Incipient Organization and Socio-Public Spaces: Three Andean Cases

Abstract

Three archaeological cases from different areas of the Andes are employed to study the rise of social and cultural complexity in varying social and economic contexts, with the intention of distinguishing certain environmental and cultural factors in each case. The purpose also is to search not only for differences but for commonalities to be used for cross-cultural comparisons and to learn more about the developmental cultural history of the societies representing these cases.