What constitute the Paracas-Nasca transition in Paracas necropolis? Mortuary practices, artifacts, present, garment formas and sociocultural diversity

Abstract

To evaluate the contribution that the Paracas Necropolis mortuary complex makes to our understanding of the Paracas-Nasca transition, the distribution of textile and non-textile artifacts is tracked among a sample of relatively well-documented gravelots. Evidence from complex and simpler burials informs a model of the social order, exchange relationships and historic processes. Based on the reconstruction of each mortuary context, the distribution of artifact types, gender associations and sequences of mortuary practice provide better evidence to evaluate social rank and ritual roles. Artifact types and styles are grouped based on their co-occurrence in mortuary contexts to evaluate the Berkeley School Paracas-Nasca chronology and Dwyer-Paul correlations for Paracas Necropolis textiles. Awareness of the agency of those who attended to the dead, the producers and users of the objects present and their exchange relationships is essential for characterizing material culture traditions and historic processes of interaction in a complex social world.