On 3-4 March 2006 the “Searching for Patterns in the Diversity of the Central Andean Formative” conference convened at Stanford University. The goal was to synthesize a broad array of data about the Formative Period in the Central Andes into coherent understandings of several themes: Chronology, Ideology, Social Organization, and Regional Interaction (we hope to add Subsistence to the published results as well). In attendance were:
Rafael Vega Centeno (Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos)
Richard Burger (Yale University)
Henning Bischof (Mannheim Museum)
Yoshio Onuki (Tokyo University)
Tom Pozorski (Texas Pan-American University)
Shelia Pozorski (Texas Pan-American University)
Koichiro Shibata (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science)
Chip Stanish (UCLA)
Kathy Schreiber (UCSB)
Matt Sayre (UC Berkeley)
John Rick (Stanford University)
Rosa Rick
Daniel Contreras (Stanford University)
John Wolf (Stanford University)
Christian Mesia (Stanford University)
Nikki Slovak (Stanford University)
Geraldine Slean (Stanford University)
Ignacio Cancino (Stanford University)
Sarah Barnum (Yale University)
Several of these participants presented papers focused on the relationship of their work to one of the conference themes. Specifically:
CHRONOLOGY
Koichiro Shibata and Henning Bischof
IDEOLOGY
John Rick and Yoshio Onuki
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
Tom and Shelia Pozorski, Rafael Vega Centeno, Chip Stanish
REGIONAL INTERACTION
Christian Mesia, Dan Contreras, Matt Sayre, Richard Burger
The sites covered included a broad array of the Central Andes, and some comparative perspective from the South-Central Andes.
It is now our goal/task to distill the two days of productive discussion that ensued into a published product. We would like that product to both reflect and recapitulate the interactive character of the conference itself. To that end, we will be posting written material as we receive it, and encourage written responses from participants. Ultimately the published product will consist of both position statements by various authors and reactions to those statements by other participants.
To encourage this interactive approach, we have developed a password-protected website, where we will post .pdf files of submissions and where all conference participants may directly respond to submissions by posting written responses. Moreover, if anyone would like access to videotapes from some portion of the conference, please contact us and we will make that available.
While we had hoped to make major progress prior to the onset of summer/field season interventions, we are realistic in recognizing that will happen limitedly at best for most of us. We are happy to announce, however, that two items are posted on the site: a summary (from one viewpoint!) of the proceedings of the meeting, and a formulation by (the responsible!) Dr. Onuki. These are available for comment at any time on the website, and both Dan Contreras (dcontre@stanford.edu) and John Rick (from 21 June-6 September at johnwinrick@yahoo.com; otherwise johnrick@stanford.edu) will be watching for incoming position papers for posting to the site. At the end of the North American summer we will be returning to active mode, and will be requesting postable papers from those who presented at the round table. We strongly encourage anyone with time prior to September to at least write a rough draft or outline, whether or not you circulate it at this point. Our memories and records of what we presented will not get any clearer, and the incorporation of ideas from participants at the meeting will not get any easier, as time passes. We would very much appreciate keeping at least somewhat ‘on task’ in this limbo period in the hopes that we can make rapid progress during the upcoming academic year.
By design, but certainly not by intent, economy and subsistence were background issues for the meeting. In some ways this reflected a fascination we hold with getting at the more ‘high level’ and esoteric facets of societies that are rarely obvious in the archaeological record. But basic energy flow factors, productive potentials, and technological and domesticate development are underpinnings to any knowledge about societies’ functioning – no matter how determinative, or even derivative, we might allow the economic core to be. Here we are on surprisingly weak ground – few, other than Burger, have ventured very far into this realm, and the data are not overwhelming in their abundance, emphasis, or interpretation. We would certainly like to remedy this through web communication – while we did not have major presentations on the theme, we might be able to achieve a more cooperative, less single-authored interaction.
To go to the site enter here.