G&A Andean archaeologists author chapter on ancient spatial organization
G&A professor Dr. David Chicoine and LSU alumnus Dr. Matthew Helmer (MA Anthropology, 2011) recently co-authored "Spatial Clustering, Focal Nodes and Neighborhood Organization in Early Horizon Peru: Comparative Perspectives from Caylán and Samanco, Nepeña Valley" for the volume Neighborhood and District Integration in the Andes and Mesoamerica. The bilingual and open access book, edited by Gabriela Cervantes Quequezana and John Walden, is published by the Center for Comparative Archaeology of the University of Pittsburgh.
Chicoine and Helmer's chapter leverages data from long-term fieldwork in the Nepeña Valley of Peru to explore variations in the size, scale, and organization of neighborhoods. They particularly focus on the spatial clustering of architectural residential units, focal nodes, and overall settlement layouts, and their implications for better understanding the development of social complexity in the ancient Americas.
Congratulations to all collaborators!