cardal can be associated with diagnostic
pottery assemblages and organic materials suitable for ra-
diocarbon dating. The placement of the site's building
sequence within a chronometric framework offers the pos-
sibility of calculating the minimal annual labor investment
that was expended to produce the monumental architec-
ture. Such calculations are directly relevant to current de-
bates concerning the sociopolitical organization of Initial
Period societies on the coast. Chronological control, both
relative and chronometric, is also critical for relating the
changes at Cardal to other sites in Lurin and elsewhere.
The '4C evidence is alreadysufficient to suggest a period
of no more than 400 radiocarbon years for the entire
construction and occupation of the site.4 The utilization
of the Middle Temple, including the time following its
renovation, probably spanned less than a century; the use
of the Late Temple likewise had a duration of less than a
century. This time frame is short when compared to early
highland public centers, like Kotosh or Huaricoto, that
were occupied for several millennia. Nevertheless, a four-
century period would have been long enough for the
pyramid complex at Cardal to have been built on an in-
cremental basis by a relativelysmall population. Our work-
ing estimate for labor invested in Cardal's monumental
architecture is 2 million person-days. This figure would
have been achieved in four centuries by 100 people work-
ing 60 days a year during the winter months when agri-
cultural activity is minimal due to the lack of water. In
trying to understand the socioeconomic basis upon which
Initial Period monumental complexes like Cardal were
produced, it is critical to remember that they were the net
result of myriad small construction episodes throughout
centuries of occupation. In this respect, they were funda-
mentally different from the pyramids of Giza or Teoti-
huacan.
While the population necessary for the construction of
Cardal was not large, it would appear that the people
residing and buried there constituted only a small fraction
of total support population. If this were the case, we can
infer that the houses and burials encountered in the ex-
cavations at Cardal belonged to people having a special
4. If the occupation of Cardal is estimated using calibrated measure-
ments, the result (approximately 1465-975 B.c.) is to push both the
founding and abandonment back in time. As a consequence, the duration
of the site's use and its construction is increased to 490 calendaryears.

relationship to the pyramid complex. Can we therefore
presume that these people constituted some sort of "elite"
in the late Initial Period society of Lurin? While it is
tempting to jump to the latter conclusion, the midden and
burial evidence suggests that such a presumption may be
unwarranted. Moreover, among many relatively egalitar-
ian groups that lack sharp divisions of rank, status, and
wealth, there exist significant differences between the units
that make up the society (i.e., families, lineages, etc.). In
some cases, particularfamilies or lineages may be identified
with sacred knowledge and community ritual. The result-
ing inequality in status, however, does not translate into
long-term differences in power or wealth, or even into
authority in other aspects of daily life (Paynter 1989;
Flannagan 1989). Similarly, individuals in relatively egal-
itarian societies generally achieve leadership roles due to
a combination of factors including age, sex, and personal
ability, but such a position is usually short-lived and his-
torically contingent. This prestige cannot be used to ap-
propriate the labor of others or accumulate personal
wealth.
These theoretical considerations provide the backdrop
for trying to evaluate the character of the resident com-
munity at Cardal visa vis the larger society, and in inter-
preting the role of the individual in Burial #13. The fact
that differentiation or even some inequality may have ex-
isted at Cardal does not in itself imply that we are dealing
with a "complex" society in which social stratificationwas
present. Before positing the existence of an "elite," it is
necessary to consider its ability to appropriate labor of
others for personal gain, the ability of this group to amass
personal wealth, the degree to which this group maintains
different patterns of consumption, and the capacity of this
group to protect their hierarchicalstatus through coercion
(Clastres 1989).
When these types of considerations are taken into ac-
count, it becomes difficult to justify interpreting the resi-
dent population at Cardal as a true elite. Perhaps what is
most striking about the refuse associated with the residen-
tial structures at Cardal, both behind and on top of the
flat-topped pyramids, is the evidence it provides that the
residents of these buildings were directly engaged in cot-
ton processing and the manufacture of ornaments and
tools used locally. The middens associated with these
houses conspicuously lack the artifactual indicators that
generally exist when there are sharp divisions of rank,
status, and wealth.
The general impression of a rather modest egalitarian
lifestyle derived from the midden contents at Cardal is
reinforced by the new data from burials. The latter in-
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18, 1991 293
JournalofFieldArchaeologylVol.
cluded few if any grave goods, and the grave goods that
do occur consist primarily of the simple tools probably
used by the deceased during their lifetimes. These items
were included in the graves even if they had been damaged
and repaired. As noted, the unique bone earspools and
sea lion tooth necklace of Burial #13 suggest that this
adult male occupied a special position in the society.
Nevertheless, the items used to symbolize this status could
have been obtained off the nearby coast. Rather than
implying control over the labor of others (as would be
the case for finely-crafted gold jewelry and textiles), these
canine tooth ornaments point to the individual ability of
the deceased. The unusual grave goods in Burial #13 may
represent his personal prestige and authority, as they did
while he was alive. Leadership based on personal authority
must have existed in order to coordinate the construction
of complexes such as Cardal, but it could have been based
on charisma and sacred knowledge, lacking the connota-
tion of power and coercion associated with later Andean
societies. Significantly, the adult male in Burial #13 held
a bone artifact, probably a weaving instrument, and spin-
dle whorls were scattered throughout the grave. These
associations suggest that this older individual, whatever
his special status, was involved in the basic productive
activities of the society and, as with other members of his
culture, it was deemed appropriate to include his tools
with his body in the atrium burial.
These preliminary conclusions differ radically from
those of Shelia and Thomas Pozorski, who have been
working at analogous Initial Period sites in the Casma
Valley on the north central coast of Peru (Pozorski and
Pozorski 1987). The Pozorskis interpret the early monu-
mental architecture in Casma as the product of complex
societies organized into early states dominated by bureau-
cratic elites that controlled the accumulation and distri-
bution of centralized surpluses. Clearly, additional re-
search is necessary before the difficult question of Initial
Period sociopolitical organization can be resolved.
The current radiocarbon chronology for Cardal allows
us to establish Cardal'srough contemporaneity with Mina
Perdida, a center with U-shaped architecture only 5 km
to the west. Radiocarbon samples recovered from Mina
Perdida's central pyramid-platform and lateral platforms
range from 1170 to 920 b.c., results surprisingly close to
the 1170 to 740 b.c. range of measurements from Cardal.
The tentative temporal correlation between Cardal and
Mina Perdida rectifies the misconception that Mina Per-
dida was abandoned prior to the construction of Cardal
(e.g., Patterson 1985: 65; Williams 1985: 230-231).
More importantly, their contemporaneity suggests the ex-
294 Investigationsat Cardal,Peru/Burgerand Salazar-Burger
istence of multiple, coeval social groups in the lower valley
of Lurin, each constructing its own public architecture as
the social and ideological focus of the community. But
what were the economic and social links between Mina
Perdida and Cardal?
Consideration of the relationship between Cardal and
Mina Perdida must await future investigations, but the
contemporaneity of the architecturalsequences of Cardal
in the Lurin Valley and Garagayin the neighboring Rimac
Valley allows meaningful comparisons.5 How similar were
these two examples of what is generally presumed to be a
single architectural and religious tradition? What signifi-
cance do these similarities and contrasts have in terms of
the ideologies and rituals of the peoples in neighboring
valleys? If only the atria of the central pyramids of these
two sites are compared, the conclusion emerges that there
does exist a general architecturalstyle to which both con-
form, as seen in overall layout, specific architectural ele-
ments, and construction techniques (TABLE3). At the same
time, the atria of the two sites differ in numerous ways,
most conspicuously in the absence of interior murals, pi-
lasters, notched entryways, and trilevel floors in the atrium
of Cardal. The coping used to decorate the Cardal atrium
does not seem to be present at Garagay, although the
damaged state of Monticulo B's atrium prevents a defini-
tive judgment.
Comparable differences seem to have existed in the rit-
ual behavior that took place in the atria. The votive offer-
ings at Garagay of figurines and carved semiprecious
stones have no analogy at Cardal, while there is a con-
spicuous lack of summit burials at Garagay, in contrast to
5. The availableevidence strongly supports the view that Garagayand
Cardal were coeval centers. In an earlier article (Burger 1981: 599) it
was argued that Garagay was contemporary with the first three phases
of "Chavin" influence at Anc6n and that the ceramic iconography pre-
viously interpreted as "Chavin" was actually the local religious iconog-
raphy of Garagay and similar sites. The first two phases of the Anc6n
sequence in question are associated with seven radiocarbon samples
whose measurements have a mean and standard deviation of 1074 b.c.
- 201. The third phase at Anc6n is associated with three radiocarbon
samples averaging 842 b.c. Subsequently, ceramics from Garagay were
published (Ravines et al. 1984), most of which are contemporary with
the predicted phases at Anc6n, although some appear to be either earlier
or later. The absence of precise proveniences for this pottery makes the
significance of the earlier and later materials difficult to assess. The
following four "4Csamples from Garagay (likewise without provenience)
are consistent with a late Initial Period dating: 3340 B.P. -- 70 (TK-
178), 3170 B.P. +- 80 (CU-49), 3090 B.P. - 70 (TK-177) and 2730
B.P. ? 70 (CU-09). Based on an analysis of the artifacts and "4C mea-
surements, Ravines estimates that Garagay was occupied between 1400
b.c. and 600 b.c., and that the final construction phase and use of the
temple dates to about 780 b.c. (Ravines et al. 1984: 227). If this
conclusion is accepted, the temple at Garagay would have been estab-
lished somewhat earlier than the ones at Cardal, but the Middle and
Late Temples of Monticulo B at Garagay would be almost exactly con-
temporary with the two atria documented in Sector IIIA at Cardal.
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Cardal. While both sites are oriented to the NE, their
specific orientations differ by approximately 150. The na-
ture of the beliefs held in common by the people of Cardal
and Garagay still remains largely unknown, as does the
character of the relationship between public centers of
different size, such as Cardal and Garagay. Tentatively, it
can be suggested that each of the U-shaped centers was
distinctive and perhaps autonomous. While sharing as-
pects of its ideology and rituals with other local centers
of the region, each public complex expressed the individ-
ual characteristicsof its immediate supporting population
and the unique social identity of the community that built
and utilized it.
Cardal was abandoned around 800 b.c., confirming a
pattern found along much of the central and north coast
(Burger 1981). The impression that a major disruption in
local social organization occurred at the end of the Initial
Period is reinforced by our discovery that Cardal's final
constructions were not buried by ritual entombment and
that the plazas in the northern sector of the site were not
completed. Mina Perdida, like Garagay, appears to have
ceased to function at roughly the same time, and no cen-
ters with U-shaped architecture have been documented in
the Lurin Valley following Cardal's decline. Considering
that the tradition of U-shaped pyramid complexes on the
central coast dates to before 1700 b.c. (Patterson 1985),
the rather abrupt demise of the centers with this architec-
ture after flourishing for nearly a millennium calls for
explanation, as does the reorganization of the local pop-
ulation in the following centuries. Future investigations
at Cardal and other Initial Period and Early Horizon sites
in Lurin will hopefully begin to provide a clearer idea of
the factors involved in these poorly understood transfor-
mations.
Acknowledgments
This project was supported by grants from the National
Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation, the
Comisi6n Fulbright, the Heinz Foundation, and YaleUni-
versity. During the second field season, Jose Pinilla and
Alfredo Carbajal supervised portions of the excavations,
and Bernadino Ojeda was responsible for mapping. The
fieldwork included the participation of students from the
University of San Marcos and Yale. Permission for the
investigations was granted by the Instituto Nacional de
Cultura. We are grateful to all of the above for their
collaboration, without which this project would not have
been possible.
RichardL. Burgerand LucySalazar-Burger,respectivelyPro-
at
fessorofAnthropology Yale Universityand ResearchAssoci-
 18, 1991 295
JournalofFieldArchaeology/Vol.

Table 3. Comparison of the atria of the Middle Temples at Cardal and Garagay (entries for
Garagay based on Ravines and Isbell 1976).
Atrium feature Cardal Garagay
Orientation on major axis 170 NNE 320 NNE*
Area covered by central mound 130 m x 45 m 385 m x 155 m
Maximum height of central mound 12 m 23 m
Staircase on central axis of site x x
Well-preserved surface plastering (enlucido) x x
Construction using irregular stone and clay x x
Height of steps of atrium staircase (average) 15 40
Width of steps of atrium staircase (average) 17 30
Direct ascent to landing (no midway x
landings)
Landing facing plaza x x
Decoration with friezes on landing walls x
Thick two-faced walls with clay and rubble x x
cores
Maximum width of atrium walls 2.3 m 6.5 m
Form of atrium rectangular square
Dimensions of atrium 13.5 x 9.4 m ca. 24 m x 24 m
Central back staircase (inset) x
Central lateral staircase (inset) x x
Canted (or battered) walls x x
Wedge-shaped stairways x x
Pilasters o x
Decoration of atrium walls unpigmented polychrome clay frieze
coping
Recessed section of wall framing interior of o x
entryway
Use of low relief unbaked clay friezes x x
Multiple floor levels in atrium x(2) x(3)
Evidence of roofing to protect walls x (small postholes) x (posts in large lined
postholes)
Height of complete atrium walls 2.1 ? (but > 1.6 m)
Colors in clay friezes
Red x x
Yellow x x
White x x
Black, gray-blue, rose o x
Continuous image on two contiguous walls x x

Key: x = present; o = absent; ? = no

information available.
*Not specified whether orientation is in relation to true north or magnetic north.

ate at the Yale PeabodyMuseum ofNatural History,have sidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Lima: Museo de
beencollaboratingsince1979 onproblemsrelating to the ori- la Cultura.

gins and organizationof earlyPeruvian civilization.Mailing Burger, Richard L.

address:Box 2114 Yale Station, DepartmentofAnthropology, 1981 'The Radiocarbon Evidence for the Temporal Priority
Yale University,New Haven, CT 06520. of Chavin de Huintar," American Antiquity 46: 592-
602.

1984 The PrehistoricOccupationof Chavin de Hudntar, Peru.

Bawden, Garth
1982 "CommunityOrganizationReflectedby the Household:
A Study of Pre-ColumbianSocial Dynamics,"Journalof
FieldArchaeology9: 165-181.
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