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Fortifications as Warfare Culture

The Hilltop Centre of Yayno (Ancash, Peru), AD 400–800

Bibliographic Data

ID6045142
AuthorsGeorge Lau (0000-0002-0089-3625, Sainsbury Laboratory, corresponding author), George F Lau
Year2010
Volume20
Issue3
Pages419-448
Publication date2010-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCambridge Archaeological Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-7743 • E-ISSN: 1474-0540
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s095977431000048x
OpenAlexW2151672549
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited53

This article evaluates defensive works at the ancient hilltop centre of Yayno, Pomabamba, north highlands, Peru. Survey, mapping and sampling excavations show that its primaryoccupation dates to cal. AD 400–800, by groups of the Recuay tradition. At the centre of a network articulating small nearby farming villages, Yayno features an impressive series of natural and built defensive strategies. These worked in concert to protect the community from outsiders and keep internal groups physically segregated. The fortifications are discussed in relation to local political organization and a martial aesthetic in northern Peru during the period. Recuay elite identity and monumentalism arose out of local corporate traditions of hilltop dwelling and defence. Although such traditions are now largely absent in contemporary patterns of settlement, an archaeology of warfare at Yayno has repercussions for local understandings of the past

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Elite · Ethnology · Excavation · Geography · Political science · Politics · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · History · Latin American history and culture · Law

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Unique citing works15
Citations per year1
Citation span2011 - 2026 (16)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 14
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