Development of Peruvian Coastal Tiahuanacoid Styles

Abstract

In many works on Peruvian archaeology with their necessary emphasis on pottery styles as diagnostic elements of cultural development and change, one is often struck by the seeming confusion and number of styles in the Tiahuanacoid or Middle periods, and the resulting number of conflicting names for chronologically affiliated strains. This paper is an attempt to clarify in part this confusion and also an attempt to explain why it should exist and undoubtedly will continue to exist for some time to come, or at least until a great deal more field research has been completed on the coast of Peru.