Cerro Blanco of Nepeña Valley in the Interactive Dynamics of the Formative Period

Abstract

The Cerro Blanco site, located in the lower Nepeña Valley, is a ceremonial center of the Formative Period, which has been considered, without adequate substantiating data, to have been influenced by the Chavín culture. In this brief paper, a local chronology, complemented with data from the nearby site of Huaca Partida, will be presented in an attempt to establish Cerro Blanco within an interregional chronological frame. On the basis of the new archaeological evidence, this broad synchronic comparison suggests an episode of intensive trans-regional interaction. In this context, Cerro Blanco emerges as an essential site for understanding social dynamics during the Andean Formative Period.