A Theory of Andean Geoglyphs

Bibliographic Data

ID7473376
AuthorsC Stanish (0000-0002-5236-8996), Henry Tantaleán (0000-0002-3087-7968, National University of San Marcos), Carito Tavera (Universitat de Barcelona), Jacob L Bongers (0000-0003-1633-7620, The University of Sydney), Jacob Bongers (The University of Sydney), Karen Wise (Sonoma County Library)
Year2026
Volume82
Issue1
Pages43-70
Publication date2026-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Anthropological Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-7710 • E-ISSN: 2153-3806
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/739379
OpenAlexW7123488698
LanguageEN
References cited33

Geoglyphs are found throughout the premodern world. They represent some of the most undertheorized but important archaeological phenomena in our discipline. Decades of systematic work in the Andes has allowed us to model the development of geoglyphs through time. Geoglyphs were preceded by petroglyphs that demarcated travel routes. Isolated sets of figural geoglyphs on hillsides emerged alongside petroglyph clusters before the Early Horizon and functioned to mark places of congregation. During the late Early Horizon, a scalar transformation took place along the Peruvian coast. Clusters of linear geoglyphs with a variety of structures emerged on the desert pampas. These geoglyphs are composed of multiple figural and geometric shapes. We propose that these complexes were constructed by complex polities as ritualized, theatrical landscapes designed to attract people for periodic feasts and fairs. Linear geoglyph complexes became an essential component of the competitive feasting strategies embedded in the political economy of these early, complex societies

Desert (philosophy · Horizon · Politics · Scalar (mathematics · Variety (cybernetics · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

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