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| Early Horizon (Andean chronology) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Early Horizon |
| Region | Andes |
| Period | c. 900–200 BCE |
| Preceding | Formative Period cultures |
| Succeeding | Early Intermediate Period |
Early Horizon (Andean chronology) is the archaeological term for a transregional phase in Andean prehistory marked by widespread interaction, shared iconography, and emergent institutions across the central Andean highlands and coasts. It is conventionally dated to approximately 900–200 BCE and is associated with major developments connected to sites and polities that exerted influence across the modern Peruan and adjacent Andean corridors.
The Early Horizon is defined as a pan-Andean era following the Late Formative transitions such as those associated with Chavín de Huántar and preceding the regional polities of the Moche and Nazca that characterize the Early Intermediate Period. Chronology relies on calibrated radiocarbon series from contexts at Chavín de Huántar, coastal centers like Sechín Bajo, and highland sites tied to the spread of motifs found on ceramics, lithics, and iconographic stonework. Key chronological frameworks reference stratigraphic sequences from Kotosh, basketry-dated remains from the Ancash Region, and Monte Carlo–style synchronizations with sequences at Caral and contemporaneous sequences in the Titicaca Basin.
Geographically, the Early Horizon spans the Peruian coast, the Andes, the Inter-Andean valleys, and fringes of the Amazon Basin and Atacama Desert. Cultural interactions link the highland religious center at Chavín de Huántar with coastal complexes at Casma, Supe Valley, Ancón, and the southern littoral near Nazca and Palpa. Regional corridors include the Santa River Valley, the Rímac River, and passes through the Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra, connecting centers in the Cajamarca and Junín regions.
Major actors during the Early Horizon include the religious and administrative networks associated with Chavín de Huántar, the artisanal and monumental expressions at Sechín and Cerro Blanco (Sechín), and coastal communities linked with the Supe and Caral-Supe traditions. Highland groups such as populations in Ayacucho, Huánuco, and the Central Andean valleys participate through shared ritual repertoires. Peripheral interacting polities or communities include settlements in Tarma, Huarochirí, Moquegua, and the Ica Region, often showing hybridized material culture.
Artistic production in the Early Horizon exhibits standardized motifs—anthropomorphic deities, felids, staff gods, and avian imagery—rendered on stelae, ceramics, and metalwork connected to workshops near Chavín de Huántar and coastal nodes such as Casma and Sechín Bajo. Architectural signatures include elevated platform mounds, U-shaped plazas, and subterranean galleries characteristic of complexes at Chavín de Huántar and analogous features at Sechín, Kotosh, and Cerro Blanco. Technological advances documented include fine polychrome and white-on-red ceramics, advanced seriation of obsidian from sources like Chivay, early gold and arsenical bronze metallurgy in the Ancash Region, and engineered irrigation works in valleys such as the Supe Valley and Nanchoc.
Subsistence during the Early Horizon integrated highland pastoralism, coastal marine exploitation, and valley agriculture. Domesticated crops include varieties of maize cultivated in terraces and floodplain fields, as well as beans, squashes, and tubers like potato in the highlands near Titicaca Basin corridors. Maritime economies exploited anchovy and shellfish along zones near Pisco Bay and the Santa River Delta, while textile production drawing on cotton from coastal gardens and camelid fiber from Llama and Vicuña pastoralism supported complex exchange networks linking hubs such as Caral-Supe and Chavín de Huántar.
Social organization during the Early Horizon shows evidence for ritual leaders, craft specialists, and emergent hierarchical institutions anchored in ceremonial centers like Chavín de Huántar and monumental compounds at Sechín Bajo. Political influence appears expressed through ideological integration rather than direct territorial empires, mediated by pilgrim exchange, workshop distribution, and stylistic dissemination across centers including Caral, Kotosh, and regional administrative locales in Ancash and Ayacucho. Iconographic standardization implies priestly or elite networks comparable to later Andean religious institutions found at sites like Moche and Wari.
The Early Horizon’s collapse or transformation by c. 200 BCE led to regional diversification that set the stage for the Early Intermediate Period dominated by polities such as the Moche, Nasca, and localized chiefdoms in the Highlands of Peru. Artistic repertoires and technological innovations persisted and were reconfigured in emergent state-like societies, influencing the trajectory toward complex societies exemplified later by Tiwanaku and Wari expansion. Archaeological continuities in ceramics, iconography, and infrastructure link Early Horizon centers with subsequent sociopolitical formations across the Andean world.
Category:Pre-Columbian cultures Category:Andean archaeology Category:Archaeological periods