George Lau
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 165376 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | George Lau |
| NOMBRES | George |
| APELLIDO | Lau |
| FIRMA | LAU G |
| AFILIACIONES | University of East Anglia |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0089-3625 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 38 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 193 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 38 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2002 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 8 |
Archaeology, ‘artiplaces’ and World Art
It is a great pleasure to introduce this special issue of World Art, entitled ‘Artiplaces: Ecological & Ontological Entanglements of Ancient Artworks,’ guest-edited by Benjamin Alberti and Christop
Children of the Thunderbolt’
This study examines ancient Andean developments involving art and leadership, specifically among groups of the Recuay cultural tradition (cal AD 100–700) of Peru’s North-Central Highlands. We detail new archaeological discoveries at the hilltop center of Pashash (Pallasca Province, Ancash Department), the seat of an important Recuay polity emerging by the third century AD. Based on ethnohistorical comparisons and the imagery of elaborate material…
De un carácter fortificado a uno sagrado
La manera en que los sitios antiguos llegan a ser considerados lugares significativos de la memoria colectiva y adquirir la sacralidad, es un tema importante, pero poco estudiado en la arqueología andina. A menudo carecemos de evidencia clara de cambios diacrónicos asociados con este proceso cultural. Este artículo presenta nuevos datos asociados al abandono y la reutilización de Yayno, un importante asentamiento fortificado en la sierra de Ancas…
Crowning affairs
The theme of divinity and leadership has been a regular focus of archaeology, anthropology, and art history. We know of notable cases of ‘divine rulership’ in the ancient Americas, but broadly there has been scant synthesis. This essay introduces the aims, background and coverage of this special issue, dedicated to the theme of ‘Sacred Sovereigns: Art, Divinity and Rulership in the Ancient Americas.’ We revisit key thinking behind divine rulershi…
Pins and powders, pots and pendants
This essay investigates an ancient burial offering in Peru’s north highlands. It focuses on its contents and how its material forms and associated properties facilitated and oriented human engagements and understandings (see Hodder 2012, 48–50; Knappett 2005, chap. 4; Chapman 2000; Gell 1998; Gosden 2005). By reconstructing how they may have worked and signified together for an archaeological culture, the study moves the focus away from a single …
Aerial, Surface, and Subsurface Multimodal Mapping in Coastal Peru
This article describes a series of steps to integrate multiple modes of archaeological mapping in arid and agricultural settings. We use the coastal region of Peru as a case study and share our recent field experience at Cerro San Isidro, a multicomponent hill site located in the agriculture-intensive and mid-elevation (about 500 m asl) Moro region of the Nepeña Valley. In June and July 2022, we spent eight weeks deploying a combination of drone …
Special issues
The Rise of Native Lordships at Pashash, a.d . 200–600, North Highlands of Ancash, Peru
This article examines the rise of native, segmentary lordships in the highlands of north-central Peru. It reports on new excavations and mapping at the seat of a prehispanic polity, Pashash (Recuay culture), a large hilltop center that developed after the collapse of Chavín civilization. Fieldwork revealed monumental constructions and two special activity contexts radiocarbon-dated to ca. a.d. 200–400: an offering area in a large palatial compoun…
An examination of Recuay kaolin pottery production and exchange through petrography and LA‐ICP‐MS (100–700 CE; Ancash, Peru)
This article examines the production and exchange of kaolin ceramics among Recuay communities in highland Ancash, Peru (ca. 100–700 ce ). We draw upon geochemical (laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry; LA‐ICP‐MS) and petrographic data to investigate raw material use, provenance, and intraregional trade. We present data on 115 decorated and plain ceramics sampled from nine archaeological sites, which we compare with data on …
Animating Idolatry
Historical and archaeological records help shed light on the production, ritual practices, and personhood of cult objects characterizing the central Peruvian highlands after ca. AD 200. Colonial accounts indicate that descendant groups made and venerated stone images of esteemed forebears as part of small-scale local funerary cults. Prayers and supplications help illuminate how different artifact forms were seen as honored family members (forebea…
Camelids as Food and Wealth
This chapter examines the emerging political and moral economies of the Recuay culture (AD 200-600) of the north-central highlands of Peru. It focuses on the camelid, a crucial part of Andean society, and its role in Recuay foodways and wealth. The study analyzes camelid imagery in Recuay mortuary contexts, arguing that these depictions reflect not only dietary practices but also social and political organization. The Recuay elite used camelids a…
Rituals of the Past
Review of Rosenfeld, Silvana and Bautista, Stefanie (eds.) (2017) Rituals of the Past: Prehispanic and Colonial Case Studies in Andean Archaeology, University Press of Colorado (Boulder, CO), xiii + 321 pp. $81.00 hbk
An Inka Offering at Yayno (North Highlands, Peru)
While Marcel Mauss's landmark essay on The Gift has been vital in social anthropology, inspiring a vast and influential secondary literature, the gift has been much less prominent in archaeological interpretation. This study considers evidence for an ancient Andean gift economy, a system of reciprocal exchanges focused on making people and ensuring group social relations, rather than accumulating wealth/capital. Excavations at Yayno (north highla…
South America-Andes
This chapter details major figurine developments in the ancient Andes and discusses new understandings based on figurine form, function, and imagery. Great formal diversity characterizes the long history of their use. The most active traditions occurred along the coast, while data from the highlands and eastern slopes are more limited. Certain regions, especially the north coast, show longevity in the use of figurines, especially in household, fu…
Different Kinds of Dead
A summary is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
Negotiating Histories
Origins of Prehispanic Camelid Wool Textiles from the North and Central Coasts of Peru Traced by Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Analyses
Carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of wool textiles from the north (Virú, Early Intermediate Period) and central (Chancay, Late Intermediate Period) coasts of Peru were used to reconstruct the diet and habitat of the camelids (llamas and alpacas) from which they were produced in order to better understand the regional political economies. The Chancay textiles were derived from camelids primarily raised on highaltitude C3 grasslands. Simila…
A world (art) of senses, value and display’
Beyond Wari Walls
Afterword
Relaciones interculturales en el norte del Perú
Esta contribución investiga el surgimiento y el carácter del Horizonte Medio en la sierra norte del Perú. Se enfoca en el departamento de Áncash, una región con un registro amplio para contextualizar la interacción durante dicho periodo. Mi discusión comienza detallando la secuencia y la variabilidad de la interacción interregional en Áncash (500-1000 d.C.). Se describen los patrones generales con los datos disponibles -la arquitectura, los biene…
Visualising alterity
This visual essay explores material expressions of otherness, or alterity, in the ancient Andes. It first provides a discussion about key points about alterity, especially different kinds of alterity seen ethnographically. It then turns to different strands of archaeological evidence focused on an alterity centred on ancient conflict and predation. The available record informs at different scales, but manifests a strong concern for the Other. Vis…
Ancient Alterity in the Andes
Ancient Alterity in the Andes is the first major treatment on ancient alterity: how people in the past regarded others. At least since the 1970s, alterity has been an influential concept in different fields, from art history, psychology and philosophy, to linguistics and ethnography. Having gained steam in concert with postmodernism’s emphasis on self-reflection and discourse, it is especially significant now as a framework to understand the proc…
Moche Art and Visual Culture in Ancient Peru - by Jackson, Margaret A
Recuay Tradition Sculptures of Chinchawas, North Highlands of Ancash, Peru
The article will be available as a PDF in the near future
Feasting and Ancestor Veneration at Chinchawas, North Highlands of Ancash, Peru
The present article considers evidence for ancestor veneration and feasting in the North Highlands (Department of Ancash), Peru between A. D. 500-900. The study draws upon ethnohistorical, iconographic, and archaeological comparisons to better understand different lines of data from the ancient Recuay community of Chinchawas (3,850 masl), including public and mortuary architecture, ceramics, faunal remains, and stone sculpture. Two major programs…
Origins of Prehispanic Camelid Wool Textiles from the North and Central Coasts of Peru Traced by Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Analyses
Carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of wool textiles from the north (Virú, Early Intermediate Period) and central (Chancay, Late Intermediate Period) coasts of Peru were used to reconstruct the diet and habitat of the camelids (llamas and alpacas) from which they were produced in order to better understand the regional political economies. The Chancay textiles were derived from camelids primarily raised on highaltitude C3 grasslands. Simila…
Object of Contention
This study examines a painted combat scene on a ceramic vessel of the Moche culture (ad 100–800) of the north coast of Peru. The scene portrays a series of distinctly Moche warriors fighting adversaries who feature characteristics (weaponry, ornaments and dress) that are unconventional for Moche visual culture. Correspondences in Recuay pottery and stone sculpture instead support the argument that the enemies were groups from the neighbouring inl…
Ancient Alterity in the Andes
Ancient Alterity in the Andes is the first major treatment on ancient alterity: how people in the past regarded others. At least since the 1970s, alterity has been an influential concept in different fields, from art history, psychology and philosophy, to linguistics and ethnography. Having gained steam in concert with postmodernism’s emphasis on self-reflection and discourse, it is especially significant now as a framework to understand the proc…
Relaciones interculturales en el norte del Perú
Esta contribución investiga el surgimiento y el carácter del Horizonte Medio en la sierra norte del Perú. Se enfoca en el departamento de Áncash, una región con un registro amplio para contextualizar la interacción durante dicho periodo. Mi discusión comienza detallando la secuencia y la variabilidad de la interacción interregional en Áncash (500-1000 d.C.). Se describen los patrones generales con los datos disponibles -la arquitectura, los biene…
Core-periphery relations in the Recuay hinterlands
The author explores a changing core-periphery relationship in first millennium AD Peru, from the viewpoint of a small North Highlands village
Fortifications as Warfare Culture
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…
The Recuay Culture of Peru's North- Central Highlands
Recent archaeological investigations of post-Chavín occupations in the North-Central Highlands of Peru (Department of Ancash) provide new chronological data that help situate the Recuay culture and its transformations in time. Because of the burgeoning interest in northern Peru, and the cultural complexity of the Early Intermediate Period (ca. A.D. 1–700) in general, a reconsideration of Recuay prehistory is needed. This complements the recent ad…
Crowning affairs
The theme of divinity and leadership has been a regular focus of archaeology, anthropology, and art history. We know of notable cases of ‘divine rulership’ in the ancient Americas, but broadly there has been scant synthesis. This essay introduces the aims, background and coverage of this special issue, dedicated to the theme of ‘Sacred Sovereigns: Art, Divinity and Rulership in the Ancient Americas.’ We revisit key thinking behind divine rulershi…
Animating Idolatry
Historical and archaeological records help shed light on the production, ritual practices, and personhood of cult objects characterizing the central Peruvian highlands after ca. AD 200. Colonial accounts indicate that descendant groups made and venerated stone images of esteemed forebears as part of small-scale local funerary cults. Prayers and supplications help illuminate how different artifact forms were seen as honored family members (forebea…
The work of surfaces
This study is an examination of techniques in the Recuay culture (1-700 AD) of ancient Peru. In addition to identifying things that look alike, it reviews different procedures by which they were made to resemble each other. The author examines shared techniques across different media and forms, which helped to shape a general noble aesthetic. Three main points are discussed: first, the techniques share a similar emphasis on enhancing surfaces by …
An examination of Recuay kaolin pottery production and exchange through petrography and LA‐ICP‐MS (100–700 CE; Ancash, Peru)
This article examines the production and exchange of kaolin ceramics among Recuay communities in highland Ancash, Peru (ca. 100–700 ce ). We draw upon geochemical (laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry; LA‐ICP‐MS) and petrographic data to investigate raw material use, provenance, and intraregional trade. We present data on 115 decorated and plain ceramics sampled from nine archaeological sites, which we compare with data on …
Camelids as Food and Wealth
This chapter examines the emerging political and moral economies of the Recuay culture (AD 200-600) of the north-central highlands of Peru. It focuses on the camelid, a crucial part of Andean society, and its role in Recuay foodways and wealth. The study analyzes camelid imagery in Recuay mortuary contexts, arguing that these depictions reflect not only dietary practices but also social and political organization. The Recuay elite used camelids a…
Visualising alterity
This visual essay explores material expressions of otherness, or alterity, in the ancient Andes. It first provides a discussion about key points about alterity, especially different kinds of alterity seen ethnographically. It then turns to different strands of archaeological evidence focused on an alterity centred on ancient conflict and predation. The available record informs at different scales, but manifests a strong concern for the Other. Vis…
The Recuay Culture of Peru's North-Central Highlands
George F. Lau, The Recuay Culture of Peru's North-Central Highlands: A Reappraisal of Chronology and Its Implications, Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 29, No. 1/2 (Spring, 2002 - Summer, 2004), pp. 177-202
An Inka Offering at Yayno (North Highlands, Peru)
While Marcel Mauss's landmark essay on The Gift has been vital in social anthropology, inspiring a vast and influential secondary literature, the gift has been much less prominent in archaeological interpretation. This study considers evidence for an ancient Andean gift economy, a system of reciprocal exchanges focused on making people and ensuring group social relations, rather than accumulating wealth/capital. Excavations at Yayno (north highla…
Children of the Thunderbolt’
This study examines ancient Andean developments involving art and leadership, specifically among groups of the Recuay cultural tradition (cal AD 100–700) of Peru’s North-Central Highlands. We detail new archaeological discoveries at the hilltop center of Pashash (Pallasca Province, Ancash Department), the seat of an important Recuay polity emerging by the third century AD. Based on ethnohistorical comparisons and the imagery of elaborate material…
Afterword
Culturas y lenguas antiguas de la sierra norcentral del Perú
En el presente trabajo se analizan los desarrollos culturales de gran escala en la sierra norcentral del Peru durante el primer milenio d.C., con énfasis en sus implicancias para el uso y dispersión de las lenguas antiguas. La región de Áncash es de un interés especial debido a su larga historia de investigaciones, su ubicación geográfica, la diversidad en las culturas arqueológicas y la presencia de una serie de lenguas, muchas de ellas hoy exti…
Aztecs. Royal Academy of Arts, London
The Recuay Culture of Peru's North-Central Highlands
George F. Lau, The Recuay Culture of Peru's North-Central Highlands: A Reappraisal of Chronology and Its Implications, Journal of Field Archaeology, Vol. 29, No. 1/2 (Spring, 2002 - Summer, 2004), pp. 177-202
Feasting and Ancestor Veneration at Chinchawas, North Highlands of Ancash, Peru
The present article considers evidence for ancestor veneration and feasting in the North Highlands (Department of Ancash), Peru between A. D. 500-900. The study draws upon ethnohistorical, iconographic, and archaeological comparisons to better understand different lines of data from the ancient Recuay community of Chinchawas (3,850 masl), including public and mortuary architecture, ceramics, faunal remains, and stone sculpture. Two major programs…
Aztecs. Royal Academy of Arts, London
Imperial Strategies
The Recuay Culture of Peru's North- Central Highlands
Recent archaeological investigations of post-Chavín occupations in the North-Central Highlands of Peru (Department of Ancash) provide new chronological data that help situate the Recuay culture and its transformations in time. Because of the burgeoning interest in northern Peru, and the cultural complexity of the Early Intermediate Period (ca. A.D. 1–700) in general, a reconsideration of Recuay prehistory is needed. This complements the recent ad…
Object of Contention
This study examines a painted combat scene on a ceramic vessel of the Moche culture (ad 100–800) of the north coast of Peru. The scene portrays a series of distinctly Moche warriors fighting adversaries who feature characteristics (weaponry, ornaments and dress) that are unconventional for Moche visual culture. Correspondences in Recuay pottery and stone sculpture instead support the argument that the enemies were groups from the neighbouring inl…
Core-periphery relations in the Recuay hinterlands
The author explores a changing core-periphery relationship in first millennium AD Peru, from the viewpoint of a small North Highlands village
Hepatoprotective effects of Coptidis rhizoma aqueous extract on carbon tetrachloride-induced acute liver hepatotoxicity in rats
Therapeutic efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine 319 recipe on hepatic fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride in rats
House forms and Recuay culture
Culturas y lenguas antiguas de la sierra norcentral del Perú
En el presente trabajo se analizan los desarrollos culturales de gran escala en la sierra norcentral del Peru durante el primer milenio d.C., con énfasis en sus implicancias para el uso y dispersión de las lenguas antiguas. La región de Áncash es de un interés especial debido a su larga historia de investigaciones, su ubicación geográfica, la diversidad en las culturas arqueológicas y la presencia de una serie de lenguas, muchas de ellas hoy exti…
Fortifications as Warfare Culture
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…
The work of surfaces
This study is an examination of techniques in the Recuay culture (1-700 AD) of ancient Peru. In addition to identifying things that look alike, it reviews different procedures by which they were made to resemble each other. The author examines shared techniques across different media and forms, which helped to shape a general noble aesthetic. Three main points are discussed: first, the techniques share a similar emphasis on enhancing surfaces by …
Moche Art and Visual Culture in Ancient Peru - by Jackson, Margaret A
Relaciones interculturales en el norte del Perú
Esta contribución investiga el surgimiento y el carácter del Horizonte Medio en la sierra norte del Perú. Se enfoca en el departamento de Áncash, una región con un registro amplio para contextualizar la interacción durante dicho periodo. Mi discusión comienza detallando la secuencia y la variabilidad de la interacción interregional en Áncash (500-1000 d.C.). Se describen los patrones generales con los datos disponibles -la arquitectura, los biene…
Visualising alterity
This visual essay explores material expressions of otherness, or alterity, in the ancient Andes. It first provides a discussion about key points about alterity, especially different kinds of alterity seen ethnographically. It then turns to different strands of archaeological evidence focused on an alterity centred on ancient conflict and predation. The available record informs at different scales, but manifests a strong concern for the Other. Vis…
Ancient Alterity in the Andes
Ancient Alterity in the Andes is the first major treatment on ancient alterity: how people in the past regarded others. At least since the 1970s, alterity has been an influential concept in different fields, from art history, psychology and philosophy, to linguistics and ethnography. Having gained steam in concert with postmodernism’s emphasis on self-reflection and discourse, it is especially significant now as a framework to understand the proc…
Afterword
A world (art) of senses, value and display’
Beyond Wari Walls
Different Kinds of Dead
A summary is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.
Negotiating Histories
Origins of Prehispanic Camelid Wool Textiles from the North and Central Coasts of Peru Traced by Carbon and Nitrogen Isotopic Analyses
Carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions of wool textiles from the north (Virú, Early Intermediate Period) and central (Chancay, Late Intermediate Period) coasts of Peru were used to reconstruct the diet and habitat of the camelids (llamas and alpacas) from which they were produced in order to better understand the regional political economies. The Chancay textiles were derived from camelids primarily raised on highaltitude C3 grasslands. Simila…
South America-Andes
This chapter details major figurine developments in the ancient Andes and discusses new understandings based on figurine form, function, and imagery. Great formal diversity characterizes the long history of their use. The most active traditions occurred along the coast, while data from the highlands and eastern slopes are more limited. Certain regions, especially the north coast, show longevity in the use of figurines, especially in household, fu…
Rituals of the Past
Review of Rosenfeld, Silvana and Bautista, Stefanie (eds.) (2017) Rituals of the Past: Prehispanic and Colonial Case Studies in Andean Archaeology, University Press of Colorado (Boulder, CO), xiii + 321 pp. $81.00 hbk
History (21 obras) · Latin American history and culture (21 obras) · Geography (20 obras) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (18 obras) · Archaeology (15 obras) · History (15 obras) · Art (14 obras) · Ancient history (9 obras) · Computer Science (8 obras) · Ethnology (8 obras)