Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (106 page)

One of the largest and most complicated settlements of the Nasca Culture which flourished in a desert area beside the Nasca River in southern Peru in the Early Intermediate Period,
c.
ad 1–700. The site comprises a series of about 40 artificially modified hills, and walled enclosures. Although the site is often considered an urban centre, excavations here by Helaine Silverman in 1987 revealed very little evidence of permanent occupation. Instead, the site may be seen as a pilgrimage centre. The mounds, constructed with thick mud-brick walls to contain construction material supported temples, shrines, and ceremonial structures.
[Sum.: H. Silverman , 1993,
Cahuachi in the ancient Nasca world
. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press]

 
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Cultural grouping found in the Lower and Middle Amazon and named after the type-site of Caiambé, Brazil, tentatively dated to the period
c.
ad 700–800. Characterized by pottery assigned to the Incised Rim Horizon of ceramic styles in the Amazon Basin.

 
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Cultural groupings found in the Rio Ucayali area of Amazonia in the period
c.
ad 1200–1500, characterized by its varied ceramic assemblages which belong to the Polychrome Horizon in the Amazon Basin. Vessels include square-shaped open dishes, anthropomorphic urns, and pots with a square-shaped cross-section. The wares are well made and usually decorated with painted designs. Ethnohistorical records suggest that the Rio Ucayali region was colonized by Cocama and Omagua tribes from the middle Amazon, the result of which is probably the Caimito Complex. The polychrome ceramic traditions continued until recent times among the Shipibo and Cashibo groups.

 
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Traditionally, small wooden trading vessel, brightly painted and rigged for sail. Found around Greece and in the Aegean.

 
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A general term used to describe a deliberately constructed pile of stones or stone rubble, often forming a burial mound or
BARROW
, but sometimes the result of clearing fields in preparation for cultivation.

 
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A group of clearance
CAIRNS
.

 
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