Brian Billman
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Anthropology, Faculty Member
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Cerro Cumbray is a Chimú hilltop settlement located near the modern town of Simbal, Peru. During the 2018 field season, the authors used aerial photography via drone to create a site map and conducted a limited pedestrian survey in order... more
Cerro Cumbray is a Chimú hilltop settlement located near the modern town of Simbal, Peru. During the 2018 field season, the authors used aerial photography via drone to create a site map and conducted a limited pedestrian survey in order to better understand site chronology and context. While Cerro Cumbray lacks indications of intensive fortification; the viewshed afforded by its location site, its strategic position relative to the confluence of two rivers, and its natural fortifications in the form of cliffs imply a largely defensive motivation to the site's occupation. The mapping and survey data is used to identify habitation zones and activities within the site. At a larger scale, GIS software allows for the analysis of the role of the site within the Chimú defensive network of the Moche Valley.
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Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
Chapter 10 discusses the Late Intermediate Period (1000–1460 cal AD) and Late Horizon (1470–1532 cal AD) site of Cerro la Virgen in the Moche valley on the Peruvian north coast. The authors argue that the site was self-sufficient except... more
Chapter 10 discusses the Late Intermediate Period (1000–1460 cal AD) and Late Horizon (1470–1532 cal AD) site of Cerro la Virgen in the Moche valley on the Peruvian north coast. The authors argue that the site was self-sufficient except for water for fields, in contrast to earlier interpretations. However, households engaged in multiple economic activities; the site is not characterized by occupational specialization, and both farmers and fishermen lived at Cerro la Virgen.
Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
Understanding the complex relationships among social identities, long-distance exchange, and migration has long been an important issue in archaeology. In the central Andes, archaeologists have grappled with these issues to understand... more
Understanding the complex relationships among social identities, long-distance exchange, and migration has long been an important issue in archaeology. In the central Andes, archaeologists have grappled with these issues to understand highland–coastal interaction. We present a case study of these relationships in the coca-growing zone of the Moche Valley (chaupiyunga zone, 200–1,200 m asl) during the Early Intermediate period (400 BC–AD 600). We focus on reconstructing the social identities of the people who lived at Cerro León, a large hill town situated astride an important access route into the chaupiyunga from the highlands. Unlike most sites in the chaupiyunga, the site is dominated by highland-style pottery. Petrographic analysis indicates that the sources of the highland-style pottery were in the adjacent highlands. Our analysis of daily domestic activities, vernacular architecture, personal adornment, and ritual practices, including burial practices, indicates that most of t...
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ABSTRACT Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Santa Barbara, 1996. Bibliography: p. 368-385.
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Huaca Menocucho is a prehistoric monumental center located in the middle Moche Valley on the northern coast of Peru. The site shows evidence of several construction and occupation phases of the Moche Valley cultural sequence (Prieto and... more
Huaca Menocucho is a prehistoric monumental center located in the middle Moche Valley on the northern coast of Peru. The site shows evidence of several construction and occupation phases of the Moche Valley cultural sequence (Prieto and Maquera, 2015). Huaca Menocucho and the surrounding area have faced looting and destruction from several sources. In July 2016, MOCHE, Inc. conducted a drone survey combined with a systematic surface artifact survey to record information about activities and taphonomy of the site’s occupation. With the use of photogrammetry software, drone technology, geospatial analysis, and interpolation of surface artifact densities, this study outlines the spatial extents and densities of several of the site’s occupational phases. Additionally, this study explores how an integration of high-resolution site DEMs and systematic surface collections may assist archaeologists in investigating sites that have been heavily looted.
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Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
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Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
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Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
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Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
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Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
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ABSTRACT One of the fundamental questions in anthropology is the origin of formal institutions of rule. A central issue in the study of the origins of centralized political organization is the timing and tempo of the emergence of pristine... more
ABSTRACT One of the fundamental questions in anthropology is the origin of formal institutions of rule. A central issue in the study of the origins of centralized political organization is the timing and tempo of the emergence of pristine chiefdoms and states. Why did centralized political institutions develop rapidly at an early date in certain areas, while in other areas they emerged more slowly at a much later date? Current views of human origins propose that anatomically modern human beings had evolved by approximately 100,000 years ago, yet centralized political organizations apparently did not develop for at least another 94,000 years. Early pristine chiefdoms and states developed in only a few restricted areas between 6,000 and 3,000 years ago. Most of the world was not incorporated into state-level polities until the last 100 to 500 years during the period of colonial, nation-state expansion. Theories of the origins of centralized political organization must explain not only why centralized institutions developed, but how, when, and where. These crucial issues can be summarized in three questions: 1 How? By what process did pristine centralized polities develop? 2 Where? Why did this process occur in certain areas and not others? 3 When? Why did this process occur when it did in human prehistory?
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In this paper, I examine the role that irrigation played in the formation of the Southern Moche state in the Moche Valley, Peru. Specifically, I attempt to test Wittfogel and Steward's hydraulic model, which postulates that in certain... more
In this paper, I examine the role that irrigation played in the formation of the Southern Moche state in the Moche Valley, Peru. Specifically, I attempt to test Wittfogel and Steward's hydraulic model, which postulates that in certain arid environments, the managerial requirements of construction and maintenance of irrigation systems played a crucial role in the formation of centralized polities. I formulate and evaluate four hypotheses concerning the role of irrigation systems in the Moche Valley. Those hypotheses are then evaluated using settlement pattern data drawn from two surveys that cover the entire coastal section of the valley and provide information on 910 archaeological sites. Based on those data, I present a sequence of political development for the valley from the formation of the first autonomous village in the Late Preceramic period (2500–1800 B. C.) to the zenith of the Southern Moche state. Evaluation of the four hypotheses indicates that the managerial require...
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In this paper we test the hypothesis that an intensification of maize production preceded the development of a regional Moche political economy in the Moche Valley of north coastal Peru during the Early Intermediate period (400 B.C.—A.D.... more
In this paper we test the hypothesis that an intensification of maize production preceded the development of a regional Moche political economy in the Moche Valley of north coastal Peru during the Early Intermediate period (400 B.C.—A.D. 600). To do so we analyze stable isotopic signatures of 48 bone apatite and 17 tooth enamel samples from human remains recovered from the site of Cerro Oreja, a large urban and ceremonial center in the Moche Valley. These remains date to the Guañape, Salinar, or Gallinazo phases and provide a diachronic picture of subsistence before the appearance of the Southern Moche state. The most notable patterns identified in the study include a lack of significant change in δ13Capatitevalues from the Guañape to Satinar phases, followed by a significant enrichment in δ13Capatitevalues from the Salinar to Gallinazo phases. Several lines of evidence, including archaeological context, dental data, and comparative carbon stable isotope data from experimental anima...
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Geoarchaeological study on the southern piedmont of Sleeping Ute Mountain in southwestern Colorado indicates the presence of discontinuous ephemeral streams that were the foci of episodic Puebloan occupation between A.D. 600s and 1280.... more
Geoarchaeological study on the southern piedmont of Sleeping Ute Mountain in southwestern Colorado indicates the presence of discontinuous ephemeral streams that were the foci of episodic Puebloan occupation between A.D. 600s and 1280. Characterized by arroyos, discontinuous ephemeral streams contain alternating aggrading and degrading reaches and are well suited for ak chin floodwater agriculture. Episodic Puebloan abandonment of the southern piedmont correlates with periods of drought but does not appear to be linked to stream entrenchment. We question a priori assumptions of droughts correlated to stream entrenchment and urge caution in the use of drought-arroyo models for settlement shifts in alluvial flood plains without supporting stratigraphic or geomorphic evidence.
Research Interests: History, Palaeoclimatology, Archaeology, Geomorphology, Stratigraphy, and 10 moreGeoarchaeology, GeoArcheology, Agroecology, American Culture, Agriculture, American antiquity, Geoarchaeology and Paleoenvironmental Reconstructions, Quaternary Geoarchaeology, Anasazi, and Mesa Verde Tradition Archaeology
The existence of cannibalism has emerged as one of the most controversial issues in the archaeology of the American Southwest. In this paper, we examine this issue by presenting the results of our investigation at 5MT10010, a small early... more
The existence of cannibalism has emerged as one of the most controversial issues in the archaeology of the American Southwest. In this paper, we examine this issue by presenting the results of our investigation at 5MT10010, a small early Pueblo III habitation site in southwestern Colorado. Battered, broken bones from seven individuals were discovered in two adjacent pithouses at 5MT10010. Mixed and incomplete remains of four adults and an adolescent were recovered from the floor and ventilator shaft of one pithouse; the remains of two subadults were found on the floor and in various subfeatures of the second. Cut marks and percussion scars implicate humans in the disarticulation and reduction of these bodies. Evidence of heat exposure on some bone fragments and laboratory analyses of a human coprolite recovered from one of the pithouses support the interpretation that people prepared and consumed human body parts. The discovery of disarticulated human remains at 5MT10010 is one of a...
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The original authors of Billman et al. (2000) are joined by three other analysts from the Cowboy Wash research team to respond to the critique of this article by Dongoske et al. (2000). Dongoske and his coauthors state that Billman et al.... more
The original authors of Billman et al. (2000) are joined by three other analysts from the Cowboy Wash research team to respond to the critique of this article by Dongoske et al. (2000). Dongoske and his coauthors state that Billman et al. (2000) failed to test alternative hypotheses or to consider alternative explanations for the findings at 5MT10010 and similar sites. The original authors point out that alternative hypotheses were examined and rejected, leaving a violent episode of cannibalism as the most plausible explanation for the remains found at 5MT10010. Dongoske et al. also question many aspects of the osteological, archaeological, coprolite, and biochemical analyses that were presented in the 5MT10010 study. Our response addresses issues of data collection, procedure, and interpretation, and attempts to clarify some points that were not fully developed in the original text due to length restrictions.
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Huaca Menocucho is a prehistoric monumental center located in the middle Moche Valley on the northern coast of Peru. The site shows evidence of several construction and occupation phases of the Moche Valley cultural sequence (Prieto and... more
Huaca Menocucho is a prehistoric monumental center located in the middle Moche Valley on the northern coast of Peru. The site shows evidence of several construction and occupation phases of the Moche Valley cultural sequence (Prieto and Maquera, 2015). Huaca Menocucho and the surrounding area have faced looting and destruction from several sources. In July 2016, MOCHE, Inc. conducted a drone survey combined with a systematic surface artifact survey to record information about activities and taphonomy of the site’s occupation. With the use of photogrammetry software, drone technology, geospatial analysis, and interpolation of surface artifact densities, this study outlines the spatial extents and densities of several of the site’s occupational phases. Additionally, this study explores how an integration of high-resolution site DEMs and systematic surface collections may assist archaeologists in investigating sites that have been heavily looted.
Research Interests:
In this paper we explore the use of coca in the Moche valley of north costal Perú during the Early Intermediate period. To do so we examined the dental remains of 173 residents of Cerro Oreja. These remains date to the Salinar and... more
In this paper we explore the use of coca in the Moche valley of north costal Perú during the Early Intermediate period. To do so we examined the dental remains of 173 residents of Cerro Oreja. These remains date to the Salinar and Gallinazo phases and thus provide us with a picture of coca use before the emergence of the Southern Moche state. We find that patterns of oral health and micro-plant remains recovered from dental calculus suggest shifting use of coca during this period. These data suggest that coca was an important resource in the emergence of social inequality in the Moche valley.
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In this paper we test the hypothesis that an intensification of maize production preceded the development of a regional Moche political economy in the Moche Valley of north coastal Peru during the Early Intermediate period (400 B.C.-A.D.... more
In this paper we test the hypothesis that an intensification of maize production preceded the development of a regional Moche political economy in the Moche Valley of north coastal Peru during the Early Intermediate period (400 B.C.-A.D. 600). To do so we analyze stable isotopic signatures of 48 bone apatite and 17 tooth enamel samples from human remains recovered from the site of Cerro Oreja, a large urban and ceremonial center in the Moche Valley. These remains date to the Guañape, Salinar, or Gallinazo phases and provide a diachronic picture of subsistence before the appearance of the Southern Moche state. The most notable patterns identified in the study include a lack of significant change in δ13Capatite values from the Guañape to Salinar phases, followed by a significant enrichment in δ13Capatite values from the Salinar to Gallinazo phases. Several lines of evidence, including archaeological context, dental data, and comparative carbon stable isotope data from experimental animal studies and studies of archaeological human remains support the interpretation that the observed 13C enrichment in stable isotope values in the Gallinazo phase primarily reflects maize intensification. The stable isotope data from Cerro Oreja thus suggest that a shift in subsistence toward a highly productive and storable crop may have served as an important precursor to state development during the Early Intermediate period in the Moche Valley.