Perhaps the contributions of South American archaeology to the larger field of world archaeology have been inadequately recognized. If so, this is probably because there have been relatively few archaeologists working in South America outside of Peru and recent advances in knowledge in other parts of the continent are only beginning to enter larger archaeological discourse. Many ideas of and about South American archaeology held by scholars from outside the area are going to change irrevocably with the appearance of the present volume. Not only does the Handbook of South American Archaeology (HSAA) provide immense and broad information about ancient South America, the volume also showcases the contributions made by South Americans to social theory. Moreover, one of the merits of this volume is that about half the authors (30) are South Americans, and the bibliographies in their chapters will be especially useful guides to Spanish and Portuguese literature as well as to the latest research. It is inevitable that the HSAA will be compared with the multi-volume Handbook of South American Indians (HSAI), with its detailed descriptions of indigenous peoples of South America, that was organized and edited by Julian Steward. Although there are heroic archaeological essays in the HSAI, by the likes of Junius Bird, Gordon Willey, John Rowe, and John Murra, Steward states frankly in his introduction to Volume Two that “arch- ology is included by way of background” to the ethnographic chapters.

An enigmatic people lived on the coast of Peru between 2700 and 2000 years ago that academia spends little time studying. In the driest part of the country which receives less than half an inch of rain per year they were enormously successful at agriculture and fishing and were very advanced as regards textile production, had the potters wheel and constructed ships of totora reed with cotton cloth sails.The most intriguing characteristic of these Paracas people was that they had elongated heads, and through my research I can state that the earliest of them, especially their nobility were born with elongated skulls; cranial deformation of their infants being performed later due to genetic mixing with normal local Homo sapiens sapiens.They also had genetically red hair, and thus were most likely light skinned and may have had green or blue eyes; thus, they were not Native Americans. Recent and extensive DNA testing shows us that they very well could have migrated from the Black Sea area as much as 3000 years ago, and sought refuge from invasion and oppression.Academia has either ignored or suppressed this information, and that is why I present it to you here.

Nine contributions from archaeologists, art historians, a fiber artist, and a fiber chemist discuss diverse aspects of textiles and pottery as they represent a 900-year-long cultural tradition that flourished many centuries ago on Peru's south coast. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Table of contents

A guidebook that contains reports and travel conditions in the areas South of Lima devastated by the August 2007 Pisco Earthquake. It helps visitors to explore Peru's ruins, including the Ollantaytambo, Cusco, the fortress of Kuelap, and also the white city of Arequipa, surrounded by snow capped volcanoes.

Library holds volume 2, part 2 only.