Fall/Winter 1998
Preservation was extraordinary: a thin bone needle with a ball of thread was found. All perishable remains were preserved, including seeds, leaves, textiles, and coprolites. Standardized samples of seeds, small bones, and other artifacts were collected and will allow us to reconstruct the diet of Gallinazo people at the site.	The goal of this season was to begin to reconstruct the history of occupation at the site. Mocollope and the site of El Brujo, located at the mouth of the Chicama River, were the two largest prehistoric towns in the Chicama Valley. During the Moche period (AD 200-800), these two sites operated as dual centers that sat at the top of a multitiered settlement hierarchy. Based on previous surface collections and test excavations, Mocollope is known to have been occupied during both the Moche period and the preceding Gallinazo period (200 BC-AD 200). It was during these time periods when the entire valley became politically integrated. During Gallinazo times, the settlement pattern of the valley was characterized by a series of possibly competing fortified hilltop town settlements with distinctive ceramic assemblages, which included the Gallinazo (or Viru) black-on-red negative paint style. These fortified Gallinazo towns were largely abandoned at some point near the transition to Moche occupation of the valley. Moche occupation includes numerous unfortified valley floor settlements with a few large political centers, such as Mocollope, where the well-known Moche-style ceramics were used. Although a great deal of research has focused on symbolically rich Moche ceramics and the excavation of Moche tombs, basic research questions concerning the nature and development of Moche society remain to be addressed. Mocollope is one of the few sites in the Chicama Valley that has stratified archaeological deposits of both Gallinazo and Moche occupation. Excavations at the site should provide key data for understanding the transition from the dispersed Gallinazo sites to the politically integrated Moche occupation of the valley. The overall goals of the ongoing excavations at Mocollope include a reconstruction of the occupation of the settlement, its history, and sociopolitical organization. The 1998 excavations were located in a flat area in the northwest sector of the core area of the site, near a large platform. Looting had exposed stratified Gallinazo domestic refuse in this sector. Given its proximity to large ceremonial architecture, it was hoped that excavations of the area would yield data relevant for reconstructing the life ways of Gallinazo elite. We expect that excavations of elite Gallinazo domestic areas will recover key evidence for understanding the Gallinazo occupation of the site, including domestic architecture, subsistence remains, and, possibly, production refuse. In addition, the recovery of samples for radiocarbon dating in association with ceramics in stratified context will help to refine the chronology, which is still inadequately dated. The crew, made up of UCLA personnel, UREP participants, and Peruvian archaeologists, excavated a series of twenty-two units. The results are impressive, and basic cataloging and analysis are still ongoing. The excavations exposed a series of stratified floors with rich deposits of domestic refuse used as construction fill between the floors. Instead of a series of small domestic rooms, as we expected, the structural evidence included broad floors with roofs supported by large (15-20 cm) wooden posts. Although the floors were well preserved, evidence of walls was minimal; rooms may have been open sided or have had ephemeral walls. The size has yet to be determined, but the rectangular rooms are at least 4 to 5 m across, suggesting communal or public function. The floors were very clean, but the Gallinazo domestic refuse used as construction fill beneath the floors was incredibly rich. Preservation was extraordinary: a thin bone needle with a ball of thread was found. All perishable remains were preserved, including seeds, leaves, textiles, and coprolites. Standardized samples of seeds, small bones, and other artifacts were collected and will allow us to reconstruct the diet of Gallinazo people at the site (see Wake's article). Excellent samples for radiocarbon dating were collected and have been submitted for analysis. The excavations will be expanded next year to include other parts of the site, including areas of occupation of the Moche period. Initially we thought that the site was primarily Moche with a minor Gallinazo component. Now we understand that Mocollope was also a major center in the Gallinazo period. In fact, it is quite probable that many of the major platforms in the core area of the site were constructed during Gallinazo times. Glenn S. Russell is Director of the Obsidian Hydration Laboratory and is also County Archaeologist for the County of San Diego, Department of Planning and Land Use. Christopher Attarian (shown holding a well-preserved chili pepper from the Gallinazo period in photograph on left) is a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at UCLA. The excavations and analysis of recovered materials was generously supported by an Ahmanson Field Research Grant from the UCLA Institute of Archaeology, in addition to funding from University Research Expeditions (UREP), the Heinz Foundation, and a UCLA Latin American Center research grant. Both Glenn and Chris (and all Backdirt authors) can be reached by email through Publications (ioapubs@ucla.edu).
	Top | Institute | About Backdirt | Next