Open Collections

Sghinolfi, Amedeo

Database of Religious History (DRH)

The Virú State was a first-generation state (i.e., a state formation that evolves without contact with other states, see Spencer 2010) that developed in the Virú Valley, North Coast of Peru, between about 200 BCE and 700 CE. This state first unified the Virú Valley into a single political entity, establishing a four-tiered settlement hierarchy. At the top of this settlement hierarchy was the political capital of the Gallinazo Group, a large (ca. 10,000-14,000 people) urban center featuring civic-ceremonial and residential structures. In the first four centuries CE, the state expanded northward to the Moche and Chicama valleys, establishing a number of outposts. The development and growth of the huaca centers following Moche ideology (see Quilter and Koons 2012) caused the retreat of the Virú State in its homeland. Towards the end of its trajectory (ca. 500-700 CE), possible social and political changes led to the emergence of a new political center in the valley Huancaco, which was abandoned after a strong El Niño event (Bourget 2003; Bourget 2010; Downey 2014; Espinosa et al. 2021; Millaire 2010; Millaire and Eastaugh 2011; Millaire and Eastaugh 2014; Millaire et al. 2016). Even though no written source about this political formation and its people is available, information gathered during archaeological excavations may shed some light on the Virú State's religious practices.

Other

eng

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0438236

Non UBC

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/