Ñawpa Pacha

Journal of Andean Archaeology

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Recent Excavations at the Initial Period Site of

Taukachi-Konkán, Casma Valley, Peru

Thomas Pozorski, Shelia Pozorski & Rosa Marín Jave

To cite this article: Thomas Pozorski, Shelia Pozorski & Rosa Marín Jave (2021) Recent
Excavations at the Initial Period Site of Taukachi-Konkán, Casma Valley, Peru, Ñawpa Pacha, 41:1,
47-142, DOI: 10.1080/00776297.2020.1804687

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00776297.2020.1804687

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 RECENT EXCAVATIONS AT THE INITIAL PERIOD SITE OF
TAUKACHI-KONKÁN, CASMA VALLEY, PERU

Thomas Pozorski , Shelia Pozorski and Rosa Marín Jave

Taukachi-Konkán is a large planned settlement that formed part of the Sechín Alto Polity which governed the Casma
Valley during the Initial Period. Fieldwork there during five seasons focused on four aligned platform mound complexes,
three of which are oriented toward a road that enters Taukachi-Konkán from the north while the fourth complex forms
a corner where the road enters the site center. Excavation and survey data revealed the mounds functioned in different
ways relative to each other, the nearby road, and Taukachi-Konkan as a whole. Proposed mound functions range from
the relatively secular role of the corner mound in overseeing road traffic to the clearly religious role of the second mound
with friezes that suggest a cosmological model. A focus on architectural details allowed us to detect evidence of privileged
groups, enabled us to better define the Sechin Alto Polity, and provided comparative material for use by other scholars.

Taukachi-Konkán es un gran asentamiento planificado que formó parte de la Política de Sechín Alto que gobernó el
Valle de Casma durante el Período Inicial. El trabajo de campo allí durante cinco temporadas se centró en cuatro com-
plejos de montículos de plataforma alineados, tres de los cuales están orientados hacia una carretera que ingresa a
Taukachi-Konkán desde el norte, mientras que el cuarto complejo forma una esquina donde la carretera ingresa al
centro del sitio. Los datos de excavación y prospección revelaron que los montículos funcionaban de diferentes
maneras entre sí, la carretera cercana y Taukachi-Konkan en su conjunto. Las funciones del montículo propuestas
van desde el papel relativamente secular del montículo de esquina en la supervisión del tráfico rodado hasta el
papel claramente religioso del segundo montículo con frisos que sugieren un modelo cosmológico. Un enfoque en los
detalles arquitectónicos nos permitió detectar evidencia de grupos privilegiados, nos permitió definir mejor la
Política de Sechin Alto, y proporcionó material comparativo para el uso de otros académicos.

Keywords: Casma Valley, Initial Period, cosmology, Peru, archaeology

Thomas Pozorski, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA
(tpozorski1@gmail.com)
Shelia Pozorski, Department of Anthropology, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, TX 78539, USA
(spozorski80@gmail.com)
Rosa Marín Jave, Marchan S.A.C., Avenida Paseo de la República No. 4527, Lima, Peru (rosamarin2010@gmail.com)

Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology, Volume 41, Number 1, pp. 47–142. # 2020 Institute of Andean Studies. All rights reserved.

47
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Introduction
E xcavations since the 1930s have led to the recog-
nition of the Casma Valley as a major center of
early cultural development during Late Preceramic,
Initial Period, and Early Horizon times (Collier
1962; Malpass 2016: 73; Pozorski and Pozorski
1987, 2008; Tello 1943, 1956; Thompson 1962,
1964). The apex of this early development occurred
during the Initial Period (2100–1000 B.C.) when
carefully planned cities centered around large platform
mounds were built at several inland locations within
the lower valley. This flurry of construction at
inland settlements has long been recognized as relat-
ing to the advent of irrigation agriculture which sup-
ported large settlements and large construction
projects (Burger 1992; Malpass 2016; Patterson
1985; Patterson and Moseley 1968).
Cities constructed as part of the Sechín Alto Polity
generally exhibit symmetry along a central axis, and
most ancillary structures are consistently oriented
toward the settlements’ centers. Based on similarities
in architectural form, layout, orientation, artifacts, and
radiocarbon dates at nine settlements of various sizes
within the Casma Valley, we defined a unified local pol-
itical unit and named it the Sechín Alto Polity (Pozorski
and Pozorski 2002, 2005). We were also able to group
four component settlements within the northern,
Sechín branch of the valley into the Sechín Alto
Complex based on their proximity to each other and
consistent orientations of E32oN (Figure 1). This
complex covers approximately 10.5 square km in area
and contains Sechín Alto, the dominant settlement,
plus Taukachi-Konkán, Sechín Bajo, and Cerro
Sechín (Pozorski and Pozorski 1987: 82, 2005). The
Sechín Alto Polity endured and flourished for some
400 years from early in the Initial Period until its
decline about 1400 B.C.
Taukachi-Konkán
Taukachi-Konkán, the second-largest Sechín Alto
Complex settlement, covers an open pampa about
1250 by 500 m in area at an elevation of about
150 m above sea level (Figure 2). It is bordered on the
48
Volume 41, Number 1
west by Cerro Taukachi and on the east by Cerro
Konkán, two hills which give the settlement its name.
Initially, Taukachi-Konkán was treated as two separate
settlements because of prominent clusters of platform
mounds and plazas at either end of the settlement
(Thompson 1961: 211–217). However, once air photo-
graphs became available, they clearly revealed interven-
ing architecture and associated plazas, subsequently
verified by survey, that documented the existence of a
single large settlement that spans the pampa (Fung
and Williams 1977: 116–118). The largest platform
mound lies near the base of Cerro Taukachi where the
sloping hillside enhances its height. West of this princi-
pal mound are unfinished platforms while a smaller
adjacent U-shaped mound lies to the south. Rows of
intermediate-sized structures line the central site plaza
area bridging the distance between the two ends of
Taukachi-Konkán.
At the east end of Taukachi-Konkán, east of a
modern road, lies another cluster of platform mounds
that is divided into two groups by a space approximately
64 m wide where we believe a prehistoric road once
entered the settlement from the north. West of the
road and alongside it is a grouping of four aligned struc-
tures (Figures 2 and 3a–d) that are unusual because
three of the four are oriented toward the road instead
of the central site axis. Across the road from the
aligned structures is an isolated complex of platforms
and enclosures that apparently faces south. Farther east
two platform mounds joined by a lower platform also
face south (Figure 2e,f); and to their north, near the
northeastern corner of the settlement, is a very large
unfinished flat-topped platform (Figure 2g).
During the Late Intermediate Period (A.D. 1000–
1400) the pampa containing Taukachi-Konkán was
reoccupied by people of the Casma Culture, centered
at the settlement of El Purgatorio in the southern
branch of the valley (Vogel 2012, 2016). At the
western end of the pampa, they took stones from
Initial Period architecture to build a walled structure
and a large surrounding wall. At the eastern end of the
pampa, Casma Culture people also reused stones from
the early architecture to construct isolated compounds
and large walls that connected several of the Initial
Period platform mound structures (Figure 2). The
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Figure 1. Map of the Casma Valley showing the location of Taukachi-Konkán.

summit of one platform mound near the east edge of
Taukachi-Konkán saw especially intense reoccupation.
Previous Excavations at Taukachi-Konkán
We initially excavated at Taukachi-Konkán in 1992–
1994 for three seasons, concentrating on the western
part of the settlement. Most of our excavations
focused on the largest platform mound which prob-
ably functioned as a palace or royal residence for
Sechín Alto Polity leadership (Pozorski and Pozorski
1997a, 1999; T. Pozorski and S. Pozorski 2012).
We named it the Mound of the Columns because
the front portion contains remains of more than
100 columns that likely supported a roof. This more
public sector is characterized by clean, symmetrically
laid-out modular rooms that probably served as audi-
ence areas and high-status storage features. The rear of
the mound probably housed the ruler’s quarters where
an irregularly laid out collection of large and small

49
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 2. Map of the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán showing the locations of the seven platform mounds (A–G) in the eastern
sector of the site.
platforms is accessible only via a narrow entrance.
Food preparation took place within a kitchen area
adjacent to the Mound of the Columns that is
reached by a narrow side staircase that descends
toward the south. Our ability to define the Mound
of the Columns as a residence for Sechín Alto Polity
nobility was critical to our larger arguments that the
principal mounds at different major polity settlements
had varied and complementary functions thereby
creating interrelationships that promoted strength
and cohesion within the polity (T. Pozorski and
S. Pozorski 2012). As part of this earlier excavation
campaign, we also excavated a Casma Culture struc-
ture that monitored traffic entering the Casma
Valley from the northwest during the Late
Intermediate Period (A.D. 1000–1400) (S. Pozorski
and T. Pozorski 2012).
Recent Excavations in the Eastern Sector
In 2015, we returned to Taukachi-Konkán to investi-
gate the eastern part where we had tested only one
50
Volume 41, Number 1
platform mound in 1993. There was an urgency to
explore this substantial zone of clustered platform
mounds because of recent aggressive efforts to culti-
vate the Taukachi-Konkán pampa despite the site’s
status as a protected and clearly marked archaeological
zone. Our initial objective in exploring the eastern
part of Taukachi-Konkán was to collect data from
the cultural remains and especially the architecture
in order to investigate the structure, layout, and func-
tion of the distinct platform mound complexes.
Resultant data are described in considerable detail in
order to reconstruct experiential aspects of the build-
ings and provide ample comparative data for the
reader. Excavation data would also be used to
address more general objectives: 1) assessing relation-
ships among the four aligned mound complexes; 2)
assessing relationships between the aligned mound
complexes and the adjacent road; and 3) assessing
the growth, use, and abandonment of the eastern
part of Taukachi-Konkán. Finally, we planned to
use data from our excavations to better understand
variations within intermediate-sized architectural
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 3. View from the east of Mounds A–D at Taukachi-Konkán.
units and their role within the Sechín Alto Polity as a
whole where such units figure prominently. To
address these objectives, we worked five seasons at
Taukachi-Konkán (2015–2019) where we spent 38
weeks testing seven sizeable platform mounds, includ-
ing the four aligned roadside structures where we con-
ducted more intensive excavations (Figure 2a–g and
Figure 3). In addition, we sampled two zones of
Initial Period midden, one of which contained early
burials. Results of these excavations revealed that all
four platform mounds have unique traits related to
distinct functions. In this article, we describe and
discuss these four mounds starting from the south
because they decrease in size and complexity from
south to north.
Our decisions about which areas and structures to
excavate more intensively and how to conduct these
excavations were also impacted by the fact that the
east sector of Taukachi-Konkán saw substantial reoc-
cupation by people of the Casma Culture. In addition
to their reoccupation of mound summits and their
construction of walls using repurposed stone, we
have evidence of actual Casma Culture use of the
eastern settlement area, including abundant late
51
ceramics, pockets of late refuse and artifacts, intrusive
hearths and pits, and numerous intrusive burials—
often within windblown sand that filled the rooms.
As part of our recent excavations in the eastern
sector of Taukachi-Konkán, we collected and pro-
cessed nine radiocarbon samples from secure contexts
within architecture and midden (Table 1). The result-
ing dates are tightly clustered and span only about
100 to 150 years between 1500 and 1350 cal B.C.,
indicating that the occupation at the east end of the
settlement was short-lived. These dates are also in
agreement with relative dating based on architecture,
associated ceramics, artifacts, and subsistence
material. This new date range for the eastern part of
Taukachi-Konkán is narrower than the date range
from samples at the west end of the settlement
(Pozorski et al. 2017: 544) which reflect the longer
duration of that sector.
Methodology
We carried out our 2015–2019 excavations at
Taukachi-Konkán by laying out grids of 2 × 2 m
squares using a Topcon total station. Whenever
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Table 1. Radiocarbon measurements from Taukachi-Konkán.

Lab Radiocarbon Calibrated 1σ date range 2σ date range

Context number Material Years BPa intercept dateb BCb BCb
Tall mound complex
Room 6, west entrance, north Beta- wood 3250 ± 30 1475B.C. 1505–1435 1545–1410
pilaster, step 3 535191
Room 13, east entrance, north Beta- wood 3220 ± 30 1435B.C. 1495–1475/ 1500–1410
pilaster of landing 427589 1460–1425
Room 13, east entrance, south Beta- wood 3210 ± 30 1435B.C. 1490–1480/ 1500–1405
pilaster of landing 427588 1450–1415
Room 13, east entrance, north Beta- wood 3200 ± 30 1430B.C. 1445–1410 1495–1395/
pilaster 427587 1330–1325
Room 6, north entrance, west Beta- wood 3170 ± 30 1400B.C. 1440–1382/ 1495–1285
pilaster 535190 1340–1310
South wing of frieze court
East room, measuring sticks Beta- wood 3190 ± 30 1420B.C. 1495–1395/ 1500–1305
along west wall in southwest 535192 1335–1325
corner
North wing of frieze court
West room, central hearth floor Beta- charcoal 3140 ± 30 1350B.C 1415–1375/ 1440–1260
477229 1355–1300
Midden below frieze mound
Square A, level 3 Beta- charcoal 3240 ± 30 1470B.C. 1500–1435 1600–1585/
477227 1535–1400
Square E, level 3 Beta- charcoal 3220 ± 30 1460B.C. 1495–1420 1525–1390/
477228 1335–1325
a
Conventional uncalibrated radiocarbon years (C13/C12 corrections applied).
b
Calendar years calibrated using SHCAL13 (Hogg et al. 2013).

possible, we tried to align our grids with Initial Period
architecture visible on the surface. The grids served
multiple purposes: they enabled us to precisely
locate artifacts and subsistence items during exca-
vation, they aided in detailed mapping of structures
and architectural features, and they facilitated exca-
vation in the same units over multiple seasons. We
cleared a total of 831 2 × 2 m squares (3324 m2)
during our excavations of the four mounds along
the ancient road and another 21 2 × 2 m squares
(84 m2) while testing three additional mounds
located nearer the eastern end of the settlement.
Because of Taukachi-Konkán’s somewhat skewed
orientation of approximately E32°N, we designated
a “site north” to facilitate use of the grid system and
to standardize archaeological descriptions at all levels
within the site. To do this, we viewed the site axis
established by the principal mound as reflecting an
east-west direction and its perpendicular as reflecting
a north-south direction. This practice enabled us to
describe the aligned mounds as facing “east” rather
than “northeast” toward the road and to avoid the
confusion of having to use terms such as “northeast
wall” or “west corner.”
Most of our excavations involved clearing eolian sand
as well as architectural debris derived both from wall fall
as buildings eroded over a few millennia and from the
later dismantling of structures by Casma Culture
people around A.D. 1000. Once we removed the over-
burden in each 2 × 2 m square, we carefully excavated
the final 10 cm of deposit above room floors and
sifted it using a 1/4-inch mesh screen. In addition,
we fine-screened a 25 cm square of the floor deposit
in room corners using both #10 and #25 geological
soil screens in an effort to recover a sample of the
finer cultural material that passed through our 1/4-
inch screen. We also processed fill in hearths, pits,
and other similar features in the same manner.
In the course of excavations, we tried to separate
collections from deposits with clear evidence of

52
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
intrusive late material. Many Casma Culture remains
were confined to eolian sand; however, we often
encountered additional intrusive material in more
compact mixed silty wall fall deposits as well as
near-floor zones. With this in mind, our assessment
of excavation data initially focused on secure Initial
Period contexts: the two midden zones (Northeast
Midden and West Midden), sealed fill within remo-
deled Initial Period architecture within the Mound
A complex, and a basal level of gravel with cultural
material that accumulated against the outer west
wall of Mound D while the wall was intact. Data
from these secure contexts are especially important
for the assessment of diet and subsistence because
most food species cannot be reliably assigned chrono-
logically unless the time of their disappearance from
or appearance in the archaeological record has been
carefully documented (e.g., guanábana; Pozorski
and Pozorski 1997b). Next, we assessed archaeologi-
cal material from compact silt-rich wall fall and
near-floor contexts within 10 cm of room and plaza
floors, continuously watching for late ceramics and
other indicators of intrusive deposits such as maize
cobs. Finally, we examined collections from the
loose surface sand deposits, and we included
ceramic and artifact types known to be typical of
Sechín Alto Polity settlements to expand our sample
and as an aid in determining room and structure func-
tion. We started with a total sample of 8,975 sherds
from excavations of the four aligned mounds and
the midden areas. Of this total, 3,499 ceramics
came from loose eolian sand deposits and contexts
clearly impacted by later Casma Culture people, so
we initially focused on the remaining 5,363 sherds
that came from more reliable hard wall fall, near-
floor, and midden contexts. We subsequently reexa-
mined the material from loose sandy deposits and
other mixed contexts, and identified 113 additional
diagnostic Initial Period sherds which we included
in order to expand our small sample of early material
to a total of 5476 sherds. Artifacts were generally
scarce; however, we were also able to expand this
sample by including known Initial Period examples
from possibly mixed contexts. Because of the scarcity
of Initial Period diagnostic ceramics and especially
53
artifacts, we have relied heavily on architectural data
in our efforts to determine the function of excavated
structures.
Also as part of our fieldwork at the eastern end of
Taukachi-Konkán, we created maps that represent
general reconstruction drawings of the four aligned
mound complexes in order to put our excavation
data in context and to represent these data in a
more meaningful way to the reader. To make these
reconstructions, we used information from exca-
vations, ground survey, on-site measurements, drone
photographs, and our knowledge of Sechín Alto
Polity architectural tenets.
General Features of
Taukachi-Konkán Architecture
Almost all of the architecture of the walls and platform
mounds that we cleared during our excavations is con-
structed of angular quarried stone set in silty-clay
mortar. The stone used was pried from nearby granitic
hillsides along the west and northwest sides of the
settlement, and the mortar came from canals and
river deposits in the valley downslope from the site.
Quarried stones were not smoothed or polished.
Instead, the builders set the large boulders (30 to
75 cm across) in rough courses with the largest flat
side of each boulder aligned to form the face of the
wall. The builders filled spaces among boulders with
angular cobbles set in tan silty-clay mortar. They also
filled the core of the wall between its two faces with
boulders and cobbles of various sizes consolidated by
tan silty-clay mortar. Walls are typically double-faced,
generally some 90 cm to 2 m thick, and they originally
stood 2 to 4 m tall. Once the relatively smooth wall
faces were built, the builders coated them with a
layer of yellowish tan inner plaster made of silty clay
with a thickness of 1 to 10 cm. The builders more
finely finished most wall surfaces by using a clay-rich
outer plaster layer, 1 to 5 cm thick, that often included
a final coating of paint—usually white. They also con-
structed floors 5 to 12 cm thick, consisting mostly of
silty clay with a coating of finer plaster and white paint.
Entrances vary in width, and they typically have
raised thresholds narrowed by pilasters. These
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 4. View from the south of the north side of the east entrance of Room 13 showing the landing, steps and the remains of two
pilasters. The former locations of missing upper pilaster parts are indicated by vertical zones without plaster where abutted pilasters have
fallen away from the north side of the entrance.

pilasters are special features because of their associ-
ation with bar closure mechanisms. Pilasters occur
in opposing pairs, and they are formed of cane or
wood bundles tied with rope made of junco
(Schoencoplectus americanus) and inserted into holes
cut into entrance thresholds or steps. This bundled
core is then covered with coarse plaster to give it a rec-
tangular or rounded form while simultaneously
attaching it to the entrance sidewall with coarse and
then fine plaster. We know that pilasters were
created during the overall entrance construction
because the sidewalls behind the pilasters lack outer
plaster (Figure 4); and this zone of missing outer
plaster consistently reveals that pilasters originally
extended to the full heights of the entrance sidewalls.
Pilasters serve to restrict entrances by slightly narrow-
ing the opening; however, associated bar-closure
mechanisms actually block the entrance. Bar closures
consist of opposing niches, one shallow and one very
deep; and in order to close the entrance, a long
wooden bar was drawn from the deep niche and its
end was set into the shallower niche. Bar closure
niches are consistently found adjacent to pilasters
wherever entrance sidewalls are preserved high
enough (Pozorski and Pozorski 1986, 1991); there-
fore it is reasonable to assume that wherever we find
pilasters within entrances, there were once bar clo-
sures to block the entrance as well. Almost all of the
23 entrances excavated during our campaign at the
eastern end of Taukachi-Konkán contain remains of
pilasters. These pilasters are generally rectangular;
most are 22 to 28 cm long and 13 to 17 cm wide.
Holes for the cane bundles are 7 to 13 cm in diameter
and 25 to 35 cm deep below the threshold, landing,
or step. Impressions of cane, wood, and especially
junco rope are often evident within pilaster holes,
and two entrances in the Mound A complex had pre-
served wood and coiled junco rope in place.
The emphasis on symmetry within many Sechín
Alto Polity constructions suggests that precision in
planning and measurement was very important to
builders. One way builders were able to achieve

54
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 5. (a) View from the west of five in situ wooden measuring sticks located along the curved northeast corner of Room 4 and (b) a
sample of wooden measuring sticks from the Mound A complex showing size variation. Scale is 5 cm.
precision to a remarkable degree was through the use of
small wooden measuring sticks which they lined up
along the base of walls and corners of entrances and
niches to help guide the planning, building. and plas-
tering of wall faces. We found in situ measuring sticks
in several structures during our excavations at
Taukachi-Konkán; and we recovered dozens more
within wall fall (Figure 5). Measurement of a sample
of 113 measuring sticks recovered, 96 whole and 17
fragmentary examples, revealed that they range in
diameter from 6 to 11 mm, with most falling in the
7 to 10 mm range. Lengths of the sticks vary from
54 to 211 mm, but most are less than 170 mm long.
There are four size clusters at 65 to 71 mm, 80 to
90 mm, 120 to 130 mm and 155 to 165 mm
suggesting some sense of standardized sizing. Analysis
of the type of wood used to make measuring sticks
revealed that most are made from algarroba (Prosopis
chilensis) while a few were cut from zapote wood
(Capparis sp.). Both plants were once common on
the pampa where Taukachi-Konkán is located.
The sides of Mounds A–D that we excavated vary in
height from 2 to 5.5 m. These wall faces are essentially
near-vertical single-faced retaining walls with a slight
slant toward the mound center that serve to contain
the construction fill of each mound. Mound construc-
tion fill is similar to fill used in room walls, and mortar
and plaster characteristics are also the same.
In addition to using of stone for construction, the
people of Taukachi-Konkán made and incorporated
cone-shaped or conical adobes, a building material
long known to have been utilized during the Initial
Period along the coast of Peru (Bennett 1946: 26;
55
Bennett and Bird 1964: 97; Lumbreras 1974: 68;
Pozorski and Pozorski 1987: 33; Tello 1956: 82).
Most of our architectural clearing encountered frag-
mentary and occasionally whole conical adobes in
the lowest 50 cm to 1 m of wall fall. This means
that conical adobes were originally used in the tops
of many walls, most likely with their flat bases
facing outward to align with the rest of the wall face
formed by stone construction at a lower elevation.
Over time, as the walls began to weather and collapse,
the conical adobes were among the first elements to
fall from the upper wall face, thereby becoming part
of the lowest zone of wall fall. In rare cases, the
builders utilized conical adobes in the lower portions
of walls. From a sample of 602 fragments and whole
specimens, we determined that most conical adobes
measure 26 to 36 cm across their bases, stand 40 to
46 cm tall and taper to 5 to 11 cm at their tops.
These conical adobes are handmade, as evidenced
by numerous fingermarks present on at least half of
the measured sample of adobes; and some examples
have relatively elaborate, even whimsically patterned,
finger marks (Figure 6). The motif on the conical
adobe that is decorated with vertical lines and dots
may have been inspired by the caps of figurines
which exhibit similar incised markings (Pozorski
and Pozorski 2018: 107, Figure 4.3d).
Mound A Architectural Complex
The most southern structure of the group of four
aligned mounds is also the most complex (Figures 2
and 3). It consists of a tall central platform mound
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 6. Photograph (a) and drawing (b) of two whimsically decorated conical adobes recovered in excavations of Mound A. Scale is 25 cm.
which faces south toward an open rectangular plaza
with low wings and a raised platform containing a cir-
cular sunken court. There are also lower areas of archi-
tecture with rooms and plazas that flank the tall central
platform mound on the west and east. Based on the
better- preserved west complex, we know that these
lateral structures were originally joined together by
abutted and bonded walls and surrounded by continu-
ous exterior walls and facing walls that bordered the
complex and defined its limits. The central mound
is oriented toward the site center to the south, and
the plazas and room complexes on its flanks also
follow this orientation even though this complex lies
along the road that enters Taukachi-Konkán from
the north. Excavation of this complex involved the
clearing of 390 2×2 m squares (1560 m2).
Mound A
The central Mound A structure is the tallest among the
four aligned mounds, with a height of about 6.6 m
(Figure 7). Even after 3500 years, our ground measure-
ments reveal the central structure to be approximately
square, covering an area 51.7 m north-south by
52.7 m east-west; and it was probably planned and
laid out as a square. At its center is a square room,
56
Volume 41, Number 1
Room 13, that measures approximately 12.25 m on a
side (Figures 8 and 9; Table 2). This room is an
example of a round-cornered modular architectural
form which we have described elsewhere as a square-
room unit (Pozorski and Pozorski 2000, 2011).
These specialized rooms are very consistent in form
and structure and are characterized by thick well-built
walls, rounded exterior corners, high wall niches,
raised thresholds, and entrances restricted by pilasters
and wooden bar-closure mechanisms. Square-room
units are also modular architectural forms that always
maintain their independence because surrounding
architecture is never actually bonded in, only abutted
to it. Such square-room-unit modules are ubiquitous
at major Sechín Alto Polity settlements where they con-
sistently occur in prominent, often central, locations;
and we have argued that they are emblematic of
Sechín Alto Polity administration (Pozorski and
Pozorski 2011; cf. Vega-Centeno 2017 for an alterna-
tive interpretation). Within Taukachi-Konkán, square-
room-unit modules are present on the Mound of the
Columns; and they form the central rooms of many
of the intermediate-sized mounds that line the edges
of the settlement’s central plaza.
Key traits revealed during excavation that identify
the central room of Mound A as a square-room unit
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 7. Plan of the Mound A architectural complex showing the locations of Rooms 1–20. The excavated areas are shaded in blue.
include unusually thick walls, rounded corners, wall
niches where preservation allows, and the use of pila-
sters to restrict entrances. Large amounts of junco rope
recovered in the vicinity of both Room 13 entrances
were probably derived from the bundled pilaster
cores of the two entrances. The east entrance to this
room is relatively narrow, but quite long because it
passes through two juxtaposed walls: the east wall of
Room 13 and the west wall of Room 14 to the east
(Figure 10). South of the east entrance into Room
13, the room wall is still standing high enough to par-
tially preserve a niche as well as remnants of a 10 to
12 cm wide ledge that would have encircled the
room (Figure 8). Both the niche floor and the ledge
are about 1.2 m above the room floor. The niche
measures 40 cm deep and, based on multiple
examples from Sechín Alto Polity settlements, includ-
ing Taukachi-Konkán, we can reconstruct the niche
width to be approximately 1 m. Within the central
room of Mound A, we also excavated the remains of
two round columns; and, based on their spacing,
we estimate there were once six columns within the
room (Figure 7). Both excavated column holes
measure 70 cm in diameter and 90 cm deep. They
are lined with stones and have a hard pack floor-like
57
surface at the bottom. Both excavated column holes
are located 2.6 m to 2.65 m from the south wall of
the room, the more eastern hole is 3.65 m from the
east room wall, and the two column holes are 3.1 m
apart. Column holes like these are abundant in the
eastern half of the Mound of the Columns located
at the west end of Taukachi-Konkán (Pozorski and
Pozorski 1998: Figura 3b).
During clearing of the floor of the central Room 13,
we also encountered dozens of small round holes,
usually a centimeter or less in depth and 1 to 2.5 cm
in diameter. Some are clustered, and they often seem
to be in irregular rows. We interpret these as the
remains of ephemeral cane structures that were con-
structed within this tall-walled room during the
Initial Period, but after Taukachi-Konkán was mostly
abandoned due to the collapse of the Sechín Alto
Polity. The new inhabitants probably selected this
location to take advantage of the shelter afforded by
well built, but abandoned architecture. Occasional
burned patches on the room floor are also probably
associated with this short-lived domestic reoccupation.
The south entrance within the central room
leads into an associated atrium, Room 15 (Figures 9
and 11). This entrance has a raised threshold
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 8. View from the west of Room 13 on the summit of Mound A showing the presence of entrances with pilasters, a wall niche, and
a large column hole in the room floor.

narrowed by a pair of pilasters, and it leads onto a tall This bench is 39 to 40 cm tall, and it ranges from
bench along the north edge of the atrium that had 76 to 79 cm in width where the central room exterior
conical adobes as part of its construction material. wall is straight, widening to 87 cm in the northwest

Figure 9. View from the south of the west end of the atrium, Room 15, showing the exterior round corner of Room 13 and the
architectural join of the round corner and the straight west wall of the atrium.

58
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Table 2. Architectural measurements for Mound A complex.

N-S E-W Wall/tier ht Wall Entrance data

Room no. or measurement Measurement range thickness
architectural unit in cm/m in cm/m in cm/m in m Pilasters # steps Elevation Δ
Mound A lower 51.7 m 52.7 m 2.0 m
tier
Mound A upper 36.2 m 34.8 m 6.6 m
tier
Mound A 26.0 m 26.0 m
sunken circle
Mound A rect 59.0 m 54.0 m
plaza
Mound A arch 51.7 m 26.8 m on 70 cm
to W platform
Room 1 10.35–12.8 m 2.75–2.95 m 6–33 cm N1.35–1.40
m
E1.30–1.35
m
S 1.25 m
Room 1 E wall 85–92 cm 1.20–1.25 m 15–45 cm 1.25 m probably; not 1 raised 10–12 cm
entrance preserved threshhold

Room 2 10.5 m 10.3 m 0–91 cm N

N SRU 1.65–1.75 m
E 1.30–1.35
m
S 1.35–1.40
m
W 1.30–1.35
m
Room 2 S wall 1.4 m 1.93 m 30–50 cm 1.4 m probably; not 1 raised 14 cm down
entrance preserved threshhold to Rm 2
Room 3 12.35–12.7 m 2.7–3.1 m 20–90 cm E 1.25–1.30
156 circles m
present W 1.30–1.35
m
S 1.30–1.40
m
Room 3 W wall 80–83 cm 1.3 m 4–28 cm 1.3 m yes 1 raised 10–12 cm
entrance threshhold

Room 4 13.8–13.85 m 4.3–4.95 m 5 cm–1.47 S 1.25–1.45

66 circles m m
W 1.25–1.35
m

Room 5 18.45 m 18.5 m 10–93 cm N 1.35–1.4

Plaza m
E 1.33–1.45
m
S 1.60–1.65
m
Continued

59
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Table 2. Continued.

N-S E-W Wall/tier ht Wall Entrance data

Room no. or measurement Measurement range thickness
architectural unit in cm/m in cm/m in cm/m in m Pilasters # steps Elevation Δ
Room 6 13.85–14.05 4.2–4.3 m 12 cm–1.6 N 1.30–1.45
m m m
S 1.30–1.35
m
W 1.35–1.45
m
Room 6 N wall 1.3 m 1.11–1.15 m 14–30 cm 1.30–1.45 m yes 1 raised 19–25 cm
entrance threshhold

Room 6 W wall 1.55 m 1.37–1.4 m 43–90 cm 1.35–1.45 m yes 1 raised 24–28 cm

entrance threshhold down to
Rm 6
Room 6 S wall 1.30–1.31 m 1.55 m 71 cm–1.13 1.3–1.35 m yes; blocking 1 raised 21–30 cm
entrance m wall 17–28 cm threshhold
tall

Room 7 17.65 m 17.65 ma 21–90 cm N 1.6–1.7 m

SRU above fl E 1.75 m
S
1.60–1.65 m
Room 8 – 4.2–4.65 m 26 cm–1.96 N 1.30–1.35
2 postholes m m
W 1.75 m

Room 9 6.65–6.7 m 7.4–7.6 m 0–71 cm N 1.25–1.35

estimated m
E 1.75–1.85
m
S 1.75–1.85
m
W 1.25–1.35
m
Room 9 S wall 1.8 m 80 cm–1 m 3–21 cm 1.75–1.8 m poorly
entrance estimated preserved
Room 9 E wall – 1.75–1.8 m – 1.75–1.8 m poorly
entrance preserved
Room 10 4.95 m – 18 cm–2.4 W 1.75–1.8
m m

Room 11 1 6.45 m 7.4–7.6 m 0–1.58 m N 1.75–1.8

posthole estimated m
S 1.70–1.75
m
W 1.25–1.3
m
Room 11 S wall 1.75 m 1.55 m poorly
entrance estimated preserved
Continued

60
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Table 2. Continued.

N-S E-W Wall/tier ht Wall Entrance data

Room no. or measurement Measurement range thickness
architectural unit in cm/m in cm/m in cm/m in m Pilasters # steps Elevation Δ
Room 12 – 7.4–7.6 m 2 cm–2.1 m N 1.7–1.75
3 postholes estimated m
W 1.25–1.35
m
Room 13 est* 12.25 m est* 12.25 m 36 cm–1.5 E 1.6–1.7 m
SRU column m S 1.75–1.85
holes m

Room 13 E wall 1.13–1.18 m 3.45–3.5 m 74 cm–1.3 1.6–1.7 m yes 4 1.22 m

entrance m 1.35–1.36 m

Room 13 S wall 1.8 m 2.2 m 23–45 cm 1.75–1.85 m yes 1 raised 35 cm down

entrance threshhold to Rm 13

Room 14 – – W 7–44 cm W 1.35–1.36

m
Room 15 – – N 33 N 1.75–1.85
atrium column cm–1.28 m m
holes W 66–92
cm
S stairs 3.75+ m –
Room 16 – 7.7 m 1.30–1.65 m 1.2 m
Room 17 4.10–4.15 m S 76–90 cm S 1.2–1.3 m
E 29–52 cm E 1.2–1.25
W 1.08–1.8 m
m
Room 17 E 1.35 m 1.2 m N 15–30 cm – 1 raised 17–24 cm
wall entrance S 29–35 cm threshhold
Room 17 S wall 1.2 m 1.58 m E 40–68 cm – yes 1 raised 10–30 cm
entrance W 23–46 threshhold
cm
Room 18 SRU – – N 27–37 cm N 1.6–1.75
m
W 1.6–1.75
m
Room 19 – – S 68 cm S 1.6–1.75 m
W 15–50 W 1.2–1.25
cm m
Room 20 – 4.1–4.7 m N 28–50 cm N 1.2–1.3 m
E 1.6–1.75
m
a
Estimated based on surface evidence of wall faces.

corner of the atrium where the rounded exterior
central room wall curves back. This “corridor/
corner” narrows from 88 to 19 cm as the curved
outer wall of the central room and the straight west
wall of the corridor come together. Zones of white
paint on the south exterior square-room unit wall
and the bench floor indicate these surfaces were
once painted white, and patches of red pigment on
the straight wall reveal that its surface was once
painted red. Samples of pigments from both stone

61
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 10. View from the west of the east entrance of Room 13 showing a landing, three additional steps, and pilasters that restrict the
width of the entrance.

processing tools and red wall paint have been tested 2011). Two small sticks are set vertically in the
and were determined to be hematite, a pigment also floor next to the straight west atrium wall where
known from early sites in Nepeña (Samaniego they were likely once obscured by plaster. We

Figure 11. View from the west of the atrium, Room 15, showing a bench and column holes south of Room 13.

62
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
interpret these sticks as in situ measuring devices, and
one example here has cotton string attached. This
string plus additional cotton string nearby and on
the bench along the outer wall of the central room
may have been used in conjunction with the sticks
to help lay out the walls and bench as part of the plan-
ning and construction process. We also discovered
patches of junco matting and totora (Schoencoplectus
californicus) matting on the atrium floor and bench
respectively.
Remains of at least four additional columns are
present within the atrium immediately south of the
central room (Figure 11). Two are more centrally
located while two are adjacent to the bench edge.
The two free-standing column holes are 2.56 m (W
column) and 2.38 m (E column) south of the
column holes at the bench edge, and the east-west dis-
tance between the columns is 4 to 4.06 m. Partial
excavation of the column holes at the edge of the
bench revealed that they extend beneath the bench
some 7 to 10 cm. The more western of these
column holes has a ring of plaster 10 cm thick
around its edge, and the bench face behind the
column is unplastered. The bench face behind the
more eastern column hole also lacks plaster, revealing
the conical adobes used in bench construction.
Examination of the relationship between the
column holes and the bench edge suggests that the
builders constructed the column holes first, followed
almost immediately by construction of the bench
which incorporated the northern edges of the
columns as they coated the bench face and column
exteriors with mud plaster. We completely excavated
the two free-standing column holes; they measure
80 to 90 cm in diameter and 80 to 93 cm deep and
have hard pack bottoms. The more eastern free-stand-
ing column hole contained a bundle of small sticks
near its bottom, remnants of the column core that
was originally made of wooden sticks tied together
with junco rope. Such bundles would have been
anchored by fill within the column holes, and the
segment of the bundle above the floor would have
been covered with plaster to create a column
capable of supporting a light roof covering the
atrium and central room.
63
We extended the excavation within the atrium
farther south in an effort to define a central staircase.
The steps had been destroyed by a combination of
stone removal and downslope erosion, but we were
able to locate a line of in situ stones that probably
once formed the west sidewall of an inset staircase.
The line of stones is 3.75 long, and it starts some
7.5 m south of the back wall of the atrium.
Assuming symmetry of Mound A, we used its center-
line to estimate a width of 3.3 m for the central
staircase.
Surrounding the central room on three sides and
extending toward the south as wings on either side
of the atrium are multiple rooms with their floors
raised above the central room (Figure 7). This
upper tier of rooms plus the central room and associ-
ated atrium form a tall central core that measures
approximately 36.2 m north-south by 34.8 m east-
west. The upper tier of rooms is reached via opposing
staircases in the east and west walls of the central
Room 13. In the vicinity of the staircases, the sur-
rounding rooms have independent walls that lie
alongside the central room exterior and extend
toward the mound front where they form the corri-
dor-like corners of the atrium. This special construc-
tion feature, which is typical of Sechín Alto Polity
settlements, emphasizes the importance of the
square-room unit as a stand-alone modular emblem.
As a result of this construction technique both the
east and west entrances of the central room pass
through a double-thick wall. The sidewalls of the
east entrance are well covered with mud plaster to
obscure the join (Figure 4); however, excavations
near the wall tops where the walls taper inwards
revealed a narrow rubble-filled crevice between the
two parallel wall faces. Traces of white paint are
visible on the entrance sidewalls, indicating they
were once painted white. We only excavated the
east staircase, and it consists of a large threshold at
its west end and three steps that ascend 1.22 m to
the raised Room 14 immediately to the east
(Figures 4 and 10). This staircase seems somewhat
unusual because it contains two pairs of pilasters to
constrict the opening; however, these pairs of pilasters
are centered relative to their respective walls. One pair
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
is on the broad threshold at the base of the stairs and
one pair is on the second step, and the presence of
two pairs signals the importance of restricting access
to the raised rooms surrounding the central square-
room unit. We partly cleared the raised Room 14 at
the top of the staircase, revealing parts of the north
and west walls, including a possible entrance in the
north wall. The plastered floor of this room extends
only 2.15 m out from the west wall because the
eastern part of this room has sloughed off the east
edge of the mound top.
At a considerably lower level, some 3.5 m below the
level of the central room floor, a second band of
rooms occupies a tier that surrounds the taller
mound center on four sides (Figure 7). One wall of
all these rooms is formed by the outer face of the
retaining wall that supports the tall part of the plat-
form mound. We cleared all or part of five rooms.
We first exposed a 2 m span of the lower tier in a
small excavation on the east side of Mound A
(Room 16). At its west end, this excavation exposed
the tall retaining wall face; and, at its east end, this
excavation exposed remnants of the east wall of a
room on the east lower tier. The tier room segment
proved to be part of a room that measures about
7.7 m east-west with an east wall about 1.2 m in
width. Excavations farther east exposed the retaining
wall that supports the lower tier, revealing that the
east tier was originally about 8.9 m wide and 2 m
high (Figures 12 and 13).
Subsequent fieldwork involved excavations within
four additional interconnected Rooms 9–12 that
extend around the northwest corner of the lower
tier (Figure 7). We exposed the tall tier face of the
mound center, which forms one wall of all these
rooms, revealing a well plastered surface up to 2.4 m
tall that still has traces of white paint. Toward the
west, we also cleared the retaining wall supporting
the lower tier, revealing that the lower tier there is
8.7 m to 8.9 m in width and 2 m tall. The western
room walls on this tier are gone, likely removed by
Casma Culture people to construct their large dry-
laid stone wall at the north edge of this architectural
complex. Nevertheless, we are confident that a wall
once bordered the entire lower tier based on wall
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Volume 41, Number 1
remnants in Rooms 9 and 16, the intact north wall
of Room 10, and missing floor plaster at the
western edge of Rooms 9, 11, and 12. The short
outer wall segment in Room 9 confirms that the
tier corner is rounded. Where floor plaster is
missing, the tier surface is still relatively flat, indicat-
ing that the builders probably constructed the lower
tier before erecting the perimeter wall and that they
did not bond the perimeter wall into the basal plat-
form. This made it easier for the stones to be
removed down to the perimeter wall base and/or for
the wall to collapse as it weathered.
Room 9 measures 6.65 to 6.7 m north-south; and
it contains an entrance in the southwest corner, near
the edge of the tier, which connects it with Room 11
and a probable east entrance into Room 10
(Figure 14). The entrance in the east wall of Room
9 is in poor condition, making it difficult to discern
its features. Some evidence comes from abundant
lengths of junco rope present nearby that were likely
derived from the junco wrappings of pilaster posts
within the entrance. The walls of Room 9 are
unusual because the north and west walls measure
1.25 to 1.35 m thick while the east and south walls
are considerably thicker, measuring 1.75 to 1.85 m.
The greater thickness of these two walls plus the
fact that they are bonded into the retaining wall face
which supports the tall mound core at its northwest
corner suggest that the builders of these more sub-
stantial walls deliberately designed them to function
as buttresses to stabilize the corner and help the
retaining wall contain mound fill.
Room 11, which measures 6.45 m north-south, has
a very poorly preserved entrance in its south wall that
connects it with Room 12, the most southern tier
room excavated (Figure 15). The wall between
Rooms 11 and 12 is also thick, but this wall is not
bonded into the retaining wall surface. While it
does help support the retaining wall, it was not orig-
inally built as a buttress wall. Evidence of a possible
veranda is suggested by a row of three aligned post-
holes near the eastern wall of Room 12 that aligns
with a single posthole within Room 11.
We also exposed the retaining wall supporting the
upper tier of the mound in Room 10 where it is
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Figure 12. View from the east of partially cleared Rooms 19, 17 and 16 located on the east side of Mound A.

preserved to a height of 2.4 m and shows traces of 1.2 m thick and formed by two rows of boulders to
white paint. Probing behind the top of its tall wall better contain the gravel and cobble fill. Clearing
face, we discovered that this retaining wall is 1 to within Room 10 also revealed that its interior

Figure 13. View from the southeast of partially cleared Rooms 20 and 17 showing an entrance with a raised threshold and pilaster.

65
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 14. View from the northwest of Rooms 9 and 10 showing thick walls used as buttresses to help retain the fill of Mound A.

Figure 15. View from the southwest of Rooms 6 (foreground), 11 and 12. The exterior facade of the upper tier, which forms the east
side of both Rooms 11 and 12, leans severely to the west. To ensure the integrity of the wall plaster, we only partially cleared this facade.

66
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
north-south dimension is only 4.95 m; and, when we
add the perimeter wall width of 1.3 m, we have a
north tier width of approximately 6.25 m. This
reveals that the lower tier is considerably narrower
along the north edge of the mound—approximately
6.25 m (4.95 m + wall width of 1.3 m) wide vs 8.7
to 8.9 m wide on the east and west. Access to
Room 10 is from the west, making it necessary to
go all the way around the mound to reach the
central front staircase.
Looking at Mound A in its entirety, it is clear that
the square-room unit at its center is an important
focal point. At just over 12 m square, this
square-room unit is of average size; however, its
importance and the significance of its associated func-
tions are greatly enhanced internally by the columns
within its center and externally by the tall height of
the mound and by the surrounding associated archi-
tecture. The mound, at 6.6 m, is one of the tallest
structures at the east end of Taukachi-Konkán. It is
made more elaborate by an atrium—also with
columns, an upper tier of rooms protected by two
pilaster/bar closure pairs, and a lower tier of rooms.
Significantly, the lower tier of rooms could be
accessed only via the south staircase of Mound A
which leads up and down to this lower tier level.
Mound A is made more prominent within the settle-
ment as a whole by its association with the lower
zones of elaborate architecture that abut the mound
on the west and east; however, its exclusivity is main-
tained because there is no direct access between the
lower tier rooms and the adjacent architecture com-
plexes to either the west or east.
The monumental architecture that adjoins Mound
A toward the south also adds to its importance within
Taukachi-Konkán. These constructions consist of an
open plaza flanked by low platforms or wings and a
sunken circular court within a raised platform that
all align with the mound (Figure 2). All this architec-
ture has been seriously impacted by stone removal, by
traffic along the modern road, and by nearby agricul-
tural activities. Based on survey data, the open rec-
tangular plaza area measures approximately 59 m
north-south by 54 m east-west, while the platform
with the circle is about 54 m square. The circle is
67
currently discernible only as a round depression
about 26 m in diameter, and an algarroba tree is cur-
rently growing out of its center.
Rooms and Plazas Flanking Mound A
Symmetrical complexes of rooms and plazas are
present immediately to the west and east of the
central Mound A structure (Figure 7). The Casma
Culture reoccupation impacted both complexes,
especially the eastern complex, so we focused our
excavations on the western complex where architec-
ture is better preserved. Our work there revealed
that the western architectural complex has overall
dimensions of approximately 51.7 m north south by
26.8 m east-west, resulting in an area that is approxi-
mately one half the total area of the taller central
Mound A structure. We also discovered that the
overall floor level of the western complex is about
2 m below the lower tier of Mound A. The
complex in general is also raised above the surround-
ing surface, however, because it rests on a low plat-
form some 70 cm high bounded by exterior stone
wall facings to the north, west, and south
(Figure 16). We cleared substantial lengths of the
retaining walls for this platform on the north and
west. While the west platform face served more as a
retaining wall, the north platform edge formed the
north wall of the rooms along the north side, includ-
ing a probable square-room unit (Room 2) where the
wall is thicker. The western room complex on the
lower platform surface is physically joined with
Mound A by four walls that abut its lower tier;
however, there is no direct east-west access between
Mound A and the western rooms. Instead, the
western room complex as a whole is oriented toward
the south.
Immediately west of the lower tier of Mound A are
three long rooms, Rooms 4, 6, and 8, that occupy the
space adjacent to the mound base (Figure 7). In all of
these rooms, the east interior wall face is formed by
the western facade of the lower tier of Mound A;
and Rooms 6 and 8 have evidence of white paint
on one or more walls, indicating that the Mound A
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 16. View from the north along the west face of the low
platform that supports the architecture located to the west of
Mound A.
west facade and other interior room walls were once
painted. Room 6, the central room of the three,
measures 13.85 to 14.05 m north-south by 4.2 to
4.3 m east-west (Figures 15 and 17), and it is most
complex architecturally because of three entrances
centered in the north, west, and south walls. The
west entrance measures 1.55 m wide; and it has a
threshold with pilasters that is flush with the top of
the east bench in Room 5, but has a step down into
Room 6. The north and south entrances allow
access to Rooms 4 and 8 respectively, and both have
raised thresholds with pilasters. The south entrance
is 1.55 m wide, the same as the west entrance, but
the north entrance is only 1.1 to 1.15 m wide.
These size differences among the entrances may
reflect traffic flow because the west and south
entrances provide the only access to much of the
west room complex while the north entrance controls
access only to Room 4. It is also possible that the
68
Volume 41, Number 1
narrower north entrance reflects greater restrictions
on access to Room 4.
Probably after this complex ceased to be used, the
inhabitants blocked south entrance to Room 6 with
a low Initial Period stone wall that is double faced
and only one course tall (Figures 7B and 17). It
measures 17 to 28 cm tall, and it spans the central
part of the entrance where it connects the pilasters.
This blocked entrance prevents entrance from the
south, confirming that the row of long rooms had
an opening toward the south at its southern end.
This entrance at the south end of Room 8 would
have been the only entrance into most of the room
complex that flanks the west side of Mound A; only
Room 7 also has direct access to the exterior.
Room 4, the most northern room, has an east-west
dimension that varies from 4.3 m to 4.95 m because,
at the northeast corner, its north wall abuts the
rounded exterior corner of the Mound A lower-tier
facade (Figure 18). Its west wall is also slightly
curved near the northwest corner, possibly to
achieve balance and symmetry. The north wall of
Room 4 is obscured by and possibly incorporated
into the later overlying Casma Culture wall;
however, we are able to estimate the room’s north-
south dimension at about 13.8 m. Along the curve
of the east wall and near the northeast corner, we
found five small wooden measuring sticks embedded
in the floor (Figure 5a). The sticks are spaced 19 to
20 cm apart, and they appear to have been used to
mark the line of the curve of the exterior lower tier
wall. Cut and slightly pounded measuring sticks are
commonly recovered during excavations, but it is
rare to find a sequence of five sticks still in place
within the architecture.
Room 4 is also unusual because of 66 silty-clay
circles on the floor (Figures 18 and 19). These
circles, which superficially resemble post holes, are
actually shallow excavations only 1–4 cm deep into
the floor surface. Individual circles range from 10 to
18 cm in diameter, but most measure 13 to 15 cm
across. Twenty-one of the circles appear randomly
distributed near the south end of Room 4; however,
in the northern two-thirds of the room most of the
45 remaining circles are arranged generally in two
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Figure 17. View from the south of Room 6 and its blocked south entrance.

north-south lines. The more western line is relatively
straight while the more eastern line is shorter and has
a hook-like configuration. Spacing among the aligned
circles varies from 2 to 16 cm, but most are spaced
within 5 to 8 cm of each other.
During excavation of the row of Rooms 4, 6, and 8,
we discovered evidence of an earlier construction
phase beneath their floors (Figure 19). Areas where
the floors were badly preserved or cracked revealed a
west-facing wall face that could be traced for a distance

Figure 18. View from the south of Room 4 showing the presence of 66 shallow circles and the buried face of an earlier platform.

69
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 19. Plan of Rooms 3 and 4 showing locations of shallow circles, wooden measuring sticks, subfloor pit, and line of buried
platform face.

70
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
of over 31 m beneath all three rooms. Within Room
4, in an area where the floor was damaged, we made a
small excavation approximately 80 cm by 1.3 m in
area to expose part of the earlier wall face. This exca-
vation exposed a plastered wall face and encountered
an associated floor at a depth of 50 cm below the
later room floor. The buried wall face has approxi-
mately the same orientation as the later Initial
Period architecture above it. It appears to be part of
a low platform, extending some 2.8 to 2.85 m west
from the lower tier face, that originally served as a
base for the construction of Mound A. Almost
immediately afterward, the builders extended this
basal platform much farther west using refuse-rich
fill scraped from the nearby pampa surface to raise
the floor level and create the much larger platform
that supports the western architectural complex.
Consequently, our excavation beneath the floor also
yielded cultural material from this refuse-rich sealed
Initial Period fill context.
Immediately west of Room 6 and connected to it
by an entrance is Room 5, an open central plaza
flanked on the north and south by possible square-
room units (Figure 7 and Figure 20). We describe
rooms like this plaza as “negative rooms” because
two or more of their walls are formed by square-
room units which were constructed first and usually
have thicker walls. To complete the negative room,
one or two additional walls are constructed. These
walls abut the square room units and are usually
thinner than the shared square-room-unit walls. In
the case of Room 5, the south and north walls form
part of possible square room units, and the resultant
negative room has a floor area that measures
18.45 m north-south by 18.5 m east-west. It is the
largest room within the architectural complex west
of Mound A. A low bench 24 to 28 cm tall is associ-
ated with all four interior walls; and it measures 2.4 to
2.5 m wide along the abutted walls, but only 1.4 to
1.6 m wide along the square-room-unit walls. Most
of the small stones are gone from the Room 5 west
wall, but the remaining large boulders are continuous,
confirming that the Room 5 plaza did not have an
entrance toward the west. In accord with this, our
investigation of the western platform facade also
71
failed to discover evidence of an opening or step-up
entrance in the west face of the platform retaining
wall.
Near the center of the large plaza formed by this
negative room is a large square sunken hearth which
measures 1.73 to 1.76 m north–south by 1.82 m
east–west (Figure 21). The intact sidewalls are
16 cm tall and faced with stone and plaster, and
their tops are flush with the plaza floor. Centered
within the sunken square perimeter is an oval
depression where burning actually occurred. It
measures 78 cm north-south by 70 cm east-west at
the surface and narrows to 40 cm in diameter at its
bottom which is 24 to 25 cm deep. This deeper
central hearth is surrounded by the well-plastered
floor of the sunken square area that is both reddened
and blackened from hearth use. This is a larger-sized
version of a hearth type that is well known from
Sechín Alto Polity residential structures where they
are used for food preparation (Pozorski and Pozorski
1986).
Room 2, the possible square-room unit to the
north of the Room 5 plaza, is bordered on the east
and west by long Rooms 1 and 3, forming a sym-
metrical complex of three rooms that we completely
cleared (Figure 7 and Figure 22). All three of these
rooms are accessible only from the Room 5 central
plaza. Room 2, the central room of the three, is the
largest, measuring 10.5 m north-south by 10.3 m
east-west. Its generally square shape and rounded
corners suggest that the builders originally con-
structed it as a square-room unit; however, the wall
thickness of 1.3 to 1.4 m is thinner than usual for
square-room-unit walls, and square-room units do
not typically have central hearths. Systematic stone
removal has left the walls too low to have preserved
niches; and there is considerable evidence of intrusive
Casma Culture remains and features, including two
hearths cut into the floor near the northwest corner.
The centered south entrance is too damaged to
detect pilasters, but threshold remnants indicate
there was likely a step down into the square-room
unit. A square hearth similar to the example in
Room 5, the central plaza, is approximately centered
within Room 2 (Figure 23). The Room 2 hearth is
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 20. View from the east of the plaza, Room 5, west of Mound A, showing location of the large central hearth.

smaller, and it also represents a hearth type used for
food preparation. It measures 85 to 89 cm north-
south by 89 cm east-west, and it is sunken 7–11 cm
into the floor of Room 2. Within the hearth center
is a circular depression with evidence of actual
burning. Part of the deeper hearth is damaged, but
intact areas indicate a diameter of approximately
30 cm and a depth of 11 cm. The interior is strongly
reddened and blackened from use, and most of the
surface of the surrounding sunken square area is
also reddened from heat.
Similar mirror-image rooms flank Room 2 on the
east and west, and Room 3, the eastern example is
much better preserved (Figure 4 and Figure 24). Its

Figure 21. View from the south of the large central hearth in Room 5.

72
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 22. View from the east of Rooms 1 and 2 showing location of the central hearth. Nearby is the dead trunk of a modern tree.
north-south dimension varies from 12.35 m to
12.7 m because of the curve in its south wall, and
its east-west measurement varies from 2.7 to 3.1 m
because the north wall abuts the rounded exterior
corner of Room 2. Access to this room is via a long,
but narrow 80-cm-wide entrance near the southwest
corner that is narrowed further by pilasters and a pre-
sumed bar closure (Figure 25). The south wall of
Room 3 is slightly curved, and this end of the room
intrudes south into the northeast corner of the
Figure 23. View from the west of the central hearth in Room 2.
73
central plaza. Room 1 flanks Room 2, the possible
square-room unit, on the west. Much of Room 1
was dismantled during the Casma Culture reoccupa-
tion; however, the size and shape of the room and the
remnants of an entrance near its southeast corner
suggest that Room 1 was a mirror image of Room
3. The overall result is a symmetrical complex of
three interrelated rooms. The short wall segments
with narrow entrances which border the bench
south of Room 2 on its east and west edges transform
the intervening bench space into a small atrium
immediately south of the square-room unit entrance.
The location of the entrances and their east-west
orientation also prevent visitors in the Room 5 plaza
from seeing into these side rooms. This architectural
configuration of a central square-room unit, side
rooms extending forward to border an atrium, and
entrances off the atrium into both the side rooms
and the central room is typical of intermediate-sized
structures at many Sechín Alto Polity settlements,
including elsewhere at Taukachi-Konkán. It would
seem that the builders of this architectural complex
planned to include one such self-contained unit
within the complex. The Room 1–2–3 complex
also has a remote, relatively inaccessible location
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 24. View from the south of Room 3 showing 156 shallow circles set in a pattern of two elongated arches.

relative to the western complex entrance at the south
end of Room 8, and this remoteness plus the square-
room unit at its center signal both the importance and
exclusivity of this space.
In addition to being part of the symmetrical tripar-
tite complex, Room 3 is one of the most unusual
spaces in this zone of architecture because of 156
circles on its floor that form a pattern consisting of
two elongated arches (Figures 7, 19, and 24). These
circles are similar to examples described within
Room 4, the adjacent long room to the east. They
range from 10 to 19 cm in diameter and are spaced
6 to 11 cm apart. The builders created each circle
by making a shallow excavation 2 to 5 cm deep into
the floor surface which, in this case, exposed an
underlying plaster layer of yellow silty clay, making
it more readily visible. Within the room, the circles
are arranged in two concentric arcs with their loops

Figure 25. View from the west of the narrow southwest entrance to Room 3. Just east of this entrance, the room floor is missing.

74
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 26. View from the southwest of the northeast corner of Room 7 with its partially preserved bench.
at the north end of the room. There is considerable
floor damage at the south end of Room 3, however,
the most southwestern circle is very near the south-
west corner of the room, indicating that loops were
not present at its south end.
We do not know if anyone ever placed objects in
these shallow excavated holes. They are not imprints
of flat-bottomed objects; however, they could have
held flat-bottomed vessels or other flat objects of
limited diameter. Most Initial Period pottery vessels
in the Casma Valley have rounded bottoms and diam-
eters too large for the close spacing of the circles. Tall-
necked bottle forms, which are rare within the Initial
Period assemblage, have flat bases and small diameters
that would allow them to be placed in close proximity
within the holes. Even if some sort of objects, such as
bottles, were once placed in the circles, their curious
arrangement is still a mystery. To our knowledge,
no comparable pattern has been previously reported
in the Andes.
South of the Room 5 central plaza is a second prob-
able square-room unit, Room 7, which occupies the
southwest corner of the western architectural
complex (Figure 7 and Figure 26). Our excavations
focused on the better-preserved northeast corner
75
and the north and east walls; however, even this rela-
tively intact corner contained considerable evidence of
Casma Culture occupation in the form of dense late
refuse and an intrusive hearth cut into the room
floor. Clearing along the east wall, we were able to
document an internal north-south dimension of
17.65 m, making this room only slightly smaller
than the adjacent plaza. The corners of Room 7 are
rounded, it has thick walls, and there are benches
1.12 to 1.24 m wide and 18 to 28 cm tall that are
probably associated with all four walls. Furthermore,
the walls associated with Rooms 5, 6, and 8 abut
Room 7, but are not bonded in. These traits
support our interpretation of this room as a square-
room unit with all four walls similar in length, and
the resulting reconstruction fits well within the south-
west corner of the west architectural complex. We find
that its exterior south wall would have aligned with
the front of the Mound A facade and its exterior
west wall would have been inside the limits of the
stone facade that forms the western boundary of the
complex. Curiously, there is no direct access
between this southwest corner Room 7 and the
remainder of the nearby architectural complex. Two
unusually large stones with an opening between
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
them are centered within the badly disturbed south
wall, indicating a probable entrance toward the
south and the settlement’s center. Scattered remains
of the west wall are also continuous, indicating that
Room 7 did not open toward the west. Clearly,
Room 7 is one of the most important spaces within
the western architectural complex. It has the thickest
walls, it is the second largest room, and the single
entrance in its south wall demonstrates its indepen-
dence from the other interconnected rooms.
A comparison of the excavated remnant rooms to
the east with the better-preserved excavated complex
on the west suggests that the two complexes on
either side of Mound A were likely once symmetrical
mirror images (Figures 7, 12 and 13). East of Mound
A, we partially cleared four rooms. Room 17 is the
mirror-image complement of Room 6; both rooms
have similar widths, wall thicknesses, and entrance
locations. Pilasters are present in the south entrance,
but its east wall and the east entrance are too poorly
preserved to detect pilasters. Room 17 also has
traces of white paint on its west wall which is
formed by the facade of the lower tier. Room 18,
with its rounded corner, thick walls, and possible
bench was probably a large square-room unit compar-
able to Room 7 on the west side. Even though clear-
ing was very limited in Rooms 19 and 20 on the east,
available data suggest that they correspond to Rooms
5 and 8 on the west. Assuming mirror-image sym-
metry for the entire western complex of rooms adja-
cent to Mound A, this complex would also have
been one-half the size of Mound A and oriented
toward the site center to the south.
Ceramics, Artifacts, and Subsistence
Remains
We recovered a total of 1548 sherds from hard wall
fall and near-floor contexts in the Mound A archi-
tectural complex (Table 3). We included 35
additional sherds because they are diagnostic of
the Initial Period, even though they came from
loose eolian sand and mixed contexts. Some 1342
of these ceramics are undecorated body sherds, 95
percent of which have an oxidized brownish color
76
Volume 41, Number 1
for their paste and surfaces. Because undecorated
body sherds from both the Initial Period and the
Casma Culture occupations are quite similar in
appearance, they cannot be used to chronologically
differentiate between these early and later cultures.
Instead, as is the case in many parts of the world,
we have to rely on ceramic decoration and vessel
form to make chronological and functional
distinctions.
The Initial Period portion of the Mound A assem-
blage consists of 69 neckless olla rims, nine jar rims,
18 bowl rims, and three bottle neck fragments—all
similar to forms found at Pampa de las Llamas-
Moxeke (Pampa Llamas type) (Pozorski and
Pozorski 1987: Figure 18). Most of these forms are
fairly evenly distributed across the rooms within the
architectural complex. Notable, however, is the con-
centration of eight neckless olla rims and five bowl
rims in Room 13 which may indicate the use of neck-
less ollas and bowls in storage, serving, and presen-
tation activities on the mound summit. We
recovered a single tripod foot (Figure 27) from a
poorly fired thick-walled vessel near the south wall
of Room 10 where it may have formed part of a
storage olla or bowl. Within the sample of decorated
ceramics, only six sherds belong to types first ident-
ified at Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke and now
known to characterize Sechín Alto Polity settlements
in general (Pozorski and Pozorski 1987: Figure 26,
1998: Figura 9). Three examples with large gouges
come from hard wall fall within Room 13
(Figure 28c,d), and Room 4 (Figure 29f ). Three
others, also from hard wall fall contexts, have wide
incisions. By contrast, we found 79 sherds which
exhibit typical Casma Culture rim forms and decora-
tions such as Casma Incision, pressmolded designs,
and painted designs on jar and bowl forms (Vogel
2016: 61–69). The ceramic inventory also reflects a
slight presence of Early Horizon culture within the
Mound A complex as evidenced by 21 sherds: 10
with patterned burnishing, one with rocker stamping,
and one with fabric impression as well as four shaped
ceramics and five panpipe fragments. These Early
Horizon forms and decoration types have been well
documented at other Casma Valley settlements and
 Table 3. Ceramics recovered from the Mound A complex.

Pampa Casma Casma

Body Neckless Jar Bowl Bottle Tripod Llamas Wide EH pattern EH decorated EH Culture Culture
Context sherds olla rims rims rims rims foot gouges incision burnished or shaped panpipe rims decorated Totals
Western architectural complex

Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Outside N 56 3 1 3 1 1 2 2 69
wall trench
W platform 37 3 1 1 42
face
Room 1 33 1 2 2 38
Room 2 71 6 3 2 82
Room 3 10 1 1 1 1 14
Room 4 60 3 1 1 1 5 71
Room 5 54 12 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 74
Room 5 6 1 7
central
hearth
Room 6 51 4 1 2 1 1 60
77

Room 7 163 10 1 2 1 177

Room 8 12 2 1 15
Central platform mound
Room 9 53 2 2 2 59
Room 10 46 2 2 1 2 1 54
Room 11 24 2 1 27
Room 12 118 5 1 1 1 4 3 2 135
Room 13 331 8 2 5 2 8 17 373
Room 14 10 3 13
Room 15 82 2 3 87
Room 16 9 2 4 15
Eastern architectural complex
Room 17 41 5 2 4 52
Room 18 12 1 13
Room 19 52 5 3 60
Room 20 11 11
Totals 1342 69 9 18 3 1 3 3 10 6 5 34 45 1548
% of total 87% 4.4% 0.6% 1% 0.2% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 0.6% 0.4% 0.3% 2.% 3% 100%
ceramics
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 27. Ceramic tripod foot, probably from a large olla,
recovered from the Mound A complex, Room 10. Scale is 5 cm.
at several sites within the neighboring Nepeña Valley
(Chicoine 2011: 443–447; Chicoine and Ikehara
2014: 348; Daggett 1987; Pozorski and Pozorski
1987: 58–62; Proulx 1985).
Assessment of the ceramic collection from the
Mound A architectural complex and several other
areas at the east end of Taukachi-Konkán revealed
much intrusive Casma Culture pottery and associated
cultural material, including within hard wall fall and
near-floor contexts. This necessarily makes us ques-
tion contextual data for other cultural remains recov-
ered from areas impacted by Casma Culture
Figure 28. Selection of Pampa Llamas-type ceramics with
gouges that are typical of Sechin Alto Polity sites: (a,b) are from
the Mound B complex West Midden, (c,d) come from the
Mound A complex Room 13, and (e) was collected from the
surface near the Mound C complex. Scale is 5 cm.
78
Volume 41, Number 1
Figure 29. Selection of Pampa Llamas-type ceramics with
gouges and large deep punctations that are typical of Sechin Alto
Polity sites: (a) came from the Mound B complex mound top, (b)
was recovered from the Mound B complex west bench, (c, e) are
from the Mound D complex west of west wall, (d) came from the
West Midden, and (f ) was recovered from Room 7 of the Mound
A complex. Scale is 5 cm.
reoccupation. Therefore, when assessing artifacts,
subsistence remains, and related excavated data, we
have also drawn on information from more reliably
defined contexts within other Sechín Alto Polity
settlements about where typical polity artifacts are
usually found and how they are believed to have func-
tioned. The quantity of ceramics and artifacts recov-
ered and the numbers of individual plant and
animal species recovered are very small, precluding
meaningful statistical assessment. Alternatively, dis-
cussion of these finds is mainly on a presence/
absence basis.
We recovered part of a wooden bowl rim and a fig-
urine fragment (Figure 30) during the excavation of
the north retaining wall of the Mound A complex.
Such items, especially the figurine fragment, are
most commonly found in middens; and these two
examples probably came from the Initial Period
midden that underlies much of the architecture in
this part of the settlement. We know that Casma
Culture reuse of this area encountered early midden
below the floor in Room 7, indicating that this pre-
mound refuse covered a sizeable area. Therefore, it
is also likely that two Sechín Alto Polity type
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 30. Ceramic figurine torso fragment from the Mound A
complex Room 2 showing an incised zig-zag collar and a hole
under its right armpit. Scale is 5 cm.
spindle whorls from Room 3, the quartz spindle
whorl from Room 5 (Figure 31), and the figurine
torso from Room 2 were ultimately derived from
Initial Period midden deposits because both these
classes of artifacts are generally confined to midden
or residential contexts.
Artifacts and cultural material that can be reliably
associated with the Initial Period construction and
use of the Mound A complex are predominantly archi-
tectural in nature (Table 4). Measuring sticks used to
demarcate construction units are most common
(Figure 5b). We discovered several examples in situ,
and we recovered dozens more from wall fall contexts.
In situ measuring sticks were observed along the curved
wall in Room 4, and a few examples came from wall fall
in Rooms 5 and 7 with one stick each and Room 16
with 2 sticks. However, most measuring sticks came
from Rooms 10, 11, and 12 on the lower tier where
overlying wall fall yielded 42, 14, and 14 examples
respectively. These numerous examples are likely
derived from wall fall from rooms on the perimeter
of the mound top. On the mound top, Room 13
yielded 4 measuring sticks, three of which came from
79
Figure 31. Three spindle whorls from the Mound A complex.
Items (a-b) are incised ceramic whorls typical of Sechin Alto
Polity sites that were recovered from Room 3, and item (c) consists
of one half of a faceted quartz whorl, recovered from Room 5, that
is also probably Initial Period in date. Scale is 5 cm.
the excavated niche where they probably marked the
corners. We found another 23 measuring sticks
within the Room 15 atrium, including the two
examples in situ along the west interior wall.
Within the Mound A architectural complex,
Rooms 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 17 have
traces of white paint on one or more wall faces
(Figure 15). We recovered a fragment of white
plaster from Room 4 and fragments of white
pigment from Rooms 2, 4, 8, 10, 12, 13, 16, and
17. This evidence suggests that much of the Mound
A complex was painted white. We collected fragments
of fine plaster with red paint from the wall fall of
Rooms 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 16, and Room 13
yielded red pigment as well as a plaster fragment
with both red and white paint; and Room 12 wall
fall contained numerous plaster fragments with
yellow paint. These data indicate that the upper regis-
ter of the exterior of the tall rooms at the mound
center was painted with red and some yellow. As
this wall deteriorated, debris from its painted exterior
surface slid downslope and became part of the wall fall
within Rooms 9, 10, 11, 12, and 16 of the lower tier
 Table 4. Initial Period artifacts recovered from the Mound A complex.

Pigment Stone Utilized

Pigment grinding Worked Worked Worked Figurine mortar/ Jet Polishing Hammer- Quartz quartz
Context crusher platform Pigment shell bone wood fragment pestle mirror stone stone crystal flake Misc.
Western architectural complex
Outside N 1 bowl 1
wall trench rim
W 1 oval fr

Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology

platform scallop
face 1 drilled
Room 2 2 white 2 scallop- 1 1 torso 2
pigment shell smoother
scrapers tool
Room 3 1 w/ red 2 ceramic
pigment spindle
whorls
Room 4 2 white 1
pigment
Room 5 2 w/ red 1 1 meas 1 1 quartz
80

pigment pendant stick whole spindle

fragment whorl
Room 6 1 polished 1 sharp 1
fragment stick
1 awl/

Volume 41, Number 1

spatula
Room 7 2 w /red 1 meas midden
pigment stick below
intrusive
hearth:
1 round
ceramic
spindle
whorl
Room 8 2 white
pigment
Central platform mound
Room 9 1 gouge 1
Room 10 2 white 42 meas 1 w/ light
pigment sticks use
Continued
 Table 4. Continued.

Pigment Stone Utilized

Pigment grinding Worked Worked Worked Figurine mortar/ Jet Polishing Hammer- Quartz quartz

Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Context crusher platform Pigment shell bone wood fragment pestle mirror stone stone crystal flake Misc.
Room 11 14 meas
sticks
1 short
pointed
tool
Room 12 1 w/ red 1 white 14 meas
pigment pigment sticks
Room 13, 4 white 4 meas 3 1 poss 1 deer
entrance, 1 red stick core/ antler tool
niche pigment hammer 1 resin
fragment
Room 14, 2 1
81

bench
Room 15 1 w/ red 23 meas 1
pigment sticks
2 pointed
tools
Room 16 2 white 2 meas
pigment sticks
Eastern architectural complex
Room 17 2 white
pigment
Room 18
Room 19 1possible 1
point frag
Room 20 2 scallop- 1 stone
shell sphere
scrapers
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 32. Three small quartz tools: (a) is a flake tool from the
Mound A complex Room 6, (b) is a flake tool from the Mound B
complex north of the north wall of the north wing, and (c) is a
quartz crystal with its point worn from use that was recovered
from the Mound B complex outside the east outer wall of the east
wing. Scale is 5 cm.
and even Room 4 slightly farther away. Red-painted
plaster and pigment within Room 13 indicate that
the upper walls of this room may also have been deco-
rated with red paint. The straight west wall of the
Room 15 atrium has intact areas of paint on the
wall face revealing that this entire wall was once red.
The Initial Period inhabitants likely used artifacts
such as pigment grinding stones, flat pigment crush-
ing platform stones, and paint palettes—all with
residue of red pigment—within the architectural
complex to process and apply red paint (Table 4).
Red pigment may also have been used as body paint
or for other purposes given that the pigment proces-
sing tools seem so abundant relative to the amount
of red paint actually used on architecture. We recov-
ered a red pigment crushing stone in Room 3,
Rooms 5 and 7 both yielded two examples each of
red pigment grinding platforms, and Room 12
yielded one example of a red pigment crushing plat-
form that also served as a paint palette. Isolated
finds of one to two tiny utilized quartz flakes in
Rooms 2, 4, 6 (Figure 32a), 9, and 14 reflect their fre-
quent use as expedient cutting tools at Initial Period
sites. Additional artifacts that are probably early in
date came from Room 13 and its east entrance on
the mound top: a lump of resin, a deer-antler tool
with a worn tine, three polishing stones, and a possible
82
Volume 41, Number 1
Figure 33. Whole jet mirror recovered from the Mound A
complex Room 5. Scale is 5 cm.
core which was reused as a hammer. Room 3 yielded
two ceramic spindle whorls decorated with incisions,
Room 7 yielded a plain round ceramic spindle
whorl, and Room 5 yielded one half of a faceted
quartz spindle whorl (Figure 31c) that all may have
come from subfloor Initial Period midden. A com-
plete jet mirror (Figure 33) also recovered from
Room 5 may have belonged to a high-status visitor
or host. A smooth stone used as a light hammer
came from Room 10, and Room 19 yielded a possible
bone projectile point fragment. Room 2 yielded two
scraping tools made from scallop shell (Argopecten pur-
puratus), and a shell pendant fragment came from
Room 5. We found two additional scrapers made
from scallop shells and a round stone sphere (Figure
34b) in Room 20. These shell scrapers are expediency
tools commonly found in many Initial Period con-
texts. The stone sphere may be a gaming piece.
Floral and faunal remains recovered from the
Mound A complex can be cautiously used as they
complement other data. These data indicate, for
example, that Rooms 5 and 2 yielded the largest
quantity and most varied inventory of food remains;
and these are the two rooms with large hearths of
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 34. Stone spheres recovered from (a) the Northeast
Midden, (b) the Mound A complex Room 20, and (c) the Mound
B complex north wing Room I. Scales are 5 cm.
the type used for food preparation. Floor contexts
within Room 2 contained evidence of guanay
(Phalacrocorax bougainvillii), hammer head shark
(Sphyrna sp.), sardine (Sardinops sagax sagax), and
anchovy (Engraulis ringens) while Room 5 floor con-
texts yielded remains of deer (Odocoileus virginianus),
dog (Canis familiaris), rabbit (Sylvilagus sp.), camelid
(Llama sp.), and anchovy. The presence of rabbit is
unusual because these animals typically inhabit high
elevation regions above 2500 m (Ruedas and Smith
2019); however, evidence of rabbit has also been
recovered at the Sechín Alto Polity settlement of
Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke. Camelids occur very
rarely in Casma Initial Period sites and the remains
at Taukachi-Konkán are probably a Casma Culture
intrusion. Floor and wall fall contexts in Rooms 2
and 5 also yielded a variety of mollusks, most com-
monly mussels (Perumytilus purpuratus, Aulocomya
atra, Semimytilus algosus, Choromytilus chorus),
slipper shells (Crepipatella dilatata), chitons
(Acanthopleura echinata, Enoplochiton niger), gastro-
pods (Tegula atra), and wedge clams (Mesodesma
donacium). In contrast to the food remains, Rooms
10, 11, and 16 on the lower tier and Room 19, east
of Mound A, contain remains of rats (Muridae) that
were likely pests within these rooms; and this may
indicate that comestibles were stored there. The
tripod foot from a possible storage vessel within
Room 10 supports this interpretation. Small
amounts of rodent remains also came from Rooms
4 and 17, but these may be derived from downslope
movement of wall fall and debris from the lower tier
83
rooms. Room 13 on the mound top also yielded evi-
dence of rats and other vertebrates including deer,
dog, rabbit, camelid, and a whole dried coral snake
(Micrurus peruvianus), a species not native to coastal
Peru (Rodríguez-Guerra 2019). The rodent pests
provide evidence that the occupants used at least
some of the niches and room areas on the mound
top to store foods. The other mammal remains rep-
resent food animals. Room 13 also contained a
varied and moderately abundant shellfish sample
that includes two mussels (Perumytilus purpuratus,
Semimytilus algosus), limpets (Fissurella maxima,
Fissurella sp.), and a gastropod (Tegula atra),
another indication that some food consumption
may have taken place on the mound top. Ceramic
data indicating that neckless ollas and bowls are
slightly more abundant here provide another line of
evidence for limited food consumption.
We recovered wood and cane in significant
amounts near entrances and niches in Rooms 10,
11, 12, and 13 where they once formed part of pila-
sters and lintels for niches. Food and industrial species
recovered that may date to the Initial Period include
squash (Cucurbita moschata), avocado (Persea ameri-
cana), and lúcuma (Pouteria lucuma) as well as
cotton (Gossypium barbadense) and gourd (Lagenaria
siceraria); however, they are very scarce—too scarce
to be used to assess room function.
Winged Mound B and Frieze Court
Immediately north of the Mound A complex is the
most distinctive platform mound complex of the
group of four (Figures 2 and 3, Figure 35). It is
bounded on the west by Mound B among the four
aligned mound structures; and this mound, along
with low wings on the north and south, border
three sides of a sunken court with friezes that is
formed by a possible square-room unit. The sunken
court floor is about 2 m below the surrounding
ground surface. Toward the east is an open plaza
that extends about 65 m to the east. We were able
to clear a total of 360 2×2 m squares (1440 m2)
within this mound complex.
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 35. Plan of the Mound B complex showing the main mound, the frieze court, the south wing, and the original configuration of
the north wing before its modification by later Initial Period construction. The excavated areas are shaded in blue.

West Platform Mound B
Mound B that overlooks the frieze court appears
asymmetrical because of a low bench 30–35 cm tall
along the west edge of the mound that varies in
width from 5.3 m at the north end to 1.65 m at the
south end (Figure 36, Table 5). The stones of the
west face of the mound only extend down to and
slightly below the bench surface, confirming that
the builders constructed the mound and bench as a
single unit. Taken together, the mound plus the
bench measure 29.2 m north-south by 22.1 m east-
west, thereby creating a rectangular structure that is
symmetrical overall and well aligned with other
parts of this complex. As is commonly the case for
Initial Period mounds, the rear façade represented
by the wall and bench is poorly finished. The faces
lack finishing plaster, and finger marks are clearly
visible within the mortar and rough plaster.
The north, east, and south faces of the mound are
well finished with fine plaster and white paint. The
east face of the mound, which we completely cleared,
is unusual because it forms the west side of a corridor
29.2 m long and 1.7 to 1.75 m wide that also has evi-
dence of white paint (Figure 37). The corridor extends
across the entire width of the mound and opens out
into long, narrow east-west rooms that flank the
mound on the north and south. It is actually a “nega-
tive space” between the exterior east face of the mound
and the exterior west wall face of the sunken court to
the east that forms the heart of the complex. The resul-
tant negative-space corridor has an intermediate height
almost 2 m below the mound surface and about
1.75 m above the floor of the sunken court to the

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 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 36. View from the northwest of the west facade of Mound B, its associated bench, and the adjacent West Midden.
east. A staircase that is mostly inset, but with two steps
protruding, is centered within the mound facade that
forms the west corridor wall, allowing access to the
mound summit (Figure 38). A second narrower stair-
case near the northwest corner of the sunken court
leads up into the north end of the corridor (Figure
39). Both the north and south ends of the corridor
are open, allowing access to the north and south
wings that border the sunken court.
South Wing
The south wing of the Mound B complex has overall
dimensions of 9.6 m north-south by 32.75 m east-
west (Figures 35, 40 and 41). It is internally
divided into three large rooms which have their
floor levels flush with the floor of the corridor of
the main mound and the surface of a large plaza
toward the east. We completely cleared the interiors
of all three rooms, and we also exposed all or part
of the exterior walls. The bases of the exterior north
and south walls also extend more deeply to serve as
85
stabilizing and retaining walls, and the exterior
south wall extends farther west to form the long
room alongside platform Mound B and farther east
to define a large plaza that borders the proposed
north-south road. This south wall is thinner than
the other walls, possibly reflecting the general ten-
dency to expend less effort to construct and finish
the back or sides of structures. The exterior face of
the south wall is well plastered, however, and it has
traces of white paint, possibly because it was generally
more visible.
All three rooms of the south wing are intercon-
nected by entrances centered in their shared walls.
An entrance centered in the west wall of the west
room allows access to the main mound via the corri-
dor, and an entrance centered in the north wall of the
east room opens onto the large plaza east of the
sunken court (Figures 35, 40 and 41). All east wing
entrances are very similar based on their size, shape,
and raised thresholds; and the accompanying pilasters
and presumed bar closures that restrict the entrances
reveal that access to and within the wing rooms was
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Table 5. Architectural measurements for Mound B complex.

E-W Wall/feature Entrance/feature data

N-S measure measurement in height in cm/ Wall thickness
Room/feature in cm/m cm/m m in cm/m pilasters # steps elevat Δ
Mound B 29.15–29.2 m 22.1 m to W N 50–60 cm
bench edge E 47
cm–1.65 m
S 70–88 cm
W 35–80 cm
Mound B west 29.15–29.2 m angled N 5.3 m 12–35 cm
bench S 1.65 m
flanking rooms 14.35 m 5.2 m
Mound B east 29.2 m 1.7–1.75 m E 0–85 cm 1.75 m above
corridor . W 47 court
cm–1.85 m
Mound B 1.95–2.1 m 1.85 m 1.95 m 6 total 1.95 m
E stairs 4 inset
Mound B 18.1 m 19.7 m N 90 cm–2 N 1.75–1.8 m 2 m below
sunken frieze m E 1.9 m ground surface
court SRU E 40 S 1.8 m
cm–1.46 m W2m
S 26 cm–1.95
m
W 80
cm–1.74 m
frieze court W 1.1–1.11 m 2.47–2.52 m N 22 yes; 7 steps 1.73–1.76 m
wall entrance cm–1.36 m blocked 2 estimated
S 28 cm–1.5 entrance
m
frieze court E 2.28 m 2.35–2.4 m poorly yes 5 steps 1.15 m to east
wall entrance preserved plaza
South wing 9.6 m 32.75 m
south wing 7.35–7.37 m 8.5–8.75 m N 0–63 cm N 1.25 m
west room E 22–54 cm E 1.35–1.45
S 0–23 cm m
W 0–72 cm S 90 cm–1 m
W 1.25–1.35
m
west room west 1 m–1.01 m 1.34–1.36 m N 31–42 cm yes raised 16–18 cm
entrance S 15–40 cm threshhold
south wing 7.35–7.45 m 10.3 m N 20–60 cm N 1.2 m
central room E 3–64 cm E 1.35–1.45
W 0–51 cm m
S 0–38 cm W 1.35–1.4
m
S 90 cm–1 m
central 1.01–1.03 m 1.42–1.46 m N 19–32 cm yes raised 14–19 cm
room west S 24–38 cm threshhold
entrance
south wing east 7.32–7.37 m 8.53–8.71 m N 30–64 cm N 1.3 m
room E 36–57 cm E 1.4–1.45 m
W19–60 cm W1.35–1.4 m
S 14 cm–3.34 S 90–95 cm
m
Continued

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 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Table 5. Continued.

E-W Wall/feature Entrance/feature data

N-S measure measurement in height in cm/ Wall thickness
Room/feature in cm/m cm/m m in cm/m pilasters # steps elevat Δ
east room 1.01–1.07 1.44–1.47 N 10–24 cm yes raised 18–19 cm
west entrance S 17–25 cm threshhold
east room 1 m–1.01 m 1.31–1.33 m E 22–25 cm yes raised 13–15 cm
north entrance W 6–22 cm threshhold
North wing 9.6 m 32.6 m
north wing west 7.25 m 8.30 m N 80–92 cm N 90–95 cm
room E 55–70 cm E 1.35–1.45
S 45–70 cm m
W 40–74 cm S 1.35–1.40
m
W 1.25–1.35
m
platform b 3.76–3.82 m 4.85 m 40–72 cm
west room west 1 m–1.02 m 1.33–1.35 m N 15–41 cm yes raised 18–20 cm
entrance S 24–30 cm threshhold
north wing 7.25 m 10.9–10.95 m N 85–94 cm N 90–95 cm
central room E 61–85 cm E 1.32 m
W 45–72 cm W 1.37 cm
S 61–85 cm S 1.32 cm
central room W blocked blocked blocked not visible raised 18 cm
entrance not visible not visible not visible threshhold
north wing east 7.25 m 9.05 m N 85–96 cm N 90–95 cm
room E 15–88 cm E 1.35–1.40
W 85–90 cm m
S 6–69 cm W 1.32 m
S 1.4 m
east room west blocked blocked blocked not visible raised 14–17 cm
entrance not visible not visible not visible threshhold
east room south 1.4 m 1.05–1.07 m E 2–7 cm yes raised 11–13 cm
entrance W 24 cm threshhold
North wing
late rooms
platform d 1.22–1.26 m 1.92 m 35–65 cm
platform c in 1.3 m 2.4 m 64 cm
NE corner
platform c along 2.17 m 75 cm 64 cm
east wall
room j 1.85 m 1.05–1.1 m 35–70 cm 21–33 cm

room j east 39 cm 23 cm no raised 18 cm

entrance threshhold
room l 1.86–1.87 m 1.53–1.63 42–82 cm 24–30 cm
room l south 24 cm 50 cm no no
entrance threshhold
room k 2.75 m 2.88–2.94 m 40–67 cm 23–30 cm
1.96 m west
end
platform e 1.14–1.2 m 1.05–1.1 m 41–54 cm
room m 2.16 m 1.72–2.08 m 12–70 cm 22–45 cm
Continued

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 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Table 5. Continued.

E-W Wall/feature Entrance/feature data

N-S measure measurement in height in cm/ Wall thickness
Room/feature in cm/m cm/m m in cm/m pilasters # steps elevat Δ
room f 1.9–2.03 m 4.16 m 50–72 cm N 33–44 cm
W 1.37 m
S 1.32 m
room f possible 40 cm 80cm
N entrance
room n 1.1–1.14 m 87–88 cm 63–87 cm 20–30 cm
room o 1.04 m 62 cm 60–79 cm 20–35 cm
room o west 51 cm 21 cm no ½ step 7–9 cm to W
entrance threshhold flush to E
room q 1.08 m 1.55–1.57 m 40–94 cm 23–50 cm
room q west 25 cm 24 cm no no
entrance threshhold
room m 1.84–1.95 m 1.1–1.16 m 7–40 cm 25–87 cm
room m west 1.1 m 33 cm no no
entrance threshhold
room s 1.52–1.62 m 1.35–1.37 m 34–88 cm 20–90 cm
room s east 42 cm 20 cm no raised 18 cm
entrance threshhold
room r W 1.46 m N 1.51–1.61 m 23–77 cm 20–85 cm
center 3.3 m center 2.72 m
E 2.51 m E 2.02 m
platform t 79 cm 65 cm 50–85 cm
platform g 2.31–2.37 m 2.33–2.41 m 14–41 cm 22–40 cm
room i E 3.6 m N 3.1 m 9–85 cm 24 cm–1.32
W 1.9 m S 2.15–2.25 m m

platform h 1.38 m 83–86 cm 33–40 cm

room x 2.27–2.3 m 3.95–4 m 40–86 cm 34 cm–1.32
m
room w 1.4–1.51 m 1.3–1.38 m 40–57 cm 29–41 cm
room w east 85 cm 50 cm no raised 2–3 cm
entrance threshhold
room v 2.65–2.69 m 2m 40–67 cm 32 cm–1.4 m
room v not preserved
E entrance
platform u E 2.36 m S 2.01 m 60–85 cm
W 5.16 m N 2.71 m
room y 7.18–7.25 m 4.12 m N 92–96 cm 83 cm–1.38
E 15–88 cm m
S 6–37 cm
W 80 cm
room y south 1.4 m 1.05–1.07 m 0–24 cm yes raised 11–13 cm
entrance threshhold

consciously controlled. Excavations in the vicinity of
the two interior entrances and the north exterior
entrance of the east room yielded numerous long
strands of junco rope that once formed wrappings
for the pilaster cores within these entrances.
Several walls within the south wing have curved
corners, most notably the central wing room where
curves in the exterior north, east, and west walls create
the impression that the room has round corners, poss-
ibly as a means to confer square-room-unit-type status

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 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Figure 37. View from the northeast of the east facade of Mound B which forms a corridor with the west wall of the frieze court. In the
foreground is the west entrance to the north wing and in the rear is a side view of the central staircase leading up to the summit of Mound B.

Figure 38. View from the east of the central staircase of Mound B.

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 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 39. View from the east of the northwest staircase of the frieze court.

Figure 40. View from the southeast of the south wing of the Mound B complex.

90
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 41. View from the west of the south wing of the Mound B complex.
to the room. The central room is not a true square-room
unit, however, because it is not a free-standing construc-
tion. All the corners of the south wing are internally
bonded, indicating simultaneous construction.
Nevertheless, with respect to access restriction, the
central room is the most protected space because
access to it requires passing through two restricted
entrances. Such access restriction indicates that the
central room is special, and the curved wall segments
of the central room further signal this importance by
giving the room a “square-room-unit look.” The result
is an imitation square-room-unit form that gives
greater importance to the central room and establishes
the wing as a tripartite unit with the special false
square-room unit at its center.
We detected traces of white paint on three
entrances, one or more interior walls of all three
rooms, and the exterior north, east, and south walls
of the wing, indicating that the entire south wing
was probably painted white. We also encountered
numerous in situ measuring sticks. We found five
in the central room: four along the north wall near
the northeast corner and one along the east wall.
We discovered a single additional measuring stick in
91
situ within the east room along the west wall.
Finally, we revealed clusters and rows of small
round circles (1–2.5 cm in diameter) during floor
clearing in the central and eastern south wing
rooms. Like similar examples in Room 13 of
Mound A, these are probably the remains of houses
for later Initial Period inhabitants who built ephem-
eral cane structures within standing architecture that
was abandoned because of Sechín Alto Polity decline.
North Wing and Its Multiphase Occupation
In keeping with ideas of symmetry that are typical of
Initial Period architecture, the north wing is similar to
the south wing with respect to its size, shape, wall
thickness, entrances, orientation, and original three-
part configuration (west, central, and east rooms)
(Table 5). To emphasize this, we illustrated the
north wing on the overall plan of the Mound B
complex as it would have looked without any of the
later architecture we encountered during our exca-
vations (Figure 35). The north wing actually now
differs greatly from the south wing because of
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 42. Plan of the north wing of the Mound B complex showing (1) phase one addition of platform architecture (b–h, u), an
associated hearth (H), and two blocked interior entrances (B) and (2) phase two construction of small rooms ( j–t, v–x) and associated
intrusive hearths (IH) and pot rests (PR) created in part by partial dismantling of phase 1 architecture.

abundant evidence of additional construction within
the rooms that took place in a relatively short span
of time (Figure 42). Our excavation team cleared
the interiors of all three north wing rooms and all
or part of all four exterior walls.
The north wing measures 9.6 m north-south by
32.6 m east-west; and its north wall, like its south-
wing counterpart, is significantly narrower than the
other walls and also extends to the west and east
beyond the wing structure. Unlike the exterior
south wall of the south wing, however, the exterior
of this wall is poorly finished; and fingermarks are
visible in the coarse plaster. Other walls of the original
north wing construction are well finished, and white
paint is still evident on the north wall interior and
south wall exterior. Curved walls present in the
north wing probably originally mirrored the locations
of curved walls in the south wing; however, later con-
struction has obscured some north wing examples.
We found two measuring sticks in situ near the south-
east corner of Room i that are also part of the original
north wing construction.
Both wings and their component rooms were in use
until near the end of Taukachi-Konkán’s occupation.
At that time, the inhabitants constructed smaller
rooms and especially platforms within the three orig-
inal rooms of the north wing while the three rooms of
the south wing remained open (Figures 42–44).
Within the original west Room a of the north wing,
this interior construction effort, designated phase
one, involved the building of a large Platform b
along the north wall. The builders installed a large
sunken circular hearth in front of Platform b
(Figure 45). It is centered in front of the platform
at a distance of 1.3 m to the south, and it measures
60 by 57 cm and is 29 to 30 cm deep. Deep round
hearths of this type tend to be associated with
small- to medium-sized ritual structures at other
Sechín Alto Polity settlements where they occur
within both small ventilated hearth structures and
mid-sized square-room units with benches for
seating (Pozorski et al. 2016; Pozorski and Pozorski
1996).
As phase one construction within the north wing
rooms progressed, the users built Platforms c and d
in the southwest and northeast corners of Room
a. Platform c in the northeast corner is L-shaped in
its final form, but the builders constructed it in two
parts. Construction started with the section along
the north wall, and its south edge aligns with the
south edge of one of the tiers in the large Platform
b to its west. Also as part of phase one construction,
the builders blocked the two interior entrances and
constructed additional platforms in all three rooms
(Figure 42). In the original west room, they expanded
the northeast Platform c south to give it an L-shaped
form with the addition of a segment that crossed the
line of the entrance between the west and central

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 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Figure 43. View from the west of the north wing of the Mound B complex.

rooms. Its construction likely coincided with the
closing of this access route.
Within the central room, the users also constructed
conjoined Platforms and Rooms, e, f, g, h, and i along
the south and west walls during phase one. The small
Platform e abuts the west wall, also partially blocking
the entrance in that wall. A line of large boulders
nearby represents the remains of a sizeable space,
Room f, that once filled the southwest corner.
Farther along the south wall of the central room are
Platforms g and h which were probably once taller,
especially Platform g. All of these constructions,
Platforms e, g, and h and Room f, were once joined
together. Remnants of an L-shaped boulder wall
footing within Room i and Platform t within Room
r probably represent additional architecture that

Figure 44. View from the east of the north wing of the Mound B complex.

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 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 45. View from the south of Platform b and its associated hearth in Room a of the north wing of the Mound B complex.
once pertained to phase one. The users also built the
large Platform u in the southwest corner of the orig-
inal east room during phase one. It totally obscures
the entrance in the west wall—between the original
east and central rooms.
The size of the phase one platforms and rooms, the
quality of their construction, the emphasis on plat-
forms, and the presence of the associated deep round
hearth, a typical Sechín Alto Polity hearth form,
suggest that building phase one was part of the original
use of the Mound B complex. As such, it represents an
effort to reconfigure the north wing for specialized use
late in this primary occupation. The blocking of
internal entrances which occurred at about the same
time is surprising; however, the phase one reconfigura-
tion may have been in process as the Sechín Alto Polity
power was waning, as reflected in the abandonment of
Taukachi-Konkán. The inhabitants blocked other
entrances within the Mound A and Mound B com-
plexes, probably also at this time; and this deliberate
symbolic closing down of the site was likely still
ongoing when the very different phase two construc-
tion began in the north wing.
Phase two occupation of the north wing consists of
low-status house construction and reuse of the entire
wing structure for residential purposes—probably by
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Volume 41, Number 1
later Initial Period people using Las Haldas-type cer-
amics. During this phase, the new inhabitants recon-
figured the north wing into at least three, but possibly
as many as five, residential units (Figure 42). Evidence
of their presence is slight in the original west room;
however, two small intrusive hearths in the northwest
corner attest to its reuse and suggest conversion to a
domestic function. In this scenario, phase two
reoccupation of Room a involved creation of a
single residential unit there which could be entered
from the west through the original entrance that
remained open.
The new inhabitants greatly impacted the original
central room by remodeling and repurposing it
during phase two. At this time, they dismantled
much of the existing phase one architecture to con-
struct small irregular rooms in the northern half of
the room (Figures 43 and 46). This destruction is
especially evident in Room f and the wall footing in
Room i; these are all that remain of walls that were
once substantial. The new occupants also removed
considerable amounts of fill and construction material
from Platform g, leaving it with an uneven surface
much reduced in height. With this material, they
built an agglutinated complex of 10 thin-walled
rooms, including Rooms j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, and
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 46. View from the north of Rooms n and o in the north wing of the Mound B complex.
s. Platform t in the southeast corner of Room r and the
raised floor of Room p reveal that other previously con-
structed phase one platforms in the south half of the
original central room were likely incorporated into
the new constructions. Most of the new small residen-
tial rooms have walls that are a single stone in thickness,
creating walls only 20–30 cm thick. Some of the rooms
are very small; the smallest, Room o, measures only
1.04 m north-south by 62 cm east-west; and the
entrance connecting it with Room q is only 25 cm
wide. Probably intentionally, the south walls of
Rooms m, p, and r form a clear barrier separating
the north room cluster from the partially dismantled
architecture to the south. All the new small rooms
appear residential in nature and many are intercon-
nected. Four of the rooms have hearths with evidence
of use, one has a pot rest, and two have low benches.
The hearths show no special preparation or construc-
tion; they were simply cut into the pre-existing thick
floor plaster which formed the sides. Access to the
room block and among rooms within the cluster is
puzzling, especially since the west and east entrances
to the original central room are clearly blocked.
However, our excavations on the exterior of the
north wall of the north wing revealed that the area
behind the wall consists of a natural gravel layer
topped by a hard pack surface that is only about
95
40 cm below the existing wall top. Based on this, we
suggest that the occupants of these rooms accessed
them by moving in and out over the north wall top.
This would have enabled them to enter and use all
the rooms of the cluster as one single residential unit
or as three small units formed by room clusters j–k–
l–m, n–o–p–q, and r–s–t respectively.
The new inhabitants converted the original east
room of the north wing into an additional residential
unit by the construction of more substantial walls that
form the large Room y as well as Rooms v, w, and x
which border the large Platform u that occupies the
southwest corner of the room (Figure 42). Access to
this room was still possible through its south entrance
which remained open.
We found Las Haldas type ceramics within the west
and east rooms of the north wing, revealing that the
phase two reconfiguration of the interior of the
north wing may be part of a more widespread reoccu-
pation by people using Las Haldas type ceramics that
occurred at Taukachi-Konkán and other Sechín Alto
Polity settlements during the Initial Period, but after
the decline of the Sechín Alto Polity when the com-
ponent structures were essentially abandoned. We
have seen this within other architecture at the site as
remains of cane footings for walls of perishable
material. The stone structures in the north wing
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
seem much more substantial, however, probably
because the builders found a ready source of reusable
materials in the platforms that were recently built or
still under construction. Nevertheless, these small
stone houses are irregular and poorly made compared
to the original architecture; and the sparse contents
suggest their use was short-lived.
Sunken Court
Immediately east of the platform Mound B is the
sunken court, a large round-cornered room that
measures 18.1 m north-south by 19.7 m east-west
(Figure 35). Within the interior of this room, we
exposed all four walls; and we excavated a two-
meter-wide trench from the south wall out to the
center of this room to check for special features, but
we found none. This excavation did, however, reveal
a bench that extends out 4 m from all four walls.
While clearing the surface of this bench adjacent to
the west, north, and east room walls, we encountered
small round circles 1 to 2.5 cm in diameter, indicat-
ing that the later Initial Period people also reoccupied
this room after its initial abandonment and built
ephemeral cane structures within the sheltered space
of the sunken court.
The sunken court has key square-room unit traits,
including round corners, a generally square shape,
benches along all four walls, and entrances restricted
by pilasters. It is the largest square-room-unit-type
room among the four aligned mound complexes,
and it forms the heart of the Mound B complex
where it highlights the paramount importance of
the ritual space with friezes that it encloses. Its walls
measure 1.75–2 m thick, making them thicker than
all other walls excavated in the eastern part of
Taukachi-Konkán; and it exists as a free-standing
modular unit because no other architecture is
bonded into this room. The exterior east side
borders an open plaza while narrow crevices only
25 cm wide separate the exterior walls of the north
and south wings from the exterior walls of the
sunken room. Toward the west, the builders filled
in the “negative space” between the exterior west
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Volume 41, Number 1
room wall and the east facade of platform Mound B
to create a corridor. All four walls of the sunken
court have evidence of white paint, both interior
and exterior; and both entrances have evidence of
white paint. Friezes present on all four walls of the
sunken court give this room special importance
(Figure 47).
Two entrances allow access to the sunken court: a
central staircase 2.28 m wide ascends 1.15 m to the
surface of the open plaza east of the sunken court;
and a much narrower staircase, only 1.1 m wide,
ascends about 1.75 m to the level of the corridor
along the east edge of the mound near the northwest
corner of the sunken court (Figures 35 and 39). It is
noteworthy that this second staircase is located in the
west wall, but near the northwest corner of the sunken
court, because this arrangement creates an access
pattern that is very different from the wide central
staircases that typically provide access to Sechín Alto
Polity platform mounds of all sizes, including most
other mounds at Taukachi-Konkán. This atypical
entrance location allowed the frieze on the west wall
to be centrally located, a deference that clearly indi-
cates the importance of the frieze and its content.
Probably near the end of the settlement’s active occu-
pation, the inhabitants of Taukachi-Konkán con-
structed a relatively low wall built flush with the
interior west room wall to block this entrance
(Figure 48).
Friezes Within the Sunken Court
The first frieze we excavated is the best preserved, and
it is located on the north side of the sunken court
where the walls are higher due to deep deposits of
wind-blown sand. The frieze consists of a pair of sea
lions facing each other along a plastered wall that is
preserved up to 1.46 m above the floor (Figures 49
and 50). Evidence of surface weathering indicates
that the friezes remained exposed to the elements
long enough to erode all traces of color except
white, a possible base coat. Based on other examples
of better-preserved friezes at Sechín Alto Polity settle-
ments and sites in the nearby Nepeña Valley which
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Figure 47. Schematic plan of the frieze court showing the relative placement of its friezes. On the north side is the sea lion frieze, on the
west and east sides are the feline frieze components, and on the south side is a possible bird frieze.

are brightly colored, it is possible that the Taukachi-
Konkán friezes were originally polychrome. The sea
lion depictions are more than three-fourths complete,
facilitating reliable reconstruction of complete images.
Both sea lions measure 4.45 m long, and they are sep-
arated by a space 2.22 m wide. Physical attributes that
support the sea lion identification include details of
the fanged mouth, eyes, ears, whiskers, clawed appen-
dages, and an overall body posture which suggests
swimming. The sea lions here are portrayed naturalis-
tically, swimming in a manner that exposes a front
view of their stomachs while their heads remain in
profile. The images are unusual, however, because
their stomachs are covered by flap-like shapes that
encircle distinctive square designs.
The frieze on the south wall, facing the sea lion
frieze, is the least well preserved, extending to a
height of only 86 cm above the floor (Figures 51
and 52). Because of its poor condition, it is also
the most difficult to interpret. The layout of the
southern frieze is similar to the northern sea lion
frieze because the images are similar in size and
spacing and are clearly mirror images of each
other; however, the frieze content is very different.
The better-preserved left frieze is suggestive of a
bird because of what may be a long neck support-
ing an upward looking head while other parts may
represent feathers and/or feet. This interpretation of
the Taukachi-Konkán frieze is suggested by an
upward-looking figure with avian traits that

97
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 48. View from the east of the blocked northwest entrance of the frieze court.
decorates a stone cup or mortar reported to be from
Limoncarro, an early settlement in the Jequetepeque
Valley (Benson 1972: Figure 1–3; Bischof 1994:
Figure 19d; Lapiner 1976: Figures 117 and 118;
Suárez Ubillus 2010).
On the west wall of the sunken court, the frieze is
preserved to a height of 1.34 m; and the image is cen-
trally placed on the western wall, making it necessary
to relocate the west entrance to its atypical location
near the room’s northwest corner (Figures 53 and
54). Despite considerable damage by recent tree
roots, we could discern a central mouth with fangs
that was once part of a face with feline attributes.
The symmetrical frieze fragments on either side of
the face presented a puzzle, however, until Rosa
Marín Jave suggested they represent raised paws flank-
ing the face. Building on this, we used known early
iconography from the Casma and Nepeña Valleys to
interpret and reconstruct the content of this frieze.
Punkurí, in the Nepeña Valley, is adorned by a
feline sculpture with a fanged mouth and raised
paws with claws (Bischof 2015: Figure 81; Museo
de Arqueología y Antropología de San Marcos
2005: 86–87; Samaniego 2011). The distinctive
98
Volume 41, Number 1
paw with three toes, including an opposable digit,
can also be seen on the painted feline that adorns
the innermost Cerro Sechín structure (Fuchs and
Patzschke 2015: Figure 47; Samaniego 1995: Figure
1; Tello 1956: 251–252), on a feline-like stone sculp-
ture from Mesapatac in the upper Casma Valley
(Bischof 2015: Figure 86; Suárez Ubillus 2010),
and on a stone carving from Chavín de Huantar
(Bischof 2015: Figure 98b). Curiously, the three
examples from the Casma Valley, including the
Taukachi-Konkán feline, all have anatomically back-
ward depictions of their paws.
Once we recognized the feline theme of the west
frieze, we were readily able to interpret the frieze com-
ponents that flank the central staircase on the east
wall, even though the frieze is preserved to a height
of only 74 cm (Figures 55 and 56). The east frieze
consists primarily of remnants of two raised paws
that once resembled the raised paws with opposable
digits of the west frieze, and we interpret these
raised paws as the hind limbs of the feline depicted
on the west wall. A final puzzling detail of the east
frieze is a depiction of a carefully formed human
foot near the left paw.
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Figure 49. The frieze on the north wall depicts a pair of sea lions: (a) photograph, (b) drawing of unreconstructed frieze, and (c) drawing
of suggested reconstruction.

Interpreting the Taukachi-Konkán Friezes

Figure 50. Detailed photographs of (a) the west sea lion and (b)
the east sea lion.
Further interpretation of the friezes is necessarily
speculative because there are relatively few examples
of Initial Period iconography and because the
extreme age of the friezes (3500 years) makes connec-
tions with later cultures difficult. Nevertheless, we
believe that careful examination of frieze content
and context can lead to some insights about Initial
Period cosmology.
Looking at the sunken frieze court in terms of its
architecture, we see both consistencies and inconsis-
tencies with established Sechín Alto Polity tenets.
The room has numerous traits typical of the square-
room unit architectural form; however, key differ-
ences make this space special. An examination of

99
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 51. The frieze on the south wall may represent a pair of upward-looking birds: (a) photograph and (b) drawing of
unreconstructed frieze.
these differences reveals that the designers of the
sunken court strategically planned and built it with
the goal of optimally displaying the friezes while
also giving them added meaning and impact
through context. The paramount importance of the
dominant feline frieze is reflected by the size and
Figure 52. Detailed photographs of (a) the east upward-looking
bird and (b) the west upward-looking bird.
100
Volume 41, Number 1
location of the west entrance. It is narrow and well
north of center to allow the face and raised paws of
the feline to be centered on the west wall. The incon-
spicuous nature of the west entrance may also have
added subtly to the mystique of the sunken frieze
court by enabling religious practitioners to move
unnoticed between the sunken court and the corridor
along the east edge of Mound B which is behind the
west frieze face. Once within this corridor, they would
have been hidden from view until they used the inset
central staircase within the corridor to emerge sud-
denly on the mound summit well above the frieze.
In contrast to the narrow, off-center western entrance
of the frieze court, the east entrance is twice as wide
and it occupies a central, inset position within the
east wall. This entrance would have been used for visi-
tors descending into the sunken court from the higher
plaza farther east.
The enclosed nature of the sunken court and its
lowered floor level with respect to the plaza to the
east, the raised wings to the north and south, and
the even higher platform mound to the west also
intensified the impact of the friezes and associated
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 53. The frieze on the west wall is interpreted as the face
and front paws of a feline: (a) photograph, (b) drawing of
unreconstructed frieze, and (c) drawing of suggested
reconstruction.
activities on individuals who were allowed access to
this carefully engineered environment. The small
floor area limits the number of visitors to relatively
few individuals who entered the sunken court by des-
cending below ground level. Through this descent,
visitors entered a different dimension by passing
into the world represented by the friezes. The
content of these Taukachi-Konkán friezes describes
a set of complementary symbols that may depict fea-
tures of Sechín Alto Polity cosmology or world view.
Immediately upon descending into the sunken court,
the visitor is confronted by the larger-than-life feline
face and paws on the mound front while the opposing
hind paws on the east wall transform the room into
the body of a feline. Such an experience could make
the visitor feel enveloped and protected by the
feline, a being grounded on the earth but also
101
Figure 54. Detailed photographs of (a) the south claw of the
feline, (b) the fanged mouth of the feline, and (c) the north claw
of the feline.
connected to the underworld (Beltrán 2013: 5, 65).
Complementing the feline, as part of a more general
world view, the sea lions on the north wall might rep-
resent the ocean while the possible bird imagery
might represent the sky.
This tripartite cosmological division parallels a
model proposed by Peter Roe (1982) for a number
of tropical forest groups. This model describes a
three-tiered cosmological view of the universe where
the Sky World is represented by the harpy eagle, the
Earth World is represented by the jaguar, and the
Subaquatic World is represented by the caiman (Roe
1982: 127–131). Roe also extended this model back
in time by interpreting Tello Obelisk iconography
within a comparable three-level cosmological
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 55. The frieze on the east wall is partially interpreted as the rear paws of the feline: (a) photograph, (b) drawing of the
unreconstructed frieze and (c) drawing of suggested partial reconstruction. Adjacent to the north claw is an apparent human foot.

framework (Roe 2008: 183). More recently, Shibata
(2017) has proposed a similar tripartite cosmological
model to explain images on three architectural tiers
at Huaca Partida, an Early Horizon settlement in
the Nepeña Valley. A complementary model proposed
by Ikehara (2020) that draws on work by Viveiros de
Castro (2004) with peoples of lowland South America
could also relate to the images in the Mound B frieze
court. Ikehara suggests that early centers with monu-
mental iconography served as places where humans
could enter a shamanic trance by using hallucinogens
and thereby interact with and transform into preda-
tory animals in order to view their surroundings
from the animals’ perspectives. The iconography of
the Taukachi-Konkán frieze court, with its three pre-
dators within an enclosed space, fits well into this
model.
Ceramics, Artifacts, and Subsistence
Remains
Excavations within floor and compact wall fall con-
texts within the frieze court recovered 521 sherds,
393 of which are oxidized brown in color with the
remainder a reduced grayish black color (Table 6).
Fifteen additional sherds are Initial Period examples
recovered from loose eolian sand contexts. Of this
total ceramic collection, 51 sherds date to the Initial
Period, and eight of these were found in near-floor
contexts. Neckless olla rims, represented by 29
examples, are most common, possibly indicating con-
tainment of food and drink for activities carried out
within the frieze court. In the hard wall fall, we
encountered six Initial Period decorated sherds
typical of the types identified at Pampa de las

102
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 56. Detailed photographs of (a) the north claw of the
feline and an apparent human foot and (b) the south claw of the
feline.
Llamas-Moxeke: two with gouges, three with large
punctations, and one with wide incision that looks
like a face (Figure 57c). We also found five sherds
decorated with zoned punctation designs typical of
Las Haldas culture. We collected two from near-
floor contexts and three from wall fall. Casma
Culture presence is slight within the frieze court;
the hard wall fall only contained two decorated
Casma Incised sherds and one press-molded sherd.
Investigations on the surface of the main platform
Mound B and along its east, west, and south sides
encountered 655 sherds, 508 of which are oxidized
brown. We found most of these ceramics in hard
wall fall contexts along the east and west sides of
the platform mound. Of the 136 diagnostic sherds,
only 32 pertain to the Initial Period. Most of the
Initial Period collection consists of neckless olla
rims along with a few jar and bowl rims. We recovered
one Initial Period bowl rim decorated with large ver-
tical punctations the west bench (Figure 29b), and we
found a body sherd decorated with wide incision west
of the west bench. We recovered a third diagnostic
Initial Period ceramic decorated with two incised
lines and raised bump pierced by a large vertical punc-
tation from sandy gravel on the surface of Mound B
(Figure 29a). The other 34 diagnostic ceramics are
103
forms and decoration types typical of the later
Casma Culture, and the predominance of these late
ceramics reflect the efforts by Casma Culture people
to modify the east and west sides of the earlier plat-
form mound.
We cleared the entire south wing flanking the frieze
court, recovering 280 sherds in the process (Table 6).
A total of 262 of these sherds are oxidized brown. Of
these, 13 are undecorated early rims: 11 neckless olla
rims, one jar rim, and one bowl rim. As in the case of
the frieze court, neckless ollas probably served as all-
purpose vessels for containing food and liquids used
in south wing activities. The remaining eight diagnos-
tic sherds from hard wall fall contexts date later: seven
belong to the Casma Culture and one panpipe frag-
ment dates to the Early Horizon.
In the north wing excavations within floor and hard
wall fall contexts, we encountered 1019 sherds. Some
973 of these are oxidized brown while the remainder
are fired to a grayish black color (Table 6). Fifty-eight
of these sherds are Initial Period rims, predominantly
neckless ollas, similar to the pattern found in the
frieze room and the south wing. We collected one
sherd with Pampa Llamas-type gouges from the
hard wall fall of Room y. Also significantly, we recov-
ered 61 sherds bearing Las Haldas-type zoned punc-
tations from Rooms x and y, 44 of which came
from near-floor contexts. These Las Haldas-type cer-
amics from Rooms x and y all appear to have come
from the same decorated bottle lying broken on the
floors of both rooms (Figure 58a,b). We found two
additional Las Haldas-type sherds with elongated
punctations from a different vessel near the floor of
Room a of the north wing (Figure 59). These Las
Haldas-type ceramics gave us our first indication
that the phase two reuse of the north wing rep-
resented part of the Las Haldas expansion we have
documented elsewhere in the Sechín Alto Polity,
including in the western part of Taukachi-Konkán
(Pozorski and Pozorski 2006). In contrast to other
parts of the settlement, the north wing yielded only
one diagnostic Casma Culture sherd and two Early
Horizon shaped sherds.
The sunken square-room unit with its friezes forms
the heart of this complex, and it functioned in
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Table 6. Ceramics recovered from the Mound B complex.

Large
vertical EH
Pampa Large punctate Las panpipe/ Casma Casma
Body NO Jar Bowl Bottle Llamas vertical with Wide Haldas shaped Culture Culture
Context sherds rims rims rims rims gouges punctate incision incision punctate sherd rims dec Total
Frieze mound area
Mound 1 1
summit
W bench 153 5 1 2 1 5 37 204
W of W 118 3 2 1 8 25 157
bench
S edge 1 1 2
wall
Corridor 216 4 3 5 12 11 251
N outside 17 17
corridor
S outside 14 2 2 2 3 23
corridor
Frieze room
Frieze 467 29 5 6 2 3 1 5 3 521
room
South wing area
S wing W 111 1 1 1 2 1 117
room
S wing 57 4 1 1 63
central
room
S wing E 24 5 29
room
S wing E 2 2
room, W
entrance
S of S 3 2 5
wing
N of S 22 22
wing
E of S 40 1 1 42
wing panpipe
North wing area
Room a 31 6 1 1 2 41
Room f 147 5 1 153
Plat g 18 3 1 22
Plat g 1 1
hearth
N of plat 8 8
g
Room i 90 7 97
Room j 17 1 18
Room k 16 1 1 18
Room l 1 1
Room m 13 13
Room o 9 1 1 11
Room p 13 13
Continued

104
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Table 6. Continued.

Large
vertical EH
Pampa Large punctate Las panpipe/ Casma Casma
Body NO Jar Bowl Bottle Llamas vertical with Wide Haldas shaped Culture Culture
Context sherds rims rims rims rims gouges punctate incision incision punctate sherd rims dec Total
Room q 3 3
Room r 15 4 19
Room s 1 1
Room w 13 1 24 38
Room x 6 1shaped 7
Room y 210 5 1 1 37 1shaped 255
N of N 217 11 1 3 1 233
wing
S of N 44 1 1 46
wing
E of N 21 21
wing
Totals 2139 99 18 19 4 3 4 1 2 68 3 30 85 2475
% of total 86.4% 4% 0.7% 0.8% 0.2% 0.12% 0.2% 0.04% 0.08% 2.74% 0.12% 1.2% 3.4% 100%
ceramics

conjunction with platform Mound B to the west by fragment from the frieze room. The mound corridor
way of the northwest staircase and corridor which also yielded a scallop-shell tool, two red pigment
facilitated interaction between the two units. pounding platforms which can also serve as paint pal-
Reliable Initial Period artifacts recovered from plat- ettes (Figure 62b), and a small smooth stone showing
form mound and sunken court contexts that might use as a light hammer. We recovered another possible
relate directly to their special functions include a olive-shell bangle from wall fall west of the bench
stone mortar rim and pestle fragment (Figure 60), a
jet mirror edge fragment, and a pointed bone tool
from the mound corridor as well as a bird bone
tube, a bangle made from an olive shell (Felicioliva
peruviana) (Figure 61, Table 7), a possible bone
pendant, a stone mortar rim, and a jet mirror edge

Figure 58. Ceramics typical of the Initial Period coastal site of

Figure 57. Sample of ceramic fragments with broad incised
decoration that is typical of Sechin Alto Polity sites. Items (a,b)
come from the Mound Complex B West Midden; and item (c),
which depicts a partial face, comes from the Mound B complex
frieze court west entrance. Scales are 5 cm.
Las Haldas that were recovered from Room y in the north wing of
the Mound B complex. They include (a) a bottle neck and sherds
with zoned punctations from the body of the bottle. The drawing
(b) reconstructs the form of the bottle and the configuration of
the zig-zag design upon the vessel body. Scale is 5 cm.

105
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 59. Ceramic fragments with elongated punctations that
are typical of the site of Las Haldas. Both example came from
Room a within the north wing of Mound Complex B. Scale is
5 cm.
along the west edge of Mound B, and the surface of
the west bench yielded a measuring stick and a
rounded stone with a central depression. Additional
artifacts recovered from the sunken frieze room
include a red pigment crushing stone, a red
pigment crushing platform, two fragments of red
pigment, two hammerstones, a quartz core, and two
tiny quartz flakes with use. The red pigment proces-
sing tools may reflect the production of wall paints
and/or ground pigment for ritual use on the body
or paraphernalia. We also collected a stemmed projec-
tile point (Figure 63) which resembles several others
from Sechín Alto Polity settlements (Pozorski and
Figure 60. Stone mortar rim and pestle fragment recovered
from the corridor between the main Mound B east facade and the
frieze court. Scale is 5 cm.
106
Volume 41, Number 1
Figure 61. Bangle made from an olive shell (Felicioliva
peruviana) that was recovered from the frieze court area of the
Mound B complex. Scale is 5 cm.
Pozorski 1987: 42, Figure 21) from the surface
about 7 m from the northwest corner of platform
Mound B.
Relatively few artifacts are associated with the south
wing rooms (Table 7). The most common artifacts are
measuring sticks associated with original wing con-
struction. We encountered one stick west of the west
wall of the west room outside the south end of the cor-
ridor and a second example from wall fall within the
west room. Six additional measuring sticks came
from the central room and its west entrance, two
came from the east room and its entrances, and
three came from outside the south wing to the north
and east. We discovered a red pigment crushing plat-
form in the west room; the central room yielded a
red pigment crusher; and a tiny used quartz flake
came from the east room. One red pigment crusher
(Figure 64a), three fragments each of red and white
pigment, and a quartz crystal with its point broken
from use (Figure 32c) came from outside the east
room to the north and east.
The north wing produced a variety of artifacts from
its many contexts (Table 7). Two measuring sticks
from Room i in the original central room and two
from east of the north wing were part of the original
construction of the north wing. In the original west
Room a, which is least altered by later construction,
 Table 7. Initial Period artifacts recovered from the Mound B complex.

Pigment Stone Utilized

Pigment grinding Worked Worked Worked Figurine mortar/ Jet mirror Polishing Hammer- Quartz quartz
Context crusher platform Pigment shell bone wood fragment pestle fragment stone stone crystal flake Misc.
Frieze mound area
Frieze 1 surface

Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

mound projectile
pt off NW
corner
Frieze 1 meas 1 round
mound stick stone w/
W bench 1 pointed central
stick depress
1 pointed
stake
Frieze 1 w/ red 1 poss
mound pigment olive-
W of W shell
bench bangle
107

Frieze 1 quartz
mound S core
edge wall
Frieze 2 w/ red 1 1 shaped 2 1 mortar 1 edge 2 1 w/ 1
mound pigment scallop- rib? pounded rim light use
corridor shell stakes 1 pestle
scraper fragment
N outside 1 green
corridor stone
S outside 1 meas
corridor stick
Frieze room and east plaza
Frieze 1 w/ red 1 possible 2 red 1 olive- 1 bird 1 pointed 1 poss 1 mortar 1 edge 2 1 2 2 stones
room, pigment palette w/ 3 white shell bone stick fragment rim possible 2 w/ 1 quartz w/ red
entrances red 1 yellow bangle tube polishers light use core pigment
pigment pigment 1 1 poss
pendant abrader
1 poss
pendant
Continued
 Table 7. Continued.

Pigment Stone Utilized

Pigment grinding Worked Worked Worked Figurine mortar/ Jet mirror Polishing Hammer- Quartz quartz
Context crusher platform Pigment shell bone wood fragment pestle fragment stone stone crystal flake Misc.
Plaza E of 1 poss
E scallop-
entrance shell
scraper

Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology

South wing area
S wing W 1 palette 1 meas
room w/ red stick
pigment
S wing 1 w/ red 6 meas 1 chalky
central pigment, sticks 1 fragment
room, W also wood w/
entrance hammer string
S wing E 2 meas 1
room sticks
S of S 1
wing
108

N of S 1 red 1 meas
wing 1 white stick
pigment
E of S 1 w/ red 2 red 2 meas 1
wing E pigment, 2 white sticks

Volume 41, Number 1

room also pigment
hammer
North wing area
N wing 4 w/ red 1 white 1 1 round
Room a, pigment pigment scallop- ceramic
entrance 1 poss shell spindle
palette w/ disk whorl
red
pigment
N wing 2 w/ red
Platfrm b pigment
N wing 1 w/ red shell 1
Room f pigment disk
poss
scallop
Continued
 Table 7. Continued.

Pigment Stone Utilized

Pigment grinding Worked Worked Worked Figurine mortar/ Jet mirror Polishing Hammer- Quartz quartz
Context crusher platform Pigment shell bone wood fragment pestle fragment stone stone crystal flake Misc.
N wing 1 w/ red
Platfrm g pigment

Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

N wing 1 w/ red 2 red 1 3 bird
Corridor pigment pigment scallop- bone
N of shell tubes
Platfrm g scraper 1 bone
awl
N wing scallop- 2 meas 1 ceramic
Room i shell sticks spindle
scraper whorl
1 stone
sphere
N wing 1 w/ red hole in 6 shark
Room j pigment floor w/ teeth
109

loose
pigment
N wing 2 w/ red 1 white ½ Choro
Room k pigment- pigment shell
1 shaped disk
N wing 1 w/ red 6 green
Room l pigment stones
1 poss
palette w/
red
pigment
N wing 1 bird
Room v bone
tube in
pit
below
floor
N wing 3 w/ red 1 w/ red partial
Room x pigment pigment tool
Continued
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Table 7. Continued.

Pigment Stone Utilized

Pigment grinding Worked Worked Worked Figurine mortar/ Jet mirror Polishing Hammer- Quartz quartz
Context crusher platform Pigment shell bone wood fragment pestle fragment stone stone crystal flake Misc.
N wing 1 w/ red 1 mortar 2 edge 1 1 carved
room y pigment rim fragments sodalite
poss bird
1 round
ceramic
110

spindle
whorl
N of N 1 w/ red 1 bird 1 edge 3
wing pigment bone
tube

Volume 41, Number 1

S of N 1 w/ 2
wing heavy use
E of N 2 meas 1 rectang.
wing sticks turquoise
bead
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 62. Examples of red pigment crushing platforms: (a, d)
from Room a of the north wing of the Mound B complex, (b)
from the corridor between the main mound of the Mound B
complex and the frieze court, (c, f ) from Platform b of the north
wing of the Mound B complex, and (e) from Room f within the
north wing of the Mound B complex. Scale is 25 cm.
Figure 63. Stemmed projectile point recovered from the surface
about 7 m from the northwest corner of the main mound of the
Mound B complex. Scale is 5 cm.
111
two red pigment crushing platforms came from the
large Platform b (Figure 62c,f ), and four other red
pigment crushing platforms and a possible paint
palette with red pigment came from Room a in
general (Figure 62a,d). Room a also yielded a disk
made of scallop shell, a round ceramic spindle
whorl, and a fragment of white pigment. Within
the original central room, the south part near the
phase one conjoined Rooms and Platforms e, f, g,
h, and i yielded a shell disk, a red pigment crusher,
two red pigment crushing platforms (Figure 62e),
two fragments of red pigment, a stone sphere
(Figure 34c), a spindle whorl, a scallop-shell scraping
tool (Figure 65a), three bird-bone tubes (Figure 6a,b,
d), a bone awl, and a quartz flake with use. The agglu-
tinated room cluster in the north part of the original
central room consists of Rooms j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r,
and s, and several of these rooms contained no arti-
facts. Room k yielded a shaped red pigment crushing
platform, a red pigment grinding platform, half of a
shell disk made from Choromytilus chorus and a frag-
ment of white pigment. Room l yielded a red
pigment crushing platform, a possible red paint
palette, and six fragments of green stone.
Excavations in Room j encountered six shark teeth
and a red pigment crusher. In the northwest corner
of this room, in an area surrounded by a raised
ridge, there was a circular patch stained reddish
brown by large amounts of red pigment mixed with
the soil. Moving farther east into the original east
Figure 64. Stones used for pounding or crushing red pigment:
(a) from east of the east outer wall of the south wing of the
Mound B complex and (b) from the central room of the Mound
D complex. Scales are 5 cm.
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
room, Room v yielded a cut bird bone tube (Figure
66c) from a subfloor pit; Room x contained three
red pigment crushers and a red pigment crushing
platform; and room y yielded two jet mirror edges,
a stone mortar rim, a possible bird carved from soda-
lite (Figure 67), a red pigment crusher, and a tiny
quartz flake with evidence of use. Gravel and ash
deposits outside and north of the north wing pro-
duced a bird-bone tube, a jet mirror edge fragment,
a red pigment crusher, and three tiny quartz flakes
with use evidence (Figure 32b). Excavated deposits
south of the north wing yielded a well-used hammer-
stone and two tiny quartz flake tools. We recovered a
rectangular turquoise bead, a common Initial Period
bead form, from wall fall outside the east wall of the
north wing.
Plant and animal remains recovered from the
Mound B complex as a whole are variable in their dis-
tribution and questionable in their reliability as Initial
Period in date. Both plant remains and shellfish are
relatively abundant in the vicinity of platform
Mound B. Casma Culture people modified the
sides and top of this mound, however, resulting in
abundant intrusive ceramics and plant inventories
with maize (Zea mays) that indicate a mixed
context. The square-room unit of the frieze court
yielded a considerable variety of vertebrate remains,
but usually in very small amounts. These include
Figure 65. Simple scraping tools made from valves of the scallop
(Argopecten purpuratus): (a) from Room i of the north wing of the
Mound B complex and (b) from the West Midden. Scale is 5 cm.
112
Volume 41, Number 1
rodents, dog, camelid, guanay, anchovy, palm ruff
(Seriolella violacea), and a fish from the mackerel/
tuna/bonito family (Scombridae). Shellfish there are
also varied and relatively abundant, including
mainly mussels. Choromytilus chorus and Aulocomya
atra are especially noteworthy because these species
are very common at early settlements and because
Choromytilus chorus is now extinct in this area. Plant
remains from the frieze room make us cautious
because the inventory contains maize and
guanábana (Annona muricata), two intrusive Casma
Culture species (Pozorski and Pozorski 1997b). We
can only say that some food species may have been
taken into the frieze court as food offerings and/or
consumed there, but the evidence is equivocal.
Plant and animal remains are only sparsely rep-
resented in the south wing. The entire three-room
complex yielded bones of rat, guanay, anchovy,
croaker (Paralonchurus peruanus), and sea bass
(Paralabrax sp.) in very small quantities. The most
common shellfish, Choromytilus chorus, is represented
by only eight individuals. Contexts outside the wing
Figure 66. Examples of tubes cut from bird bone: (a,b,d) from
the corridor-like area north of Platform g within the north wing of
the Mound B complex and (c) from Room v of the north wing of
the Mound B complex. Scale is 5 cm.
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 67. Three views of a carving of dark stone, possibly
sodalite, that may represent a bird or other animal: (a) “top view”
showing bird-like tail, (b) left side showing tail in profile and foot
area, and (c) “bottom view” showing bottom of tail and foot area.
Scale is 5 cm.
to the north, south, and east contained more subsis-
tence remains than any of the rooms, possibly indicat-
ing cleaning of the structure by their users. Plant
remains are very rare, limited to one or few instances
of guava (Psidium guajava) in the west room, avocado,
gourd, and cotton in the central room, and gourd and
avocado in the east room. Wood is abundant in the
vicinity of the two interior entrances and the north
entrance of the east room.
Ceramic data from the north wing indicate little
Casma Culture impact, making us more confident
about the contexts of the plant and animal remains
there. We encountered few animal bones within the
north wing rooms. The west room yielded evidence
of only dog and anchovy, and most of the fish
remains there came from fine screening the phase
two intrusive hearths. There is little variety within
the west room molluscan inventory; the most
common species are the slipper shell and one mussel,
Aulocomya atra. Within the central sector, rooms and
platforms of the first phase yielded remains of deer,
113
guanay, turkey vulture (Cathartes sp.), anchovy,
grunt (Anisotremus scapularis), and Pacific shad
(Ethmidium maculata); and mussels are the most
common mollusks. The open area at the east end of
Room y yielded bones of rat, anchovy, and jack mack-
erel (Trachurus symmetricus murphyi). Molluscan
species there are more varied, with the two large
mussels, wedge clams, and land snails (Scutalus sp.)
occurring most commonly. The phase two occupation
represented by the room cluster in the original central
room and the residential architecture of the original
east room yielded few subsistence remains. Animal
bone recovered indicate the presence of deer, rat,
white wing dove (Zenaida asiatica), Chilean angel
shark (Squatina armata), anchovy, and sardine. Few
molluscan species are represented; however, mussels
predominate and rare examples of large clams
(Leukoma thaca, Standella isthmica, and Eurhomalea
rufa) are also present. Plant remains are rare in both
phases; only one incidence of gourd was recorded in
the entire north wing. As was the case for the south
wing, excavations outside the north wing to the east
and south yielded remains that may reflect cleaning
of the wing rooms. Contexts along the north edge of
the north wing yielded more material and more
species because we encountered earlier midden depos-
its while clearing the exterior wall face. These deposits
yielded bones of deer, rat, palm ruff, croaker, and
bonito (Sarda chilensis chilensis); as well as a shellfish
inventory dominated by mussels and slipper shells
that also included large clam species. We recovered
few plant remains; only avocado and gourd came
from contexts outside the north wing rooms.
Mound C
The aligned Mound C immediately north of the
winged Mound B and associated frieze court now
stands about 3 m tall and once had overall measure-
ments of approximately 25 m north-south by 27 m
east-west (Figures 2, 3, 68 and 69). The central part
of its summit is occupied by a slightly elongated
square-room-unit-type central room with rounded
corners and wall niches. It has internal dimensions
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 68. Plan of Mound C showing its central square-room unit, an intrusive hearth (H), an intrusive pit (P), a western staircase
leading up to the raised area to the west, and an eastern staircase. The excavated area is shaded in blue.

about 8.5 m north-south by 10.5 m east-west and
walls approximately 1 m thick that range from
13 cm to 1.4 m tall. Immediately east of the central
room is an atrium that likely contained an inset
central staircase descending farther east into an open
compound or plaza that bordered the north-south
road. A U-shaped area surrounds the central room
on the north, south, and west. It is reached via an
inset staircase that rises almost a meter. Casma
Culture people had considerable impact on the
central room of Mound C: they dismantled most of
the east wall, they cut a hearth and nearby pit into
the floor, and they discarded maize remains that
became part of the wall fall there.
Our excavations, totaling some 32 2 × 2 m squares
(128 m2), investigated the central room, part of the
atrium, and part of a small raised room immediately
north of the central room. Within the central room,
we found remains of five niches in the north and
west walls where they are still relatively well preserved.
Intact examples of niches average 1 m by 45 cm in area
and their floors are 85 to 95 cm above the room floor.
In the northwest corner of the room we also discovered
remains of a ledge 7 cm wide that would have originally
extended around the entire room at the level of the
niche floors. In the excavation units adjacent to all
five niches cleared, we encountered wood and numer-
ous junco rope segments that were probably once part
of junco bindings used to assemble and install niche
roof supports of cane and wood. Based on the
spacing of preserved niches and abundant junco rope
in the wall fall, we believe there were once five niches
along the north and south walls, two niches in the
east wall, and three niches in the west wall.

114
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
Figure 69. View from the southwest of the central square-room unit of Mound C showing excavated niches and the western entrance.
The east wall and entrance are in poor condition;
however, in situ stones near the center suggest that
the entrance once had a raised threshold.
Concentrations of junco rope on both sides of the
wall base probably came from bindings on the
support posts for pilasters within the entrance. The
west staircase, which is in much better condition, is
positioned off center to accommodate spacing for an
additional niche (Figure 70). In this example, the stair-
case has the same width as the wall niches, and it
occupies the space of one niche. It measures 90 cm
wide, the sidewalls are preserved 20 to 94 cm high,
and the broad threshold plus three preserved steps
extend 1.95 to 2 m toward the west and rise 90 cm.
Its lower landing also has paired pilasters and a pre-
sumed bar closure that restrict the opening, and
nearby wall fall contained abundant junco rope seg-
ments probably derived from its pilasters. Excavations
toward the north outside the central room revealed
that the elevated surface flanking the central room on
the north, west, and south may have been divided by
rooms. The room that we cleared has a floor level
90 cm above the level of the central room floor and
it measures 2.75 m east-west; however, its precise
115
north-south dimension is unknown because of the col-
lapse of the outer edge of the platform mound. Toward
the east, the atrium is characterized by a small bench
about 80 cm wide that has its floor at the same level
as the central room floor. Farther east, the floor of
the remainder of the atrium is 20 to 25 cm lower
than the bench floor. The west atrium wall also
shows evidence of white paint. At the east edge of
the atrium bench face, approximately in line with the
probable north edge of the central room entrance,
three small sticks are set vertically into the floor adja-
cent to the bench face. They now protrude 2 to
5 cm above the floor, but were probably once
covered by plaster. These are likely in situ measuring
sticks used as markers during the spatial planning of
the mound summit configuration. We rarely see
groups of closely spaced in situ sticks, but these may
be clustered because they mark the entrance sidewall.
Ceramics, Artifacts, and Subsistence
Remains
The more limited excavations in hard wall fall and
near-floor contexts of Mound C yielded 178 sherds,
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 70. View from the south of the western entrance of the square-room unit of Mound C showing steps and pilasters.
171 of which are oxidized brown in color (Table 8).
We found 16 neckless olla rims, eight of which came
from near-floor contexts. On the modern ground
surface near the mound we found two ceramics deco-
rated with gouges of the type first identified at Pampa
de las Llamas-Moxeke (Figure 28e). We encountered
no later Casma Culture diagnostic ceramic material
in the hard wall fall or near-floor contexts.
Special artifacts recovered from the central room of
Mound C include a shark-tooth pendant and a
wooden needle (Table 9). Pigment processing is rep-
resented by a red pigment crusher and a red pigment
crushing platform. We recovered a smooth rounded
stone, possibly used for polishing, two quartz flakes,
and two quartz crystals. Among the more unusual
items collected is a lump of adobe with human toe
impressions. Initial Period textiles are very rare at
Taukachi-Konkán, but we were able to recover a frag-
ment of twined textile from the floor of the central
room near the west entrance. We also found a
smooth, shaped rectangle of slate-like stone below
the atrium floor.
Plant and animal remains are scarce within the
excavated contexts of Mound C, and the contexts
116
Volume 41, Number 1
are questionable. Much of the bone, shell, and
plant remains came from intrusive hearths; and the
plant inventory contains maize, an indicator of
Casma Culture reoccupation. The few remains of
rats may be significant, however, as an indication
that at least some niches were used to store comesti-
bles. Among the three specimens recovered, two
came from room contexts near the niches and one
came from a niche floor.
Mound D
Mound D, the most northern platform mound of the
group of four aligned mounds, stands about 3.1 m tall
and once had dimensions of approximately 28 m
north-south by 33 m east-west (Figures 2, 3, and
71). Clearing 49 2 × 2 m squares (196 m2), we exca-
vated about two-thirds of the central room and the
south part of the atrium. The central round-cornered
room that forms the main summit architecture has
internal dimensions of 13.2 m north-south by
10.75 m east-west and an east wall width of about
1 m. The maximum preserved wall height ranges
from 0 where wall stones are missing to 77 cm. East
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Table 8. Ceramics recovered from the Mound C and D complexes, the Northeast and West Middens, the gravel refuse layer at the west
edge of Mound D and the subfloor test pit in room 4 of the Mound A complex.

Pampa Bottle EH Casma Casma

Body Neckless Jar Bowl Bottle Llamas Wide applique shaped EH Culture Culture
Context sherds olla rims rims rims rims gouges incision decoration sherd panpipe rims decorated Totals
Mound C complex
Central room 82 12 2 1 97
Atrium 77 4 81
Totals 159 16 2 1 178
% of total 89.3% 9% 1.1% 0.6% 100%
ceramics
Mound D complex
Central room 157 13 3 3 1 2 2 181
Atrium 73 4 1 2 80
Mound 4 4
summit
W edge of 11 1 12
mound
Totals 245 18 3 3 1 1 2 4 277
% of total 88.4% 6.5% 1.1% 1.1% 0.4% 0.4% 0.7% 1.4% 100%
ceramics
Northeast midden
Levels 1, 396 16 2 1 1 3 1 420
1a,1b,2,3
% of total 94.2% 4% 0.5% 0.2% 0.2% 0.7% 0.2% 100%
ceramics
West midden
Levels 302 22 1 2 2 2 1 332
1,2,3,7,8,5a,5b
% of total 91% 6.6% 0.3% 0.6% 0.6% 0.6% 0.3% 100%
ceramics
Gravel refuse level west of Mound D
Sqs 9 & 10 184 13 1 1 5 2 1 207
% of total 88.8% 6.3% 0.5% 0.5% 2.4% 1% 0.5% 100%
ceramics
Subfloor test pit in room 4 of Mound A complex
Sqs 16 & 21 36 2 1 39
% of total 92.3% 5.1% 2.6% 100%
ceramics

of the central room is an atrium that probably once
led to an inset staircase that descended to an open
enclosure or plaza at ground level. The west end of
the mound consists of a large raised platform
reached via a staircase that is 1 to 1.05 m wide and
has sidewalls preserved to a height of 60 to 70 cm,
but no evidence of pilasters (Figure 72). The staircase
rises 80 cm toward the west across an east-west dis-
tance of 1 m.
Within the central room, our excavations discov-
ered square columns (Figures 73 and 74). We
exposed all or part of six examples; and, based on
their symmetrical arrangement, we estimate that the
room once contained eight columns. These
columns were a surprise because free-standing
square columns are not known from other Sechín
Alto Polity settlements. In contrast to the typical
round columns with their core of junco-bound
wood or cane, the columns excavated on this platform
mound are square in shape and formed of stacked
stones with mud mortar and plaster. Individual
square columns measure 64 to 74 cm on a side, but

117
 Table 9. Initial Period artifacts recovered from the Mound C and D complexes, the Northeast and West Middens and the Gravel Refuse Layer at the west edge of Mound D.

Pigment Stone Jet Utilized

Pigment grinding Worked Worked Worked Figurine mortar/ mirror Polishing Hammer- Quartz quartz
Context crusher platform Pigment shell bone wood fragment pestle fragment stone stone crystal flake Misc.
Mound C complex
Central 1 w/ red 1 w/ red 1 shark- 1 1 2 poss 2 1 twined

Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology

room pigment pigment tooth needle- possible crystals textile
pendant possibly polisher w/ use
early
Atrium 1 smooth
slate-
like rectangle
Mound D complex
Central 1 w/ red 3 w/ red 1 3 1 mortar 1 1 1 w/ use 3 1 stone w/
room pigment pigment yellow pointed rim fragment 1 poss 1 frag w/ red pigment
2 frags pigment tools hammer use 1 stone w/
w/ red 1 poss yellow
pigment blue pigment
118

pigment
Atrium 2 red 1 mortar 1 2 crystals 1
pigment fragment fragment w/ use
Northeast Midden
Levels 1a/ surface: 1 1 scallop- 1 cut 1 hand 1 1 4 1 base 13 1 stone

Volume 41, Number 1

2 1possible yellow shell sea lion tool w/ possible fragment possible 8 1 w/ red sphere
crusher pigment scraper bone round torso polishers fragments pigment 1 grinder
w/ red surface: 1 pendant & surface: smoother
pigment 1 red surface: pointed 1 torso surface:
pigment Concho. w/ ends 1 feet 1 ceramic
red 1 face cylinder
pigment 2 face
fragments
West Midden
Levels 3 w/ red 1 w/ red 11 red 1 scallop- 1 24 2 stone w/
2,3,7,8, pigment pigment pigment shell possible 1 flake/ red pigment
5a,5b scraper polisher core ½ incised
1 ceramic
scallop oval spindle
frag whorl
Continued
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

most have dimensions of 64 to 66 cm. They are pre-

1 grinding
Misc.
served to heights of 33 to 55 cm. The square columns

stone w/
battered
ends &
edges
are arranged in two east-west rows of four columns
each, for a total of eight columns within the room
Utilized
quartz (Figure 71). The south edge of the southern row is
flake 2.2 to 2.23 m from the south interior room wall
while the north edge of the northern row is 2.06 m
Quartz

from the north interior room wall. The east end of

crystal

the rows is 1.85 m from the east interior room wall,

and the west end of the rows is 1.62 m east of the
Hammer-

battered
west interior room wall. Spacing between the exca-
stone

both
1 w/

ends

vated square columns ranges from 1.55 to 1.65 m.

The placement of the columns relatively near the
Polishing

north and south sides of the central room leaves a

stone

large open area 7.4 m wide along the room center.

The columns may have served to support roofing,
fragment
mirror

creating verandas along the north and south sides of

Jet

the room; however, their short height of 55 cm or

shorter makes it possible that they may instead have
mortar/
Stone

pestle

functioned as chairs.
Immediately east of the central room is an atrium
bordered by raised wings. Part of the south wing
1 leg pair
fragment
Figurine

was excavated, and its surface is currently 90 cm

1 leg

above the level of the floor of the atrium. The wing

summit is reached via a staircase at least 1.4 m wide
Worked
wood

which has five preserved steps, and pilaster

remnants are present on the second step. The
top and east edge of the staircase have been lost to
Worked
bone

erosion.
The mound summit west of the central room is
covered by a large platform with a floor level about
Worked

fragment
shell

80 cm to 1 m above the central room floor. The

1 Choro

w/ hole

east edge of this platform is formed by the interior

west wall of the central room, and its west edge is
Pigment

formed by the western side wall of the mound. We

cleared portions of both the east and west faces of
Gravel refuse level west of Mound D

the platform and found it to be larger than the

platform
grinding
Pigment

central room, measuring 14.6 m east-west by approxi-

mately 28 m north-south. The location of the stair-
case leading up to this platform is unusual because
Pigment
crusher
Table 9. Continued.

it is not symmetrically centered in the raised rear plat-

form. The south edge of the staircase aligns with the
interior north faces of the southern row of columns,
Squares 9
Context

resulting in a staircase location that is 3.2 m south

& 10

of center. There is no evidence of Initial Period

119
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology Volume 41, Number 1

Figure 71. Plan of Mound D showing the central room containing eight square columns or seats, a western staircase leading up to the
mound summit, a southern staircase within the atrium leading up to the mound summit, and some conical adobes (CA) reused at a later
time to construct a small wall or bench. The excavated area is shaded in blue.

architecture on the platform surface, but we encoun-
tered a single row of cane stubs from an ephemeral
Casma Culture construction during partial clearing
of the summit. The western wall face of the rear plat-
form, also the west face of the entire mound, is
preserved to a height of 1.27 and is not plastered.
This practice of leaving less visible structure wall
faces without finishing plaster is evident elsewhere
at Taukachi-Konkán and other Initial Period
settlements.

Figure 72. View from the east of the west staircase leading up to the mound summit.

120
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán

Figure 73. View from the northwest of the square columns or seats in the central room of Mound D.

Figure 74. View from the north of the square columns or seats in the central room of Mound D. In the back left the southern staircase is
visible.

121
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
When we examine platform Mound D and its
summit architecture from the perspective of what is
typical Sechín Alto Polity architecture, this structure
is clearly unusual. It has a central round-cornered
room that is somewhat square; however, this room
is atypical because its width (north-south dimension)
exceeds its depth (east-west dimension) while ideal
square-room units are usually square or slightly
deeper than they are wide. More importantly, this
central room gives the impression of a square-room
unit from the inside and when viewed from the
front; however; it was not constructed as a free-stand-
ing, modular square-room unit. The north, west, and
south interior walls of this central room are actually
formed by retaining walls that support the raised U-
shaped wings and rear platform while the round-cor-
nered front wall to the east is abutted onto these
retaining walls. The rear staircase to the west is off
center for no apparent reason and there are no pila-
sters within its entrance. Instead, the south side of
this entrance aligns with one of the rows of square
columns which also make Mound D unusual. In con-
trast, in the more public atrium area, the east entrance
is centered; and the staircase rising from the atrium to
the south wing contains evidence of pilasters and pre-
sumed bar closures. It seems that the builders of this
platform mound wanted it to look like a typical inter-
mediate-sized mound when viewed from the front
and from the road, thereby concealing its unconven-
tional central-room construction and the atypical
internal architecture of its square columns and off-
center entrance.
Ceramics, Artifacts, and Subsistence
Remains
Excavations in the hard wall fall and near-floor con-
texts of Mound D yielded 277 sherds, 261 of
which are oxidized brown (Table 8). Of the 32 diag-
nostic sherds encountered, 25 are undecorated Initial
Period rims, mostly neckless olla rims and a few jar
and bowl rims. One Pampa Llamas-type sherd with
gouge decoration came from a near-floor context.
We also recovered one Early Horizon shaped sherd
in the hard wall fall of the atrium. The remaining
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Volume 41, Number 1
six diagnostic ceramics are vessel forms and decorated
sherds pertaining to the Casma Culture.
Special artifacts from the central room include a jet
mirror fragment and a stone mortar rim (Table 9).
We recovered artifacts related to pigment processing
from central-room contexts, including three red
pigment crushers (Figure 64b) and three red
pigment crushing platforms. We also found fragments
of yellow and possible blue pigment along with a
stone stained by yellow pigment. Additional artifacts
from this context include a hammerstone, a possible
hammerstone, three quartz flakes with use, and two
quartz crystals with use evidence. Excavations in the
atrium and its south entrance onto the south wing
yielded a jet mirror fragment, a stone mortar frag-
ment, two fragments of red pigment, two quartz crys-
tals with worn tips, and a single tiny quartz flake with
use wear.
Ceramic data, a cache of Casma Culture objects,
and substantial evidence of Casma Culture stone
removal within the central room of this mound
make subsistence data collected there questionable.
Camelid bones and maize cobs in the sample also
provide direct evidence of Casma Culture impact on
the subsistence inventory.
Testing of Mounds E, F, and G
Four additional platform mounds are present at the
eastern edge of Taukachi-Konkán. One stands in iso-
lation immediately east of the road; and two appear to
be associated as part of a complex of enclosures or
plazas while the fourth, which looks unfinished,
occurs in isolation toward the north. We conducted
small-scale excavations on the summits of three of
these structures (Figure 2e–g).
Mound E
The platform Mound E that we tested at the eastern
end of Taukachi-Konkán covers an area about 33 m
by 28 m and is approximately 6 m tall (Figure 2e).
Construction of this mound appears to be incom-
plete. There is a tier-like zone some 3 m tall around
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
much of the mound that resembles the lower tier of
the Mound A. Creation of this tier was clearly in
process, and it includes an area of excavations down
to the bedrock that underlies much of this platform
mound. The only evidence of construction on the
summit consists of low stone walls, and we opened
small excavations involving three 2×2 m squares
(12 m2) to partially clear two walls. One wall we
cleared is double faced as indicated by a parallel line
of stones on the surface which gives us a wall width
of 1 m. We exposed a corner where the double-
faced wall and a single faced retaining wall come
together. The double-faced west wall ranges in
height from 30 to 40 cm, the north wall ranges in
height from 36 to 40 cm, and both are dry laid.
About 6 m away, we exposed a second low wall
segment, also built of dry-laid stones, that has an
overall height of 38 cm. There are no prepared
floors in either cut, but compacted sediments
forming hard pack are present at the wall bases in
both excavations. In the second excavation, we
encountered bedrock 10 cm below the hard pack,
confirming that much of this platform mound may
be a natural stone outcrop or low hill. Soils removed
during excavation contained abundant organic
material, including ash and plant remains; and this
evidence suggests that these small structures are
small, ephemeral shelters occupied by Casma
Culture people. Even though this platform mound
was under construction during the local Initial
Period occupation, there is no indication of signifi-
cant early use of the mound summit.
Mound F
Mound F, measuring 67 m north-south by 62 m east-
west and 6 m tall, is one of the larger platform
mounds (Figure 2f ). It is located east of the aligned
mounds nearer the east end of Taukachi-Konkán,
and it turned out to be one of the mounds most
affected by Casma Culture reoccupation of the area.
Based on surface evidence, there is a platform
mound, a square plaza and a square raised area con-
taining a sunken circular court in a north-to-south
123
configuration. We actually conducted a small exca-
vation on this mound at the end of our 1994 field
season at Taukachi-Konkán to get some information
about the eastern end of the settlement. The earlier
excavation consisted of five 2 × 2 m squares (20 m2);
and we reopened this earlier excavation in 2015,
expanding it by excavating 12 more 2×2 m squares
(48 m2) toward the west and south. Nevertheless,
we were not able to get a good sense of the overall
configuration of this mound because the total area
covered by the two excavations is relatively small
and the Casma Culture impact is quite extensive.
The 1994 excavation focused on clearing a deep
looters’ pit that extended 1.4 m below the modern
surface. It exposed a well-plastered upper floor
about 45 cm below the current mound surface and
a second, well made and deeply buried floor at a
depth of 1.4 m which we encountered again at a
second nearby location during a probe of a possible
pit in the upper floor. We cleared the upper floor
and about 6.5 m of an associated south wall in
1994, and we expanded the excavation in 2015 to
clear the southeast corner and 6 m of the east wall
of a large round-cornered room that is probably cen-
trally located near the south end of the mound. Also
during the second campaign, we partially cleared a
smaller room to the east, exposing a well-made
upper floor that is 20 cm higher than the central-
room floor and a deeper floor, about 60 cm below
the upper floor. These data plus a small
excavation outside the south wall of the central
room also confirm a central room wall width of 1.6
to 1.7 m; however, the walls of the central room
and the east room are only preserved to a height of
0 to 35 cm.
It is clear from our excavations that two major
periods of Initial Period construction occurred on
the summit of this platform mound. The earlier
phase is known only from the well-made deep floors
in the two rooms; however, we do know that the
earlier floor below the east room is higher than the
earlier central room floor and the earlier construction
has a different overall configuration because the
locations of the walls do not coincide. A thick fill
layer of angular boulders, cobbles, and pebbles
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
covered the earlier floor and raised the level of the
summit to provide a base for the later Initial Period
rooms. These two construction phases exhibit
similar construction techniques and materials, includ-
ing selection of flat stones for wall faces and the use of
fine silty tan plaster on the floors and walls and white
clay-rich paint as the final coating. The resulting final
Initial Period construction phase seems to have con-
sisted of a central round-cornered room, possibly a
square-room unit or atrium, bordered by smaller
slightly elevated rooms thereby replicating a layout
that is common within Sechín Alto Polity architec-
ture. While clearing the upper Initial Period floor,
we encountered the same type of small round circles
(1 to 2.5 cm in diameter) that we had seen on
floors during our more extensive excavations of the
four aligned structures. It seems that the later Initial
Period inhabitants also reoccupied this mound
summit soon after the Sechín Alto Polity collapse
and built temporary cane shelters.
Our excavation profiles show that Casma Culture
people removed most of the wall stones from the
upper Initial Period constructions and also roughly
spread the remaining unused stones and construction
debris across the mound surface to level it for their
use. Levels above the scattered construction debris
contain abundant remains of late ceramics and
organic material, especially camelid dung and maize
stalks which were likely used as fodder. The large
quantity of dung suggests that Casma Culture
people actually kept camelids on the southern one-
third of the mound summit, and the presence of
large posts and postholes suggest a possible corral-
like structure. Farther north, they also constructed
and later dismantled architecture made of rectangular
adobes. South of the possible corral area, we excavated
a low single-faced dry-laid stone wall pertaining to the
Casma Culture, one of several that form open enclo-
sures there. The 6 m long segment that we cleared
ranged in height from 30 to 40 cm with slightly con-
solidated level sand at its base.
The two-phase Initial Period construction docu-
mented on Mound F suggests that this platform was
one of the most intensively occupied at the eastern
end of Taukachi-Konkán. Its prominence is also
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Volume 41, Number 1
reinforced by the associated sunken circular court,
an architectural feature that typically only forms
part of important structures. Nevertheless, we
decided not to conduct extensive excavations there
because the final Initial Period architecture is so
badly damaged and because the penultimate Initial
Period construction phase is so deeply buried that
excavation would have been too labor intensive and
too destructive.
Unfinished Mound G
We excavated a single 2 × 2 m square (4 m2) to a
depth of 85 cm within Mound G, a large flat-
topped mound that measures about 95 m by 81 m
in area and about 8.5 m tall (Figure 2). This is
clearly an incomplete platform mound that was still
under construction when the Initial Period occu-
pation of Taukachi-Konkán ended; however, if it
had been completed, it would have been the largest
platform mound at the east end of the settlement.
Our pit there cut through fill consisting of slightly
consolidated lenses of weathered gravel, small
pebbles and cobbles, and coarse sand—all materials
that cover much of the local surface. The excavation
yielded only a small amount of nondiagnostic cultural
material near the modern surface. There is no evi-
dence of mound facings or summit architecture,
and our excavation confirmed that this mound is an
unfinished artificial construction.
Midden Excavations and Other
Reliable Initial Period Contexts
At Taukachi-Konkán, relatively thin zones of sparse
Initial Period midden and dispersed residential archi-
tecture cover the pampa to the north of the aligned
architecture and platform mounds, and an additional
area of undisturbed midden is present beneath the
western part of Mound B. We selected an area of
the Northeast Midden located near the northeast
edge of the settlement for controlled stratigraphic
excavation (Figure 2) because it is near a small resi-
dential structure and appears slightly mounded.
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
During clearing of the west bench of Mound B, we
discovered and excavated the West Midden, a
second area of intact early midden (Figure 2) that
underlies the hard pack immediately west of the
bench. This midden clearly predates the bench and
probably extends beneath and predates all or part of
platform Mound B and the western architectural
complex associated with Mound A. We also discov-
ered three Initial Period burials within this West
Midden. An additional small sample of ceramics, arti-
facts, and subsistence remains with reliable proveni-
ence came from a 30 cm thick band of refuse that
accumulated against the west wall of Mound D
while the mound was still in use. Lastly, the small
test excavation between two floors in Room 4 of the
Mound A complex yielded ceramics and a small
amount of shell from a reliable, sealed Initial Period
fill context.
We excavated both midden zones by natural levels
in 1×1 m units which we excavated to sterile soil
(Figure 75). We passed all material through 1/4
inch mesh screen, and then passed a 25 by 25 cm
square sample of each level through finer #10 and
#25 mesh geological soil screens to recover smaller
remains. We collected midden soil in calibrated
buckets, enabling us to record the total excavated
volume of each level. Before and after profiles as
well as plans that record the distribution of each
level across each square allowed us to track the
extent of each level among the excavated squares
such that, for example, level 2 in square 1 would
coincide with level 2 in square 6.
Northeast Midden
Initially we opened a 1 × 2 m test excavation to expose
the Northeast Midden strata for profiling. Working
off this exposed face, we excavated six one-meter-
square units in this midden zone. Three cultural
levels could be distinguished within the excavated
midden, and most of the cultural material came
from the second level, distinguishable in the profile
as a zone of ashy refuse. We excavated this midden
in 2015, and we planned to expand our excavations
125
there during the following field season. However,
when we returned in 2016, this midden zone had
been plowed; and much of the pampa to the north
and east was under active cultivation (Figure 2). In
an attempt to make the most of this bad situation,
we made a surface collection of artifacts exposed on
the plowed midden surface.
West Midden
Excavation in the second midden zone started with a
pit measuring 80 cm by 1.2 m in area that was exca-
vated below the hard pack adjacent to the west edge of
the bench west of Mound B in order to expose the
West Midden strata (Figure 75). Working out
toward the north, west, and south from this initial
test pit, we excavated a total of 11 1 × 1 m squares.
The stratigraphy is more complicated here, largely
due to the presence of a small hearth, resulting in
the definition of eight cultural levels. We recovered
most of the cultural material from ash- and refuse-
rich levels 2, 3, 5 and 8 within this excavation.
Subsistence Data, Ceramics, and Artifacts
Recovered from Midden Excavations
In keeping with our assessment of the eastern part of
Taukachi-Konkán as a settlement with a relatively
short occupation, residential architecture there is scat-
tered, midden zones are shallow, and cultural remains
within the midden are sparse. As a result and despite
our efforts to excavate ample areas, the sample of plant
and animal remains recovered is not sufficient for a
meaningful statistical assessment of different species’
contribution to the overall diet. We can, however,
discuss the variety of species encountered, make
observations about abundant species, and assess the
Taukachi-Konkán sample as compared to more
general Sechín Alto Polity subsistence data.
Molluscs are most frequently represented in both
midden excavations, especially the mussels
Perumytilus purpuratus, Aulocomya atra, and
Semimytilus algosus. We recovered significant, but
lesser amounts of Choromytilus chorus; however, this
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Figure 75. View from the west of the excavation of the West Midden adjacent to Mound B.
purple mussel is an important marker for early sites
because it was common during Preceramic and
Initial Period times but decreased through time and
is extinct in the area today. Other molluscan species
common to rocky habitats that occur in moderate
to small amounts include slipper shells, two types of
chiton (Acanthopleura echinata and Enoplochiton
niger), and various limpets (Fissurella crassa,
Fissurella maxima, Fissurella pulchra, and Fissurella
sp.). Gastropods (Tegula atra and Thaisella chocolata)
are present, but rare; and the few examples of limpet-
like Lottia sp. were probably accidentally brought in
attached to the larger limpets. Barnacles
(Megabalanus tintinnabulum) likely also arrived
attached to molluscan shells. Molluscs from sandy
habitats include clams (Leukoma thaca, Mesodesma
donacium, Donax obesulus, Tagelus dombii, Semele cor-
rugata, and Eurhomalea rufa) and cockles
(Trachycardium procerum), scallops (Argopecten pur-
puratus), and margin snails (Prunum curtum).
Moderate amounts of sea urchin (Tetrapygus niger)
are present; crab remains (Platyxanthus orbignyi) are
rare; and Scutalus sp., the land snail, occurs in small
amounts. All of these species are well-documented
at other Sechín Alto Polity settlements especially the
large mussels, clams, and scallops. They were prob-
ably collected at locations such as Puerto Casma,
Tortugas Bay, and Huaynuná Bay where rocky and
sandy habitats are juxtaposed. All three of these
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Volume 41, Number 1
coastal locations have Sechín Alto Polity Initial
Period settlements.
The Initial Period inhabitants of Taukachi-Konkán
often reused scallop shells as simple scraping tools
(Table 9). The Northeast midden yielded a scallop-
shell scraper as well as a scallop-shell pendant, and
we found a scallop-shell tool within the West
Midden (Figure 65b). A chanque (Concholepas concho-
lepas) shell with red pigment on its interior, possibly
used as a paint receptacle, came from the plowed
surface of the Northeast Midden. The ancient inhabi-
tants probably collected margin snails (Prunum
curtum) to make beads or bangles rather than for
food.
We see considerable difference between the two
midden excavations with respect to the amount and
variety of vertebrate species. Very little bone, repre-
senting few species, came from the West Midden.
Only three species of fish are identified as coming
from there. We recovered several hundred vertebrae
from anchovy and a few from sardines during fine
screening, and croaker is represented in the macro
remains. In contrast, 10 species of fish as well as sea
lion (Otaria sp.) and deer came from the Northeast
Midden. Fine screening of only 1/16 of the total
midden volume excavated yielded over 2000 vertebrae
from anchovy as well as some vertebrae from sardines,
attesting to the importance of small fish in the diet.
Anchovy and sardines are also represented in the
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
macro remains along with jack mackerel, palm ruff,
croaker, stardrum (Stellifer minor), drum (Cynoscion
sp. and Sciaena deliciosa), grunt, and bonito. Most
of these fish species inhabit inshore waters, and
several favor soft or sandy bottoms. Grunts occur in
schools near rocky habitats, and anchovy and sardines
also form large schools. Thus, eight of the 10 species
are easily captured near shore with hooks or nets;
however, jack mackerel and bonito are off-shore
species that would have been fished from watercraft.
The only food plant recovered from the West
Midden is lúcuma; the northeast midden yielded a
much greater variety of plant species. These include
lúcuma as well as common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris),
squash (Cucurbita moschata), potatoes (Solanum
tuberosum), peanuts (Arachis sp.), algarroba, and the
industrial plants cotton, gourd, and junco.
The ceramic collections from all three secure
midden deposits provide us with some of the most
reliable evidence of ceramics actually produced and
used by the original Initial Period inhabitants of
Taukachi-Konkán. In the Northeast Midden, we
recovered 420 sherds, 410 of which are fired an oxi-
dized brown color (Table 8). Most are undecorated
body sherds, but we did find 16 neckless olla rims,
two jar rims, one bowl rim, and one bottle rim.
Three additional sherds, including one rim, are deco-
rated with Pampa Llamas-type gouges (Figure 28(a,
b)). Near the surface we also found one fragment of
an Early Horizon panpipe.
From the West Midden we recovered 332 sherds,
229 of which are oxidized brown (Table 8). The
vast majority are undecorated body sherds; however,
we did find 22 neckless olla rims, one jar rim, and
two bowl rims as well as two sherds with Pampa
Llamas-type gouges (Figure 29d) and two sherds
with wide incisions also typical of the Initial Period
(Figure 57a,b). Near the surface of the midden we
encountered one intrusive press-molded sherd per-
taining to the late Casma Culture.
In the gravel layer near the base of Mound D we
found 207 sherds, 206 of which are fired an oxidized
brown color (Table 8). Most of these are undecorated
body sherds, but 23 are diagnostic Initial Period
sherds. These include 13 neckless olla rims, one jar
127
rim, one bowl rim, and five bottle neck fragments.
We also recovered three decorated sherds: two with
Pampa Llamas-type gouges (Figure 29c,e) and one
with wide incision. In the test excavation beneath
the floor of Room 4 of the Mound A complex, we
found 39 Initial period sherds, including two neckless
olla rims and one jar rim.
There are both similarities and differences among
the midden deposits with respect to artifacts recovered
(Table 9). Both the Northeast Midden and the West
Midden yielded tiny quartz flakes with evidence of
use. Twenty-four examples came from the West
Midden and 14 came from the Northeast Midden.
However, the Northeast Midden also yielded nine
crystal fragments which showed breakage or worn
points from use. Both contexts also yielded colored
pigment and stones with red pigment, but most
came from the West Midden. We recovered only
one fragment of red pigment, a fragment of yellow
pigment, and a possible red pigment pounding
stone from the Northeast Midden while the West
Midden yielded 11 fragments of red pigment, three
red pigment pounders, and one platform upon
which red pigment was pounded. In contrast, the
Northeast Midden yielded four possible polishing
stones and a cobble used for smoothing or grinding
while only one possible polisher came from the
West Midden. The only unique item from the West
Midden is a broken ceramic spindle whorl.
Numerous artifact types are unique to the
Northeast Midden, including a jet mirror fragment,
a small pointed wooden hand tool, a cut and
shaped sea lion bone, a stone sphere possibly used
for gaming (Figure 34a), and five figurine fragments.
The gravel refuse level against Mound D also con-
tained two figurine fragments, a hammerstone, and
a repurposed grinding stone with battered ends.
Initial Period Cemetery
Intact Initial Period burials are only rarely encoun-
tered, but they are known from varied contexts. At
Sechín Alto Polity settlements, they have been
found under residential architecture, within
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
abandoned structures, and within midden; and they
are typically isolated burials. This makes our discovery
of three early burials in close proximity within the
West Midden unusual because it suggests the exist-
ence of a more formal cemetery. We found all three
of the burials below the level of the hard pack, and
examination of two of the burial pits in profile
revealed that the excavators cut them into the Initial
Period midden while it was forming because the
uppermost midden level is intact and overlies the
burial pits. The upper parts of the third burial were
disturbed, possibly by later looting.
Initial Period Burials
Burial 1 contained a young child who was buried 25
to 30 cm below the surface. Its body position was face
down with the skull generally toward the northwest
and the face turned toward the west. The vertebrae
of the back were along the top while the arms and
legs were folded under the torso and pelvis in a fetal
position. The stage of dental eruption, combined
with long bone measurements and assessment of epi-
physeal fusion, suggest the child’s age at death was
about one year. Remains of decayed textile wrapping
surrounded the body as a brown stain, and a flat stone
was deliberately placed next to the front of the skull.
Burial 2 is an adult female who is buried generally
face down some 69 cm below the hard pack “floor”
adjacent to the west bench face. The head is
pointed toward the southwest, and the skull is
turned to face north. The right humerus is the only
arm bone visible because the other arm bones are
beneath the body. The pelvis and lumbar vertebra
area is twisted, revealing the flexed right leg. The
left leg is hidden beneath the pelvic area except for
some metatarsals and phalanges in the area of the
pelvis and sacrum, indicating the left leg is also
tightly bent. The lower legs and feet of the skeleton
are not visible because they extend underneath the
west bench of Mound B. We determined gender
based on pelvic sciatic notch width plus examination
of the mastoid process and orbital ridges, and evi-
dence of fused long bones indicates the individual is
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Volume 41, Number 1
adult. A brown stain indicative of decayed textile sur-
rounds the body, and there are fragile remnants of
plain weave cotton textile on the left humerus and
left leg bones. The individual’s head is deliberately
resting on a dark angular stone. The skeleton also
exhibits rather sharp bending of the neck and legs,
and this may have happened when the wrapped
body was adjusted to fit the excavated cavity in the
midden. Because part of the skeleton extended
under Initial Period architecture, we left these burial
remains in situ.
Burial 3 is an incomplete skeleton of an arthritic
adult female who was buried on her right side with
both legs flexed against the body. The skull, scapulae,
clavicles, and humeri are all missing, possibly due to
later looting in the area. Based on the general position
of the body and the orientation of the vertebral
column, we determined that the head was generally
oriented in a southwest direction. The lower left
arm lay against the left side of the body, and the
lower right arm lay below the right leg with the
palm of the hand extending upwards with the
fingers toward the head area. We determined that
the individual was a female based on assessment of
the sciatic notch and the shape of the pelvis. All the
long bones present are fused, and there is severe
arthritic lipping on the lumbar vertebrae, indicating
a mature individual over 40 years of age. Traces of
fabric on the legs and pelvis document the presence
of textile wrappings.
Despite the small sample of only three individual
burials described here, it is possible to make some
generalizations about Initial Period burial practices.
All three burials were flexed, and the two adult
females had their heads oriented toward the south-
west. All the individuals were wrapped in textiles
prior to interment; and, in the two intact examples,
the skulls were resting on or near large stones. More
generally, the location of the burials suggests that
interment within midden zones was considered
appropriate if not preferable during the Initial
Period. Furthermore, the fact that the Initial Period
people constructed the west bench of Mound B
over the midden zone, including one burial, suggests
that even a locus of multiple burials was not
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
considered special or sacred and/or that these inter-
ments occurred well before construction of the
frieze-court mound, too long before to still be part
of the early inhabitants’ collective memory.
Discussion
Discussion of the results of our excavations in the
eastern sector of Taukachi-Konkán focuses on three
major themes. First, we describe our radiocarbon
dates and use them along with relative dating evidence
to reconstruct a chronology for developments within
the eastern sector in order to provide a backdrop for
further discussion. A second section is devoted to
addressing objectives relating to mound function,
relationships among the aligned mound complexes,
and the role of intermediate-sized architectural units
within Taukachi-Konkán and more generally within
the Sechín Alto Polity. Finally, we look outside the
Casma Valley to assess similarities and differences
among Sechín Alto Polity settlements, especially
Taukachi-Konkán, and other contemporary settle-
ments along the Peruvian coast with respect to archi-
tecture, ceramics, artifacts, and burial practices.
Chronology of the East End of Taukachi-
Konkán
Examination of the nine radiocarbon dates derived
from samples recovered from our excavations within
the mound complexes of the east end of Taukachi-
Konkán (Table 1) shows that the time span for the
entire Initial Period occupation was only 100–150
years, from 1500–1350 cal B.C. This short time
range contrasts with the expanded date range from
the western end of the settlement where occupation
started before 1600 cal B.C. and lasted past 1300
cal B.C. (Pozorski et al. 2017: 544).
These newly acquired dates coincide well with the
relative chronology. Two of the earliest dates come
from the West Midden which is part of a domestic
occupation midden that underlies both of the
Mound A and Mound B complexes. Shortly after
this occupation, the ancient inhabitants constructed
129
the Mound A-D complexes, leaving space for the
road leading into the settlement from the north. Six
tightly clustered dates from the 15th century cal
B.C. come from contexts associated with the
primary construction of the Mound A and Mound
B complexes. Included in this construction activity
is some remodeling of the western architectural
complex of Mound A.
The latest date of about 1350 cal B.C. comes from
a sample from the round hearth located in the original
west room of the north wing of the frieze court of
Mound B. The original inhabitants built this hearth
and several solid stone platforms as construction
phase one of the remodeling of the north wing.
This construction also involved the sealing of both
entrances of the central room of the north wing and
likely the sealing of the northwest entrance of the
frieze court and the south entrance of Room 6 in
the Mound A complex. It appears that the original
occupants of Taukachi-Konkán were in the process
of abandoning the settlement as the Sechín Alto
Polity collapsed due to internal conflict (Pozorski
and Pozorski 2005). This abandonment is also docu-
mented by the unfinished nature of Mounds E and
G.
Shortly after the abandonment of Taukachi-
Konkán, new coastal people who produced Las
Haldas type pottery briefly moved into the Casma
Valley and occupied a few Sechín Alto Polity settle-
ments (Pozorski and Pozorski 2006). They occupied
Taukachi-Konkán and carried out the phase two
remodeling of the north wing of the frieze court of
Mound B. They partially dismantled phase one plat-
forms and built rustic stone rooms in the north wing
of the frieze court. In addition they occupied the
frieze court, the south wing of Mound B, and
Room 13 of Mound A by hastily constructing thin-
walled structures made of cane that left shallow
small impressions in the floors of these buildings.
These new occupants left very few cultural remains
behind, an indication that this reoccupation was
very short-lived.
Several hundred years passed before another set of
people moved into Taukachi-Konkán during the
Early Horizon around 500 B.C. This Early Horizon
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
reoccupation is represented by a few intrusive cer-
amics of the time period found scattered in various
locations of our excavations. A more intensive reoccu-
pation of Taukachi-Konkán occurred around A.D.
1000 when Casma Culture people came and severely
impacted the site, repurposing much of the earlier
architecture for their own constructions.
Assessing Mound Function and the Role of
Intermediate Architecture
The Mound A complex was probably one of the first
monumental structures completed at the east end of
Taukachi-Konkán, and architectural details revealed
through our excavations there make it possible to
document its construction sequence. The inhabitants
of Taukachi-Konkán built the central Mound A
complex first, and it initially stood on a basal platform
that extended west, and presumably east to the line of
the subfloor wall face in Rooms 4, 6, and 8. Within a
relatively short time, the builders expanded the basal
platform to the west and east, and they constructed
the lateral architectural complexes. Room 7 and the
Room 1–2–3 complex, both with square-room-unit
components, were the first structures built within
the western complex—a testament to their planned
importance. Subsequently, the builders enclosed the
space between them by walls on the west and east
that created the “negative room,” Room 5, the
largest room and the central plaza of the complex.
Then the Initial Period people completed the
western architectural complex and connected it to
Mound A through the construction of abutting
cross walls that created Rooms 4, 6, and 8. We
must also keep in mind that the excavated architecture
discussed here had a corresponding mirror counter-
part on the eastern flank of Mound A. The resultant
Mound A complex is one of the most imposing build-
ings in the area because of its height and prominent
location; and its importance is further enhanced by
its central square-room unit, the presence of
columns, and the magnitude and complexity of sur-
rounding architecture that adjoins it on the east,
south, and west.
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Volume 41, Number 1
In contrast to our initial expectations, our exca-
vations revealed that the entire Mound A complex is
oriented toward the settlement center, including the
flanking architecture which we thought might open
toward the road. Nevertheless, Mound A stands at
the crucial corner junction where the road enters
the vast central plaza of Taukachi-Konkán. To get
to the central plaza a visitor must pass by Mound A
and around the monumental plaza and circular
court to the south. Therefore, despite its orientation,
it seems likely that Mound A was nevertheless
involved with road traffic. Its height gives it a
vantage point for monitoring traffic both into the
settlement center and into the aligned complexes
along the road, especially the Mound B frieze
complex immediately to the north. Mound A may
have played an active role by receiving important visi-
tors while giving and taking tribute. The niches in the
central square-room unit and a higher frequency of
neckless ollas argue for localized storage, and the
presence of rodent bones within the room provides
evidence of both pests and comestibles they hoped
to consume. Evidence of rodent bones in excavated
rooms on the lower tier suggests that the users also
stored food there. Any activities on the lower tier
were kept separate from those in the adjacent archi-
tecture to the west and east of Mound A because
access to the lower tier can only be gained by way
of the central staircase on the south side of the tall
Mound A.
The pair of structures that flank Mound A on the
east and west contain architectural units that appear
designed to receive visitors. Their mirror-image sym-
metry may simply reflect adherence to Sechín Alto
Polity tenets that emphasize symmetry and/or this
duality may have deeper cultural significance such as
reflecting internal social or functional groupings or
divisions. The stand-alone square-room units that
comprise the southwest and southeast corner rooms
are very large, open, and accessible, with only a
single entrance to restrict access. These may have
served to simply welcome lower-status visitors. In
contrast, the open plaza-like area represented by
Room 5 and the tripartite structure with the Room
2 square-room-unit variant at its center are
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
increasingly more protected by restricted entrances.
Both these rooms contain large hearths of the type
used for food preparation, suggesting that feasting
was involved in interactions with more exclusive
strata of visitors who were allowed access farther
into the structure. In this scenario, the smaller
Room 2 and its complex would have been accessible
only to the most exclusive group. Rooms 3 and 4,
the two rooms with dozens of circles on their floors,
are also among the least accessible areas within the
complex; and this inaccessibility is a key characteristic
they have in common. At first glance the rooms
appear very different because Room 3 forms part of
a tripartite structure that resembles intermediate-
sized mounds at many Sechín Alto Polity settlements
while Room 4 appears isolated. Nevertheless, the two
rooms share two important traits: both are remote and
relatively inaccessible, and both have intriguing pat-
terns of circles on their floors. Despite the close phys-
ical proximity of the two rooms, examination of traffic
patterns reveals that they are actually distant from each
other in terms of access. Recognition of this “access
distance” is made even more meaningful by the
shared wall between the rooms which would have
been at least 3.5 m high, thereby precluding over-
the-wall interaction. We are still puzzling over the
meaning of the circles; however, these observations
regarding access have led us to conclude that the
floor circles were important to two segments of the
population within the west architecture who chose
to create them in remote locations.
In keeping with the short duration of the occu-
pation and the tendency for Initial Period formal
architecture to be clean, we recovered relatively few
artifacts during our excavations of the Mound A
complex. Nevertheless, we can reliably connect arti-
facts such as measuring sticks, fragments of
pigment, and pigment processing tools with the con-
struction and maintenance of the architectural
complex as a whole. Red pigment may have had
additional uses such as body paint. Smaller tools,
including scallop-shell scrapers, utilized quartz
flakes, and wooden hand tools may relate to food
preparation and feasting. Greater quantities of food
remains in Rooms 2 and 5 support our interpretation
131
that food preparation, possibly related to large-scale
feasting, took place within their hearths. More gener-
ally, the whole jet mirror, resin fragment, and antler
tool may represent special possessions of high-status
users of the complex.
The Mound B complex immediately to the north
can be more easily interpreted as a ritual or religious
structure. We have already discussed our more specific
interpretations of the frieze iconography and its sym-
bolism as a cosmological model and/or locus of
trance-induced transformation. More broadly, we
would interpret the structure as a sacred place and
probable pilgrimage destination given its strategic
location along a major road. It would have served
the population of Taukachi-Konkán as well as outsi-
ders who reached it from the road. Access by visitors
involved descending the single staircase with pilasters
and a presumed bar closure into the sunken room.
Visitors may have brought food or other offerings.
Even though the frieze court is a relatively large
square-room unit, access was probably restricted to
relatively few people at a time so that visitors could
see all the friezes and experience their full impact. It
is also possible that inherent in the right to enter
the frieze court was the ability to interpret and under-
stand the frieze symbolism. In other words, the ability
to fully appreciate the meaning of the friezes conveyed
a certain status upon a select group of people and qua-
lified them to actually enter the frieze
court. T. Pozorski (1980, 1982) proposed a similar
basis for increasingly exclusive access for the Initial
Period settlement of Huaca de los Reyes in the
Moche Valley where increasingly smaller plazas con-
tained increasingly complicated iconography. Once
visitors were actually inside the Mound B frieze
court, their experience was likely enhanced and
made even more awe inspiring by religious prac-
titioners who used the hidden staircase within the cor-
ridor at the east edge of the mound to appear
suddenly on the mound summit. Many pilgrims to
Taukachi-Konkán may never have entered the frieze
court, but instead were only able to stand in the
open plaza on the east and view practitioners perform-
ing rituals on the mound top. The wing rooms to the
north and south may have served as staging areas for
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
mound-top ritual and pageantry because the corridor
and hidden staircase are readily accessible from either
wing. Religious practitioners could have reached the
mound summit from either wing without being seen.
Artifacts recovered from the frieze Mound B
complex that may relate to its ritual function
include olive-shell bangles for sound, fragments of
stone mortars and a pestle for compounding special
substances, and bird-bone tubes as possible snuff-
related paraphernalia. Pigments and pigment proces-
sing tools would have provided pigment for wall
paint, body paint, and possibly other ritual purposes.
Measuring sticks are clearly related to construction of
the complex, and other small tools such as polishers
and utilized flakes could have been used during prep-
arations for rituals or other activities. Special artifacts
including the turquoise bead, carved sodalite animal,
and bone pendants were likely personal possessions of
practitioners or visitors or perhaps offerings. The
abundance of neckless olla rims probably reflects the
use of ollas as containers for food, food offerings or
ritual paraphernalia associated with ceremonies
carried out in the frieze court.
Mound C very closely resembles the intermediate-
sized platform mounds with niches known from
several Sechín Alto Polity settlements, including
Taukachi-Konkán where numerous other examples
are aligned along the central plaza. At Pampa de las
Llamas-Moxeke, some complexes like this are also
oriented toward roads rather than toward the settle-
ment center (Pozorski and Pozorski 1994). Like the
Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke examples, this Mound
C complex is interpreted as administrative because it
probably functioned to help monitor traffic traveling
into and out of Taukachi-Konkán via the road that
it faces. Rodent bones from room and niche contexts
suggest that users of the complex once stored food-
stuffs there; and these comestibles may represent
tribute or gifts connected with use of the adjacent
road and more specifically with access to the frieze
court complex. The presence of a twined textile,
likely a valuable commodity, suggests that textiles
may also have been stored in the niches. The few arti-
facts recovered include tools for processing pigment
that could be used as body paint and/or for
132
Volume 41, Number 1
architectural decoration. Other tools such as the
wooden needle, stone polisher, and quartz cutting
tools probably reflect day-to-day activities.
Mound D is the most northern of the three mound
complexes oriented toward the road. With respect to
its architecture, it is also the most unusual mound
excavated. Its center is formed by a false square-
room unit that looks authentic when the mound is
viewed from the front, but actually consists of three
retaining walls on the north, west, and south and an
abutted curved wall on the east. Perhaps less care
was taken with the construction of this mound
complex because it was built last in the sequence of
roadside structures at a time when decline of the
Sechín Alto Polity may have already begun. Other
unusual features include the off-center rear entrance
in the west wall and especially the eight square
columns. The columns may have supported verandas
on either side of the central room or they may have
served as seats given that there is relatively little associ-
ated wall fall to indicate a much higher original
height. The spatial arrangement of the columns
leaves a large open space in the center of the main
room that may have been dedicated to pageantry,
ritual, or some similar activity that could be viewed
by an audience under the verandas or on the seats
on either side. To the west, the rear of the mound
occupies an open space larger than the central room
that is raised well above its floor. Like the similar
raised platform Mound B associated with the frieze
court, the raised area at the west end of Mound D
may have been used for public entertainments,
pageantry or rituals. In this scenario, the open space
at the mound center could have accommodated
standing crowds instead of being a locus for events.
The artifact inventory of Mound D is dominated by
pigment and pigment processing tools. In fact, a
greater variety of pigment colors, including red,
yellow, and possibly blue, is present, a possible indi-
cator that multicolored body paint was important in
local ceremonies. Notably absent is the white
pigment commonly used for walls, and there is no
evidence for in situ wall paint here. Mortar fragments
may reflect compounding of special ingredients used
in public events. Other tools such as hammers,
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
quartz flakes, and quartz crystals could also be used
in events or their preparation, while the jet mirror
fragments suggest that jet mirrors were personal
possessions of people who used the mound. These
data suggest that Mound D housed activities
oriented toward visitors to Taukachi-Konkán and
served as a place for welcoming, entertaining, and/
or orienting pilgrims and other visitors coming from
the north.
The four aligned mounds at Taukachi-Konkán
show great variety with respect to their functions,
and this tells us much about how such intermedi-
ate-sized architectural complexes functioned more
generally within this settlement and within the
Sechín Alto Polity. This study also made us more
aware of how architectural tenets of the overarching
polity, especially access restrictions and the square-
room-unit architectural form, intersect with ideas
about function. We have previously argued that the
largest platform mounds within Sechín Alto Polity
settlements, including Moxeke mound and Huaca
A at Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke, the main
mound at Sechín Alto site, and the Mound of the
Columns at Taukachi-Konkán, functioned respect-
ively as a temple, storage structure, administrative
structure, and royal residence. Taking this interpret-
ation further, we suggested that a possible reason for
the internal cohesion of the Sechín Alto Polity as evi-
denced by coincidence among the orientation, layout,
architecture, and artifacts at polity settlements as well
as its endurance may be attributable to the fact that
major structures at the component sites served comp-
lementary functions (Pozorski and Pozorski 1999,
2000; T. Pozorski and S. Pozorski 2012).
The aligned mound complexes at Taukachi-
Konkán give us a chance to examine similar func-
tional differences at the level of intermediate-sized
architecture. As was the case for the largest platform
mounds, the intermediate-sized mound complexes
served different functions. Their functions run the
gamut from the most “secular” example represented
by the Mound A complex overseeing road traffic
entering the site to the overtly “religious” Mound
B complex and its sunken court, with Mound com-
plexes C and D on a continuum in between. We
133
are not proposing that any of the aligned structures
are exclusively secular or religious, but rather, we
are pointing out that there are significant differ-
ences in function among the mound complexes.
When we looked at how the use of two established
architectural tenets of the Sechín Alto Polity—
access restriction and the square-room-unit—cross-
cut ideas about structure function, we came to
better understand the polity in general. For
example, increasingly restricted access signals exclu-
sivity and/or status differences, not function.
Similarly, presence of the modular square-room-
unit architectural form conveys only that the con-
tents are important, not that they are secular or
religious. Understanding this critical distinction
between contents and container has enabled us to
better understand how the variables of polity
power and structure function articulated within
Sechín Alto Polity architecture.
Interaction Outside of the Casma Valley
The varied architecture and artifact inventory of
Taukachi-Konkán has parallels at other contemporary
settlements along the Peruvian coast, probably reflect-
ing communication or contact among various Initial
Period settlements and polities. Tall mounds with a
U-shaped configuration are common at settlements
in coastal valleys from Jequetepeque to Lurín
(Pozorski 1980, 1982; Ravines 1985; Williams
1985), and sunken circular courts are also widespread
within the same span of coastal valleys (Burger 1992:
75–90; Pozorski and Pozorski 1987: 16–36; Ravines
1985).
More specialized architectural features typical of
Sechín Alto Polity settlements are less commonly
replicated. An apparent square-room unit, The Hall
of the Niches, is present within the Caballo Muerto
Complex in the Moche Valley (Pozorski 1976b:
Figure 7). Within the same complex there are also
round-cornered rooms at Huaca La Cruz, Huaca
Cortada and Huaca Herederos Chica (Chauchat
et al. 2006; Nesbitt et al. 2010: 276–277; Pozorski
1976b: Figure 10). In the Chao Valley, the main
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
mound at site of Tizal has round corners (Huapaya
Manco 1977–1978: Lámina II). In the
Jequetepeque Valley, there are two settlements con-
taining buildings with rounded exterior corners
(Ravines 1985: 218–221; Shibata 2004: 87–88).
These coincident occurrences of key Sechín Alto
Polity architectural elements outside the Casma
Valley probably reflect communication and shared
ideas; however, none of the examples suggests that
the square-room-unit architectural form or its variants
as used outside the Casma Valley had the intrinsic
importance afforded it within the Sechín Alto Polity.
We believe that the square design on the stomach
flaps of the sea lions at Taukachi-Konkán is an icono-
graphic representation of the square-room-unit archi-
tectural form (Pozorski and Pozorski 2011). This
design is a common image within Sechín Alto
Polity iconography. We first recognized it within a
frieze on Huaca A at the settlement of Pampa de las
Llamas-Moxeke, the largest Sechín Alto Polity settle-
ment within the southern branch of the Casma
Valley. We interpreted the frieze there as depicting
immense felines that face each other across one of
the main entrances allowing access to the mound
summit. Flanking the entrance and in front of the
felines are representations of rounded designs with
four rectangles attached to their edges (Pozorski and
Pozorski 1986, 1994). As we became aware of more
examples, we were able to argue that this design is a
symbol of power, a tangible symbol in Sechín Alto
Polity iconography representing the square-room
unit with its niches as an architectural form and by
extension the administrative authority behind it
(Pozorski and Pozorski 2011). Additional examples
of the “power symbol” also occur at the Sechín Alto
Complex settlements of Cerro Sechín on the clubs
or staffs of most warrior figures (Samaniego and
Cárdenas 1995: Fichas 4, 39, 76, 87, 111, 124,
137, 150, 163, 175, 196, 261, 279, 293, and 303;
Tello 1956: 146–228) and Sechín Bajo as part of
the Initial Period graffiti (Fuchs and Patzschke
2015: Figure 46; Fuchs et al. 2006: Figure 13).
Especially enlightening is a stone mortar fragment
from the Casma Valley with a split image pairing a
power symbol with one half of a face resembling
134
Volume 41, Number 1
both the Cerro Sechín warrior faces and the green
face on the facade of the Moxeke mound (Bischof
2008: Figure 4.20c; León 1995: Figures 2 and 4;
Pozorski and Pozorski 2016: Figure 5.11C; Tello
1956: Figure 31).
Friezes are frequently present on Initial Period
monumental architecture, once again reflecting inter-
action among coastal groups; and these represen-
tations are known from the Lambayeque Valley in
the north to the Lurín Valley in the south (Alva
Meneses 2015; Burger and Salazar-Burger 1991).
Occasionally some wall decoration was done as
mural paintings or stone carvings, both of which are
present at Cerro Sechín in the Casma Valley
(Samaniego and Cárdenas 1995; Tello 1956).
Iconographic content varies widely as does frieze
context within the architecture. In the case of
Moxeke within the Casma Valley and Huaca de los
Reyes in the Moche Valley large anthropomorphic
figures overlook sizable plazas from which they
would have been visible to crowds (Pozorski 1980,
1982; Tello 1956: 60–64, Láminas IVG and V). At
Cardal in the Lurín Valley, a huge mouth with
teeth was also clearly visible from the adjacent large
plaza (Burger and Salazar-Burger 1991) Other rep-
resentations are recessed, but still relatively public,
as is the case for the friezes within the atria on
Huaca A at Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke (Pozorski
and Pozorski 1986, 1993, 2011) and within the
atrium associated with the principal mound at
Sechín Bajo (Fuchs et al. 2009), both within the
Casma Valley. More exclusive contexts are reflected
by the frieze court of Mound B at Taukachi-
Konkán, by the interior courts at Huaca de los
Reyes in the Moche Valley (Pozorski 1980, 1982),
and by the small atria at Garagay in the Rimac
Valley (Ravines 1984; Ravines and Isbell 1976). In
all three cases we find a self-contained assemblage of
relatively complicated images to which access was
clearly restricted. Despite differences in content, it
seems likely that access to all three spaces was con-
ditional upon the visitors’ ability to interpret and
appreciate the images.
Variation in frieze iconography from valley to valley
along the Peruvian coast would seem to reflect efforts
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
by local groups to customize content. Arachnid
images are depicted on the walls of the atrium of
Pyramid B at Garagay in the Rimac Valley (Ravines
1984; Ravines and Isbell 1976) as well as at the settle-
ment of Collud-Zarpán in the Lambayeque Valley
(Alva Meneses 2015). Anthropomorphic images are
more common, present at Huaca de los Reyes
(Pozorski 1976a, 1980, 1982), at Sechín Bajo
(Fuchs et al. 2009), Pyramid A at Garagay (Ravines
1984), at Moxeke within the site of Pampa de las
Llamas-Moxeke (Tello 1956: 60–64, Láminas IVG
and V), and as carved stone images on the latest
facade at Cerro Sechín (Samaniego and Cárdenas
1995; Tello 1956). An image with both anthropo-
morphic and zoomorphic traits is present at San
Juanito in the Santa Valley (Chapdelaine and
Pimentel 2008: 249). Felines are frequently rep-
resented, as evidenced by the grimacing heads and
profile jaguars at Huaca de los Reyes (Pozorski
1980, 1982) and they seem especially prominent in
the Casma and Nepeña Valleys where they occur at
Punkurí (Bischof 2015; Museo de Arqueología y
Antropología de San Marcos 2005: 86–87;
Samaniego 2011), the innermost building at Cerro
Sechín (Fuchs and Patzschke 2015: Figure 47;
Samaniego 1995: Figure 1; Tello 1956: 251–252),
Huaca A at Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke (Pozorski
and Pozorski 1986, 1993, 1994, 2011), and the
frieze court at Taukachi-Konkán (Pozorski et al.
2017).
By contrast, depictions of sea lions are rare in early
iconography. We know of only one other example,
located in the Nepeña Valley at the site of Punkurí,
where a small sea lion image forms part of a painted
frieze on a wall attributed to an early construction
phase at the site (Bischof 2015: 143, Figure 82;
Museo de Arqueología y Antropología de San
Marcos 2005: 104). The Nepeña example is about
45 cm long, dark green in color, and decorated with
a small circle on its stomach. The overall painted com-
position has been interpreted as one half of an anthro-
pomorphic being lying on its side and accompanied
by animals. The importance of sea lions to early
coastal peoples is also likely reflected by the presence
of drilled sea lion canines in a high status burial at
135
Cardal in the Lurín Valley (Burger and Salazar-
Burger 1991: 287).
With respect to artifacts, the early ceramics found
at Taukachi-Konkán are essentially identical to the
ceramics found at other Sechín Alto Polity settle-
ments. The predominant vessel form is the neckless
olla with less frequent occurrence of bowls, jars, and
bottles. Decoration is almost exclusively on neckless
ollas and is limited to large gouges, incised lines,
and occasional appliqué bumps around the shoulders
of these vessels. The predominance of neckless ollas is
a characteristic that is shared with most other Initial
Period ceramics assemblages along the north and
central coasts; however, contemporary settlements in
other coastal valleys generally have a wider range of
decoration and more varied vessel forms. The closest
general similarity to the Casma material with
respect to neckless olla decoration is with some
Early Guañape pottery from the Virú Valley (Strong
and Evans 1952: 277–284).
The prevalence of pigment and pigment-proces-
sing tools at Taukachi-Konkán has parallels at
other Initial Period settlements, most notably at
Gramalote in the Moche Valley where extensive
excavations have recently been carried out (Prieto
2018; Prieto et al. 2016). Anthracite or jet
mirrors are also widespread among Initial Period
sites where they often occur as burial offerings
(Bird et al. 1985: 47–49, Figure 30; Burger
1992: 91; Elera 1993: 247; Larco Hoyle 1941:
85, 99; Pozorski and Pozorski 1979; Prieto 2018;
Strong and Evans 1952: 41–43), and this suggests
that status was connected with their possession.
Stone mortars and pestles also have a relatively
broad distribution; specimens may be from as far
north as Lambayeque (Burger 1992: 89) and
from as far south as Casma (Pozorski and
Pozorski 1992; Prieto 2018; Strong and Evans
1952: 41–43). Among the examples with reliable
context are mortars and pestles associated with
burials of high-status individuals within monumen-
tal architecture at Huaca El Gallo/La Gallina in the
Viru Valley (Zoubek 1998: 348–350), San Juanito
in the Santa Valley (Chapdelaine and Pimentel
2008: 249–250), and Punkurí in the Nepeña
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
Valley (Museo de Arqueología y Antropología de
San Marcos 2005: 91–96; Samaniego 2011).
These associations serve to connect mortar and
pestle sets with specific important people who
may have used them in life. At Taukachi-
Konkán, we encountered mortar and pestle frag-
ments from Mounds B and D where they may
have had a role in compounding special substances
for rituals and pageantry.
In contrast to these cultural traits that are wide-
spread during the Initial Period, one class of artifacts,
ceramic figurines, stands out because it is largely
restricted to Sechín Alto Polity contexts. The practice
of creating figurines probably originated farther south;
unfired Preceramic examples are known from Áspero,
Bandurria, and Caral on the central coast (Feldman
1985: 80–81; Fung 1988: Figure 3.2; Shady Solís
2004: 13, 99, 153, 176, 185, 186, 209, 240).
During Initial Period times, figurine production
flourished within the Casma Valley (Pozorski and
Pozorski 2018). Examples are known from most
Sechín Alto Polity settlements where over 400 frag-
ments have been recovered, mostly from middens
and residential contexts. Published examples of a
whole seated figurine and figurine fragments from
ceramic-period burials at Huaca Prieta in the
Chicama Valley and three fragments from the dom-
estic sector of Gramalote in the Moche Valley (Bird
et al. 1985: 47–49; Morgan 2009: 27–32, Plate 1;
Prieto et al. 2019) were almost certainly manufac-
tured in Casma as were the few examples known
from the Nepeña Valley and the early ceramic levels
at Las Haldas on the coast south of Casma (Morgan
2009: 27–32, Plate 1; Pozorski and Pozorski 2018).
Burial practices also show differences between the
Casma Valley Sechín Alto Polity and other coastal
zones. The discovery of a possible cemetery at
Taukachi-Konkán is a first because only a few isolated
Initial Period burials have been reported from the
Casma Valley (Fuchs 1997: 152; Pozorski and
Pozorski 1986: 397–399). These few Casma Valley
examples encountered represent isolated finds in
midden contexts, below house floors, in architectural
fill or in reused architecture; and most have no associ-
ated ceramics or other artifacts. In contrast, Initial
136
Volume 41, Number 1
Period burials in other coastal valleys are more com-
monly found within organized cemeteries (Elera
1993: 246–248; Larco Hoyle 1941: 161–237) as
well as isolated finds that are usually in special
places (Chapdelaine and Pimentel 2008; Samaniego
2011; Zoubek 1998: 348–350). Furthermore, these
burials are typically accompanied by fine ceramics
or other high-quality grave goods which are generally
interpreted as markers of important personal social
status (Burger and Salazar-Burger 1991: 287;
Chapdelaine and Pimentel 2008; Elera 1993: 241–
248; Samaniego 2011; Zoubek 1998: 348–350).
This distinction with respect to personal status
markers is important to our understanding of social
status within the Sechín Alto Polity. Apparently
social status within this Casma polity was not a
matter of material possessions, but, instead, was gar-
nered through association with the construction of
and access to finely built architecture, especially
monumental constructions.
Conclusions
Our strategy of clearing large areas of formal architec-
ture at the east end of Taukachi-Konkán enabled us to
gain insights into the experiential aspects of the
builders and inhabitants of the site during the
Initial Period. First, we established that the east end
of the settlement is relatively short-lived with all
primary construction and associated activities taking
place between about 1500 cal B.C. and 1350 ca.
B.C. By contrast, construction and activities at the
west end of the settlement started 100+ years earlier
and endured some 100 years later than the east end.
Our investigations revealed much new information
about both intermediate size mounds, a common
architectural type at Sechín Alto Polity settlements,
and associated adjacent walled room architecture
such as the Mound A complex. The results demon-
strate that these mounds and associated rooms and
plazas did not all house religious or ritual activities.
Some ritual activities did take place, but other activi-
ties such as feasting, storage, administration, and
other more secular activities have also been
 Pozorski et al.: Recent excavations at the Initial Period site of Taukachi-Konkán
documented. This discovery parallels our previous
ideas that the principal mounds at Sechín Alto
Polity settlements housed different but complemen-
tary functions within the Casma Valley (Pozorski
and Pozorski 1999, 2000; T. Pozorski and
S. Pozorski 2012). One fortuitous and unique discov-
ery during our investigations was the special sunken
court with friezes that gives us valuable insights into
the cosmology of the Initial Period people.
Our broad clearings of formal architecture recovered
relatively few artifacts and subsistence remains, and
such cleanliness is usually the case when investigators
excavate early formal architecture along the Peruvian
coast. We also found a small Initial Period cemetery,
but the individuals buried there lacked associated
grave goods. According to some investigators, this
absence of grave goods in Initial Period burials,
which is the norm for the Casma Valley area, signals
a lack of significant social differentiation for that
time period. However, what is lacking in the material
culture (modestly decorated pottery, no metal arti-
facts, relatively few special artifacts) is more than com-
pensated for by the carefully built, large, and
impressive formal architecture at Taukachi-Konkán
as well as at other large Sechín Alto Polity settlements.
It seems that the Initial Period people in the Casma
Valley manifested elevated social status through their
association with the construction, use, and access to
remote portions of this formal architecture, especially
monumental architecture.
The recent excavations at Taukachi-Konkán show
that this settlement also provides another example
of the precision and planning that went into the con-
struction of formal architecture within the Sechín
Alto Polity. The presence of several modular square-
room units around which other architecture is defer-
entially placed bespeaks of the importance of this
codified architectural unit and the existence of a cen-
tralized authority to continually replicate its form and
meaning with precision over multiple generations.
The square-room unit was always important—
whether it housed administrative activities, served as
a storage facility or was used as ritual space.
Through our broad clearing excavation strategy, we
have also been able to recognize deviations from
137
traditional square-room-unit architectural forms
such as the architecture on Mound D.
We have argued that the overall integrated nature of
the planning and precision of the many Casma Valley
Initial Period settlements plus the enormous amount
of labor that went into their construction (T.
Pozorski and S. Pozorski 2012) reflects the existence
of a centralized authority that headed the Sechín Alto
Polity. Other coastal valleys have monumental
centers; however, these are usually isolated mound
centers purportedly built by local communities, inde-
pendent of other nearby centers, that acted in at least
a semi-autonomous manner (Burger 1992). The
Casma Valley settlements do share some material
culture, iconography, and even certain architectural
elements with other coastal settlements to the north
and south—most likely evidence of both formal and
informal communication. However, the Casma
Valley polity was distinct because of the strong
central authority that enabled it to create and unify a
cadre of settlements over a period of several hundred
years.
Acknowledgements
Permission to excavate at Taukachi-Konkán was
granted by the Peruvian Ministerio de Cultura and
funding was provided by an anonymous donor. We
also would like to thank our colleagues Katie
Woods and the late Bobbie Lovett for constant help
with field recording and analysis. The drawing in
Figure 58b is by Felix Farro. Victor F. Vásquez
Sánchez and Teresa E. Rosales Tham identified the
animal bone and wood samples; and Paul
Valentich-Scott, Henry W. Chaney, and Daniel
Geiger aided with shellfish identifications. Drone
photographs of Taukachi-Konkán taken by Luis
Jaime Castillo greatly aided our efforts to produce
reconstruction plans of the mound complexes. We
also appreciate the help of students Eugenio Garza,
Ezgar Chavez, and Amy Longoria as well as our
team of workers Mario Castillo, Noemí Castillo,
Enrique Flores, Marcos Flores, Pedro Francia,
Yulissa Francia, César Isidro, Felix Isidro, Julio
Isidro, Henry Lopez, Richard Lopez, Alberto Perez,
 Ñawpa Pacha, Journal of Andean Archaeology
José Ramos, and Ever Silva. Figures 1 and 47 and
black-and-white versions of Figures 49, 51, 53, and
55 were published previously in our article about
the friezes in Latin American Antiquity. We are grate-
ful to the anonymous reviewers of the manuscript,
especially for suggestions that expanded the possible
interpretations for the frieze court iconography.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the
author(s).
Supplemental Materials
Supplemental Materials for this article can be accessed
at https://doi.org/10.1080/00776297.2020.
1804687.
ORCID
Thomas Pozorski http://orcid.org/0000-0002-
7819-1930
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