El Castillo

Information

El Castillo is one of several "Gallinazo de Santa" sites located along the Santa River in north coastal Peru. Chapdelaine et al. (2009) define this as a mixture, or cohabitation of local Gallinazo culture peoples with non-local Moche culture intruders. Contemporaneous Gallinazo de Santa and Moche culture buildings at El Castillo both yielded evidence of maize and the excavators were able to AMS date 12 maize cob samples associated with both cultural traditions. The Central Plaza and Eastern Terrace structures which yielded maize are primarily Gallinazo de Santa occupation, while maize recovered from the Northern Terrace structures are primarily Moche in association (Chapdelaine et al. 2009:194, 198). Almost all of the maize cobs from these deposits are contemporary, ranging from ca. 1400 to 1700 uncal BP. Two however, are much earlier, predating the main Gallinazo de Santa-Moche occupations by 1000 to 1500 years (see samples TO-9740 and TO-10586).

ID Other ID Type Subtype Uncal BP (years) ± 1 σ (years) Median cal BP (years) Lower cal BP (years) Upper cal BP (years) δ13C Contaminated?
484 TO-10590 MacroSample cob 1580 50 1477 1608 1368 No
480 TO-10586 MacroSample cob 3000 80 3110 3340 2881 Yes
477 TO-9739 MacroSample cob 1540 50 1374 1517 1297 No
481 TO-10587 MacroSample cob 1560 50 1393 1518 1307 No
483 TO-10589 MacroSample cob 1650 50 1477 1608 1368 No
488 TO-9744 MacroSample cob 1420 50 1288 1365 1177 No
489 TO-10591 MacroSample cob 1530 50 1366 1515 1293 No
490 TO-10592 MacroSample cob 1670 50 1497 1687 1385 No
487 TO-9743 MacroSample cob 1600 50 1441 1541 1331 No
504 TO-9736 MacroSample unknown 1210 50 1070 1230 960 No
505 TO-9737 MacroSample unknown 1540 80 1388 1549 1273 No
506 TO-10580 MacroSample cob 1360 60 1226 1311 1071 No
507 TO-10581 MacroSample cob 1340 60 1210 1301 1067 No
508 TO-10582 MacroSample cob 1610 50 1450 1549 1338 No
509 TO-10583 MacroSample cob 1490 60 1340 1516 1262 No
510 TO-10584 MacroSample cob 1390 60 1254 1354 1086 No
511 TO-10585 MacroSample cob 1350 50 1223 1301 1083 No
478 TO-9740 MacroSample cob 2410 100 2423 2717 2152 No
479 TO-9741 MacroSample cob 1410 50 1279 1355 1174 No
482 TO-10588 MacroSample cob 1560 50 1393 1518 1307 No

Attached Files

El%20castillo%20google%20earth%20view
View of El Castillo in the Santa River Valley, looking north (Google Earth, November 26, 2010).

References Cited

Chapdelaine, C.
    2010    Moche Political Organization in the Santa Valley. In New Perspectives on Moche Political Organization, edited by J. Quitler and L. J. Castillo, pp. 252-279. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C.

Chapdelaine, C., V. Pimentel and J. Gamboa
    2009    Gallinazo Cultural Identity in the Lower Santa Valley: Ceramics, Architecture, Burial Patterns, and Sociopolitical Organization. In Gallinazo: An Early Cultural Tradition on the Peruvian North Coast, edited by J.-F. Millaire, pp. 181-206, Monograph No. 66. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, UCLA, Los Angeles.