The Sechín Alto Complex and Its Place Within Casma Valley Initial Period Development

Abstract

The Sechín Alto Complex was defined by the authors in 1987 as a group of related sites covering over 10 sq km in the Casma Valley on the north coast of Peru (Figures 2.1, 2.2; S. and T. Pozorski 1987: 82). Critical to the definition of the Sechín Alto Complex were the consistent orientation and similarity in mound form and site layout of Sechín Alto site, Taukachi-Konkán, and Sechín Bajo. Cerro Sechín was included based on its physical proximity to the other sites and its conical adobe constructions which suggested contemporaneity with the other sites. The component sites of Sechín Alto, Taukachi Konkán, Sechín Bajo, and Cerro Sechín were assumed to be coexistent and in continuous interaction, forming an immense settlement that occupied much of the floodplain in the northern Sechín Branch of the Casma River during the Initial Period (2150–1000 BC; dating in this paper is based on calibrated radiocarbon dates using Stuiver and Becker 1993). Subsequent prehistoric and historic use of the area, largely in the form of cultivated fields, has obscured evidence of smaller, more fragile residential structures within the valley bottom, leaving only the larger mounds. Remains of this vital component do exist, however, on the valley margins to the north and south (S. and T. Pozorski 1998: 86–87).