Until Michael Moseley’s new volume, readers looking for an introduction to the archaeology of the Central Andes have faced a difficult situation. An excellent but dated textbook, Peru Before the Incas, by Edward P. Lanning, was published in 1967 and has long been out of print. An earlier text, Peru, by Geoffrey H. S. Bushnell (1957), now reads like an artifact from an earlier epoch of archaeological thought. The only overview available in recent years has been The Peoples and Cultures of Ancient Peru, by Luis Lumbreras, originally written in 1964-65 and updated sometime before February 1972 for its publication in English by the Smithsonian Institution (1974). Although this volume went through many printings, it was never revised, and by the 1980s it was hopelessly out of date. The publication of Richard Keatinge’s edited volume Peruvian Prehistory: An Overview of pre-Inca and Inca Society in 1988 offered partial relief, but the chapters are uneven in their focus and level, and although the volume has numerous strengths, the book lacks the coherence sought for a basic textbook or introduction.
The absence of an up-to-date textbook has been particularly serious because Peruvian archaeology, and Andean archaeology in general, experienced a surge of investigations and research breakthroughs during the 1970s and 1980s. These findings have not reached the broad readership they deserve. Of course, it is this quantum jump in archaeological information that poses a daunting task to any author undertaking a synthetic volume on Peruvian prehistory.
The good news is that Michael Moseley has written an outstanding volume that provides a comprehensive and coherent introduction to the prehistory of the Central Andes for the general reader. In a well-written and beautifully illustrated book, Moseley traces the development of Andean civilization from the first peopling of South America to the collapse of the Inca Empire. The book effectively highlights the distinctive nature of Andean civilization and the diversity of forms that it took over the millennia.
Few scholars are in a better position to write a volume of this kind. Moseley has been directing projects in the Andes for 25 years, and his research has played an important role in shaping contemporary understanding of Andean prehistory. Although his investigations have been concentrated along the Peruvian littoral, he has made an effort to provide a balanced account of developments both in the highlands and on the coast. The volume’s primary focus is the changing patterns of socioeconomic and political organization, but Moseley also examines cultural features such as ceramic style, iconography, and architectural design to make inferences about social behavior, organization, and other subjects. By using this approach he avoids the temptation to turn the prehistory of ancient Andean peoples into a chronological account of extinct pottery styles. The result is a highly readable and accessible volume that conveys a sense of the dynamism and complexity of the Andean past and the accomplishments of the Andean peoples.
Unlike previous texts, Moseley’s begins with an overview of Inca society and culture before presenting a narrative account of the diverse cultures that preceded it. While this organization has the advantage of giving the reader a vivid image of native Andean culture from the outset, it results in an anticlimactic finish to the volume, which concludes with Chimor and other immediate forerunners of Tawantinsuyu. Moseley’s short but incisive epilogue, contemplating the lessons of Andean prehistory and its relation to the present crisis in Peru, partially offsets this structural weakness.
Contrary to the expectations created by the subtitle, Moseley frequently includes archaeological information from Ecuador, Bolivia, and Chile. Indeed, one of the this book’s strengths is that it is much more than an “archaeology of Peru.” To those familiar with Moseley’s research, it will come as no surprise that this volume pays special attention to the impact of climatic change and natural disasters on sociocultural evolution. The spread of cultural patterns, and even empires like that of Huari, is viewed as adaptive dispersal the alternative socioeconomic strategies employed by native groups are considered as multiple evolutionary pathways in a complex and challenging environment.
The Incas and Their Ancestors is particularly appropriate as an introduction for the lay reader or as a beginning college textbook. The 225 photographs, line drawings, and maps help to visualize the material discussed. The bibliography is also useful, although the text makes use of many publications not included among the bibliographic citations. There are no footnotes or endnotes and, in contrast to Lumbreras’ text, this volume is not designed to serve as a guide to more advanced study. Nevertheless, this book is filled with ideas that will intrigue and challenge more advanced readers. In summary, Michael Moseley has written a book that was badly needed. The result of his efforts is an intellectually stimulating and aesthetically pleasing synthesis of Central Andean prehistory.
