Peru - officially the Republic of Peru - is a country in western South America. It is bordered to the north by Ecuador and Colombia, to the east by Brazil, to the southeast by Bolivia, to the south by Chile, and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. The Peruvian territory was the birthplace of the Norte Chico, one of the oldest civilizations in the world. The Inca Empire also existed here - the largest state in America before Columbus. The Spanish Empire conquered the area in the 16th century and made it their colony. The country gained independence in 1821.

Peru today is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions. Its geography varies from the arid plains of the Pacific coast to the peaks of the Andes mountains and the rainforests of the Amazon Basin. It is a developing country with a cost of living of about 40%. Its main areas of activity include agriculture, fishing, mining, and the production of products such as textiles.

The Peruvian population of 28 million is multi-ethnic, including Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechua or other native languages. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide variety of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music.

Peru is one of the most visited countries in Latin America - the territory of this country contains the largest number of monuments of the ancient Inca Empire - Machu Picchu, Cusco and many others. Also in Peru are monuments of such ancient cultures as Nazca (Nazca lines, which are visible only from space), monuments of Chavin and Quechua cultures.

Sights of Lima

The capital of the country - Lima was founded in 1535, and during the Conquista was the political and military capital of the Spanish possessions in South America. Today, this huge city, located on the Pacific coast, is considered one of the most unfavorable to visit - dry and hot climate (average annual temperature is about +26 C with 50 mm of precipitation), constant smog from "garua" and car exhausts, the accumulation of millions people and machines give Lima the reputation of "the city where the sun never shines". But nevertheless, the historical center of Lima Centro, built according to a clear scheme, with Spanish colonial mansions and lattice wooden balconies (declared by UNESCO as one of the World Cultural Heritage of Humanity), as well as rich neighborhoods of the outskirts, are quite interesting.

The main attractions of the capital are the central Plaza de Armas with a stone fountain (XVII century, the oldest building in the city), the Cathedral of Santo Domingo (1540, it houses the tomb of Francisco Pizarro) and the Government Palace, numerous buildings of the colonial era , the Archbishop's Palace and the Church of San Francisco, which preserved the catacombs of the colonial period, the Plaza de San Martin with the statue of San Martin, who declared the independence of Peru, two temples of the pre-Inca period in San Isidro, the Museum of the Inquisition, the Museum of Art, the colossal Museum of the Nation and the unique Museum of Gold, the National Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, and the Museum of Ceramics named after Rafael Larco Herrera.

Noteworthy are the Miraflores theater and restaurant district, the bohemian Barranco quarter - the center of the city's nightlife, the rich seaside district of San Isidro, the "street of lovers" Puente de los Suspiros ("Bridge of Sighs"), leading to an observation deck with a beautiful view of The Pacific Ocean, as well as a number of huge "Indian markets" (Merchado Indio, Miraflores, Pueblo Libre, Kennedy Park, etc.), which are considered the best places for shopping.

The outskirts of the city are more picturesque than the capital. 80 km from Lima, at an altitude of about 3900 m, is the plateau of Marcahuasi. A huge number of megalithic sculptures and rock paintings are concentrated here, the origin of which is still unknown. On a rocky cliff 29 km south of Lima lies Pachacamac - a place of worship for the Divine Creator of the Earth, the most important religious center of the pre-Inca period. In the neighboring Rimak valley, the mysterious buildings of Puruchuko and Cajamarquilla are located.

Other sights in Peru

Cusco (Khosho - "center of the earth") is one of the most ancient unusual cities in the world. Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire. The name of the city is translated from the language of the Quechua Indians as "the navel of the Earth." Indeed, it was during the height of the Inca Empire, which stretched from Peru to Chile and Argentina. Tours start from Cusco. For example, in Pisac - the citadel of the Incas on the top of the mountain range, to the Pyramid of the Moon, to Chincheros, a typical village of the Quechua Indians, who organize folk markets on Sundays. To the north-west of Cusco, at an altitude of about 3500 m above sea level, there is a monumental archaeological complex Sacsayhuaman ("Gray stone-colored bird of prey") - three parallel zigzag walls, a stone "Inca throne", 21 bastions, over which powerful towers rise , each of which was able to shelter up to a thousand soldiers. 80 km. from Lima, at an altitude of approximately 3900 m, there is a little-known plateau of Marcahuasi, striking with giant stone sculptures of animals (elephants, turtles, camels), which currently do not live not only in Peru, but throughout South America, and rock paintings of human persons.

Trujillo is famous for its churches and monasteries, the archaeological museum and colonial mansions. Not far from Trujillo is the capital of the ancient Chimu empire - Chan Chan, built of clay and stones. Millions of stones went to the construction of the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon. Another pyramid - Kao, decorated with colored reliefs, can be seen in the archaeological complex of El Brujo. In the vicinity of the city of Chiclayo in 1987, one of the most impressive burials in the world, the "Tomb of Lord Sipon", was discovered. During excavations, many gold and silver jewelry were found in it. Another archaeological complex discovered by Thor Heyerdahl attracts tourists to the small town of Tukums.

In the cities and villages of the Sierra, the 300-year-old influence of Spanish culture is also felt - the Catholic style, temples, the obligatory central square of Plaza de Armas ("Weapons Square"), and the rectangular "chessboard" urban development. The eastern part of the country, Selva - a humid hot climate, tropical forest, wild sources of the Amazon River, numerous fortresses of the Inca culture, many of which are still lost in the jungle.

One of them - Machu Picchu ("Machu" in Quechua means "old", "picchu" - "mountain"), located not far from Sacsayhuaman, was discovered only in 1911. it is not known when this city arose and by whom it was founded. In essence, this is a whole complex of archaeological groups, the number of which currently reaches 24 (and is constantly increasing as a result of new research), which are scattered over an area of ​​​​about 33 thousand hectares. Of particular interest to visitors is the Stone of the Sun - "Intihuatana", which is believed to have played the role of an astronomical observatory, the Sacred Square, the ruins of the Temple of the Three Windows, the ruins of various structures, stairs, of which there are more than a hundred, aqueducts, punched in the stones.

Machu Picchu is an ancient city lost in the Andes, one of the most important monuments of the Inca civilization. Due to its strategic location in the Andes, the city was not captured by the Spanish conquistadors, which saved the city from sacking, and now it is the most preserved and most important architectural monument of Peru. Peru is an internationally recognized reserve of monuments of the past. The cultures of Chavan, Chimu, Nazca, Tiahuanco, Mochica and, of course, the Inca left many mysteries - the majestic ruins of Machu Picchu, palaces, pyramids, mausoleums and religious buildings of the Lambasque Valley. The Costa (Pacific coast) is attractive with sand dunes, flocks of flamingos, cormorants, penguins, colonies of sea lions. In the Nazca desert, in addition to the famous mysterious drawings, numerous monuments of the ancient Indian cultures of Peru are well preserved - Mochica, Chan Chan, the cult and priestly center of Pachacamac. In the central mountainous part, the Sierra - the great Andes, the deepest gorges, turbulent rivers, inaccessible villages.

Lake Titicaca, located on the border of Bolivia and Peru, is located at an altitude of 3810 meters, it is the world's largest alpine navigable reservoir - its area is 8287 square meters. km. This ancient lake has preserved its ichthyofauna to this day, more oceanic than freshwater, there are even sharks.

Tiahuanaco is an ancient port city on the shore of the lake, located at an altitude of 3625 m above sea level and occupies an area of ​​450 thousand square meters. m. The data of mathematical and astronomical estimates relate the construction of Tiwanaku to approximately 15,000 BC. The ruins of impressive structures located here have stonework, about the same as in Machu Picchu. The largest and oldest of these buildings is the Akapana pyramid ("artificial mountain" in the Quechua language), 15 m high, the length of the side of the base is 230 m.

One of the "pearls" of the country is the famous Nazca desert, located in the department of Ica in the south of the country, between the rivers Ingenio and Nazca. An extensive (about 500 sq. km), almost square stone plateau, lying in a harsh arid climate, is dotted with enigmatic drawings of colossal (from 40 m to 8 km) sizes visible only from the air, made by one continuous line carved in stone. The date of their creation is tentatively estimated as 350-700 BC. e., but it is not completely known why they were created. Several hundred different figures - from squares and simple straight lines to stylized images of animals, birds and people in strange attire (moreover, many types of depicted living objects simply do not occur in the Nazca region), cover a huge area, sometimes intersecting with each other, sometimes stretching in strict rows for several kilometers.

In addition to the drawings, there is another interesting attraction in Nazca - the Chauchilla necropolis, dating back to the late period of the Nazca culture (around the 1st century AD).

4 - Inca architecture.

Buildings in Peru are generally simpler than in Mexico. Pillars and columns are less common, but round buildings are more frequent, the stones of which are hewn according to the required curvature. Inside the buildings, the monotony of the walls is enlivened by the niches arranged in them; outside, on the stone facing of the walls, decorated with inscriptions, there are no painted quadrangular frames surrounding these inscriptions, which play such a prominent role in the ornamentation of Yucatan structures. Often only the gate received plastic decoration.

Peruvian pyramids.

The stepped pyramids of the Peruvians, located mainly along the seashore, were built to serve as the basis for other buildings, not as exclusively as in Mexico, but also played an independent role. So, for example, the building on two ledges in Kuslan and the massive pyramid built of unbaked bricks in Nepenya are nothing more than tombstones. With less certainty, the same can be said about the giant pyramid near Trujillo, in the country of the ancient rulers of the Chimu. On the contrary, there is no doubt that the huge pyramid of 10 ledges in Moche and the crescent-shaped ledge structure in Pachacamac served only as supports for the temples. The huge pyramids in the Santa Valley show how the Incas dealt with the structures of the peoples they conquered. They filled up the large halls painted with bright colors, put on the outside of the building, so to speak, a cover of unbaked bricks, and on its top they erected a temple to the sun. "In the center of the earth," Bastian said, "the Inca ruled over the world and locked the deities of the conquered provinces in divine dungeons."

Inca cities near Lake Titicaca.

On the inhospitable heights surrounding Lake Titicaca, from the shores of which both the religion of the Incas and their power over neighboring tribes began to spread, the ruins of an entire city that existed in the previous time have been preserved. These ruins, described by A. Stuebel and M. Oule, are near Tiaguanaco, in present-day Bolivia, at an altitude of almost 4,000 feet above sea level. Researchers distinguish here the remains of the two cities proper Ak-Kapany and Puma-Punga. In artistic terms, monolithic, still quite well-preserved gates in Ak-Kapan, carved from gray volcanic tuff, 3 meters high, are interesting. Their western side is two stories high; the middle door and blind windows on the lower floor are framed with architraves with an extension upwards. The door reaches almost to the upper floor, and the frieze separating it from the lower one forms a rectangular ledge above the door. The main attraction of the eastern side is the figured ornamentation of the upper floor filled with a flat relief. Above the frieze, which is a strip of a real meander, interspersed with human heads and figures, a rectangle extending above the frieze is placed, on which a quadrangularly stylized figure of a god is carved, sitting on a throne in a strictly symmetrical pose. On the sides of this rectangle, 3 frieze strips stretch one above the other, divided into 48 equal squares; all of them are decorated with relief images of winged scepter-bearing creatures, in the lower and upper rows - human figures, in the middle - condors with human bodies. The figures are presented in profile, facing the god occupying the center of the frieze and worshiping him. Ole, in all likelihood, is right in assuming that this scene depicts the worship of the winged geniuses of the ancestors, the patrons of the tribes, the god of heroes Viracocha... , however, skillfully connecting them together.

The palaces of the Peruvian Incas, from the capitals of which, Cuzco and Cajamarca, there are still extensive remains, were often built of clay and then painted with whitewash, but they were also built from correctly hewn stone blocks. However, on the terraces and in the palace of Manco Capac, in Cuzco, and in the group of stone houses in the vicinity of Cajamarca, we also find the so-called cyclopean walls, which are not found in Tiaguanaco. Both in the buildings of the pre-Inca period and among the Incas, niches are a favorite means of softening the monotony of vast wall spaces. Particularly curious are the niches in the temple of Viracocha, in Cacha, in the terraced walls and the palace of Atahualpa, in Cajamarca.

The cradle of the great Inca civilization - the Urubamba river valley will delight you with its beauty. And in its upper part is the capital of the Incas - Cusco. You should definitely visit the famous ruins, a cultural monument of an ancient civilization - Machu Picchu - this is the sacred city of the Incas in the mountains at an altitude of 2000 meters. On this attractions in Peru do not end. This beautiful land is rich in the amazing Titicaca and Amazon rivers.

Be sure to visit the evergreen forests of the Selva. And do not forget to stop by the city of Arequipa, which is built of white stone of volcanic origin. Arequipa is considered the most beautiful city in the country. You can also visit the mysterious Nazca Valley. This area is famous for its huge geometric figures of animals, which are visible even from space. Scientists can not unravel the mystery of the origin and purpose of this creation. Can you succeed? And, of course, a beautiful capital awaits you Peru Lima is the city of kings.

Absolutely any whim of a vacationer can be fulfilled in this piece of Latin America. presented in a resort form, extreme and unique. You can relax on beautiful sandy beaches that look like a painted landscape. For active tourists, other interesting entertainments are offered in the form of diving, climbing, surfing or rafting. And for seasoned active tourists, the green oasis of Huacachina will offer you to ride snowboards on the sand. And the uniqueness of Peru is in its historical heritage, which you can admire in museums or personally come and walk in dilapidated ancient cities.

In addition to the famous ancient historical monuments, there are other places of interest in Peru. In the city of Cusco, you should definitely visit a large market, you will be saturated with the whole Peruvian atmosphere. It is worth visiting the province of Chachapoyas. The road to it will take about two days, but it's worth it. There you can admire the beautiful forests, the fortress on Mount Kuelap, the giant Gokta waterfall. Do not rush to quickly leave the city of Arequipa, because there is a canyon with a depth of up to 4,160 meters, and this is more than the famous canyon in Colorado. Peru also has the Colco Canyon. The rainforest in the city of Iquitos is distinguished by its incredible beauty. And that's not all attractions with which the country is so rich.

filled with some mystery excursions Peru which necessarily include a visit to the pyramids. In the city of Chan Chan is the famous pyramid, which is the temple of the Sun and the Moon. In El Brujo there is a unique Cao pyramid, which is decorated with colored relief carvings. These places show what an incredible pre-Columbian history of peru. Other sightseeing tours include visits to the Amazon River and Lake Titicaca. You can also choose quiet excursions to cities, museums and monuments.

The whole country is filled with beautiful historical, natural and architectural monuments that you just need to see with your own eyes. In the capital of Lima, you can visit a monument of colonial architecture - the Cathedral of Santa Domingo, which was built in the 16th century. This cathedral houses the tomb of Francisco Pissarro. In the administrative center of Ayacucho, you can visit another cathedral in the central square, there is also an obelisk in the center, which was erected in honor of the victory in the Battle of Ayacucho in 1824 and a monument to José Sucre. But, of course, the main glory was brought by the ancient monuments of Peru that excite the imagination and cause admiration.

Museums in Peru

You can’t go home without visiting interesting ones that will clearly show how rich the heritage of this country is. Lima has the Larco Museum, which is dedicated to local history and pre-Columbian civilizations. One of the largest history museums in the whole country is the Museum of the Nation, which is also located in Lima. Cusco has a museum that houses mysterious pre-Columbian art. And in Callao there is a fortress of King Philip, which has become a museum of the Peruvian armed forces. And be sure to visit the snow-white exhibition palace in Lima, it will make you admire.

5.
Do-ceramic.
The pre-ceramic history in Rowe's chronological window is divided into six 6 time periods, from 1st to 6th.
Starting from the most mysterious, I-th pre-ceramic period, covering a significant interval of seven and a half millennia (-18.0t-9.5t BC), with objects in Oquendo and the Red zone (Red zone) on the Central coast Peru.
Continuing in the early II second (-9.5t-8.0t BC) and III third (-8.000-6.000 BC) periods such locations as: Chivateros, Lauricocha, and later Arenal, Tokepala, Puenca and Playa Chira .
In the IV fourth period (-6.0t-4.2t BC), Chivateros was replaced by Ambo (Ambo), Canario (Canario), Siches (Siches), Luz (Luz), and Tokepala and Laurikocha remain, moving to the next phase of its development.
Laurikocha, in their third stage, continue throughout the fifth fifth (-4,200-2,500 BC) period, very interesting in its essence, claiming the right to be called "early corporate".
In any case, cultures such as Honda and Vizcachani are emerging. Sites such as: Aspero in Supe, with its oldest mounds Huaca de los Idols and Huaca de los Sacrifisios, El Paraisa and Huaca La Florida in the Rimac river valley, were built at this time.
It is between the valleys of the Chikama and Rimak rivers that the greatest concentration of buildings of the "early corporate" period is noted (Moseley, 1978).
The long Pre-Pottery period in Rowy's chronology culminates in an important sixth period, Cotton-Pre-Pottery (Moseley, 1975), marked by many sites of monumental architecture. These are such masterpieces as: Caral Norte Chico (Caral), Buena Vista (Buena Vista), Casavilca (Casavilca), Culebras (Culebras), Viscachani (Viscachani), Huaca Prieta (Huaca Prieta) and, of course, Ventarron.
6.
Establishment of ceramic landmarks.
Let's listen to Jacobs again:
"In his 1962 work, Rowe ties the chronology to the well-known sequence for pottery in the Ica Valley, simply because it is a good starting point for establishing a detailed chronology for the various styles of pottery in the region.
Ceramics, the existence of which is a necessary condition for the end of the later Pre-Pottery period and the transition to the Initial period, appears in the Ica Valley at the turn of about -1,800 BC.
Roey's chronological system was later supplemented by Menzel and Lanning (Lanning, 1967), who used the radiocarbon dates available at the time."
Roey-Lunning marked two significant periods in the history of South American civilizations, dividing the cultures of ancient Peru into those that developed without traces of the presence of ceramics, and cultures that left evidence for researchers to use it.
7.
Cotton-do-ceramic.
When ordering chronological periods, taking into account the presence of textile industries, which is important for locations, the resulting pile of periods will also receive a Cotton period in the pre-ceramic history of the Peruvian archeosites (hereinafter also referred to as the "site").
Jacobs in his compilation emphasizes: "The Cotton-Pre-Pottery period, later identified by Moseley (Moseley, 1975) and widely accepted (Quilter, 1991:393), in Rowe's classification
Pozorsky and Pozorsky place it at -2,500-1,800 BC, this really early (later pre-ceramic) period (Moseley, 1992:99)".
In the chronology of Lumbreras, the Early Formative (Formation Period) layer is from -1,800 BC. 200 CE, included in the Ceramic period.
Early Chiripa, Kotosh culture, Cupisnique, Toril (Toril) stand out in the Formation period, which begins the ceramic history of Ancient Peru - it is believed that the Kumbe Mayo aqueduct was built no earlier than -1,000 BC., Las Haldas (Las Haldas), Sechin Alto (Sechin Alto), high-altitude Chavin (Mosna river valley) and Vicus (Piura river valley).
The formational period is then replaced by a seven-hundred-year-long period of "Regional cultures" (including the layers "Early Intermediate" Early Intermediate and "Middle Horizon" Middle Horizon), in which the following developed already in the new era: Moche (Mochica), Nazca, Lima, Pechiche, Piura, Tiwanaku, and added later Huari, Las Animas, Requay, Gallinaso.
8.
Variety of local chronologies.
"Most of the chronologies presented by experts for the north coast of Peru refer to isolated isolated valleys or to the Pan-Andean chronology. The dates for the Moche, Chicama and Viru valleys can only roughly be correlated with the sequence for the north coast of Peru (Watson, 1986:83 According to Watson, the first traces of the use of ceramics on the northern central coast are recorded in the period around -2,500-2,100 BC, and by -2,000 BC, ceramics are already widespread throughout the region.
Evidence for the use of textile technology (cotton cultivation/use) appears around -2,500-2,400 BC. (Watson, 1986:83).
The high mountain sites enter the Early Period by -1,000 BC, about the same time as the oldest pottery fragment found there (Pozorski and Pozorski, 1987c:38).
As you can see, the local chronology in this region is very, very different, and operating on many local chronologies at the same time, perhaps, would only add to the confusion in a comprehensive study of the issue. Thus, when it comes to the absolute chronology of the South American civilizational center, it should be considered as a series of local civilizational chronologies, at one time or another ancient history who received some or other civilizational advantages.
Summing up all the sources, the average boundary of the Pre-Pottery and Initial periods in the absolute chronology of the Andean region as a whole, we should recognize a time mark of about -1,800 BC.
.
source - according to the text posted on the J.Q. Jacobs website, jqjacobs.net, 2001,
translation and editing - Volny, Moscow, 03-2016.
9.
Sources.
1955, Collier, D. Cultural chronology and change as reflected in the ceramics of the Viru Valley, Peru. Chicago: Chicago Natural History Museum.
1967, Lanning, E. P. Per; before the Incas. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Lumbreras, L. G. 1974 The Peoples and Culture of Ancient Per;. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. 1974, The Peoples and Cultures of Ancient Peru by Luis G. Lumbreras, Betty J. Meggars.
1975, Moseley, M. E. The Maritime Foundations of Andean Civilization. Cummings Publishing Company, Menlo Park, California.
1986, Watson, R. P. C14 and Cultural Chronology on the North Coast of Per;: Implications for a Regional Chronology. In Andean Archeology, Papers in Memory of Clifford Evans, edited by R. Matos M., S. A. Turpin, and H. H. Eling, Jr., pp. 83-129. Monograph XXVII, Institute of Archeology, University of California, Los Angeles.
1987c, Pozorski, S. G. and T. G. Pozorski: Chavin the Early Horizon and the Initial Period. In The Origins and Development of the Andean State, edited by J. Haas, S. Pozorski and T. Pozorski. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
1991, Quilter, J. Late Preceramic Per;. Journal of World Prehistory 5(4).
1999, Kornbacher, K. D. Cultural Elaboration in Prehistoric Coastal peru: An Example of Evolution in a Temporally Variable Environment. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 18.
2001, James Q. Jacobs, jqjacobs.net, including all original sources cited by the author.
.
Moscow,
2403-2016.

The societies of the New World, inferior in first impression by several orders of magnitude to the feudal Europe that collided with them, by the time the Spanish caravels appeared, they already had a long path of development and a huge cultural potential behind them. It initially remained outside the attention of the pioneering conquistadors, and, perhaps, the powers of Montezuma and the Incas were not the peak of cultural progress, which underwent a series of ups and downs in the long history of ancient American civilizations. Like the Achaemenid power of the Ancient East, both states of the New World essentially represented a political consortium of successful militant nouveau riches who built their cultural and artistic greatness on the foundation of more ancient and highly developed local cultures.

Various kinds of research and development, and primarily archaeological discoveries, have led to the fact that now American materials are an important source for studying the problem of the formation and development of the first civilizations as an important phenomenon in world history. The period of discovery of the archaeological complexes themselves of the era of the formation and development of the first civilizations was followed by the discovery of the very early agricultural era, which served as the base layer for the civilization of the Old World. Moreover, studies of the 70s-early 80s. showed that the first experiments in the cultivation of plants have almost the same antiquity as the ancient agricultural complexes of the traditional "homeland of agriculture" - Western Asia. The concept of the independent nature of these processes in the New World as the general direction of development has not been shaken by numerous attempts to find certain origins for American cultures on the other side of two oceans (Jennings, 1983, p. 337 sqq.), which opens up enormous opportunities for comparative typological analysis. .

The main centers of the ancient civilizations of the New World are well known - these are Peru and Mesoamerica. New research has shown that a number of other sub-regions also developed complex structures: for example, in the southwestern United States in the Mississippi Basin, with widespread use of corn as the main food crop; after in the XI-XII centuries. large socio-political associations were formed and significant cult centers were created mainly with the help of embankments - a kind of barbaric analogue of the monumental architecture that flourished in the zone of urban civilizations. Here, by the way, an interesting picture of the dynamics of the economic structure based on the artificial cultivation of plants is established. The origins of this way of life go back to the 4th millennium BC. e., when the artificial cultivation of some local technical plants began, providing fiber for home crafts, and low-nutrient varieties for food. However, only the introduction of maize from the south, which took place around 400 AD. e., dramatically improved the food balance and gave impetus to population growth. Between 800-1000 AD e. there is a formation of field agriculture based on the cultivation of crops, which served as the economic basis for the formation of Mississippi associations - chiefdoms. Typologically, this phenomenon is reminiscent of the early steps in plant cultivation in Southeast Asia, which did not lead to significant economic and cultural changes for a long time.

Important discoveries have been made in Ecuador and neighboring Colombia, or in the northern Andean region, as some American researchers call it (Jennings, 1983, p. 139 sqq.). After about 4000 BC. e., when the modern sea level was established, the intensive development of communities in coastal river valleys and estuaries began. It was in this region that the manufacture of the oldest pottery in the New World was noted. On the Atlantic coast of Colombia, this is a complex of the Puerto Hormigue type, dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. and associated with the activities of fishermen and shellfish gatherers. Hemispherical bowls and spherical jugs made here at that time are decorated with simple ornamentation, applied by scratching or impressions with shells (Reiched-Dolmatoff, 1965). An even greater sensation was produced in the 60s. the discovery on the Pacific coast of Ecuador of the Valdivian culture dating from the second half of the 3rd - the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. (Meggers a. o., 1965). Here, stucco ceramics is relatively richly decorated with scratched ornaments, stamps, moldings and burnishing. In a number of respects, this ornate ware resembled the ornamented pottery of the middle period of the Japanese Neolithic, known under the collective concept of Jomon, which at present, apparently, hides a number of separate cultures and other local divisions. This superficial similarity gave rise to the spectacular hypothesis that both coastal cultures are in a genetic connection and that the oldest ceramics of the New World owe their origin to the Japanese Neolithic. However, new discoveries have revealed a more complex picture of reality (Lathap AO, 1975). First of all, it turned out that the thesis about the predominant orientation of the cultural communities of Valdivia towards seafood needs to be substantially corrected. Many settlements are not, strictly speaking, coastal, there are a lot of grater stones in the set of artifacts, refined studies have even established the presence of remains of cultivated corn in the cultural layer, and, as evidenced by grain prints in clay dishes, these were at least two different varieties. Thus, instead of a single-line maritime orientation, there is a complex agricultural and fishing economy. Then an earlier complex with pottery of the San Pedro type, which has nothing in common with the Japanese Jōmon, was discovered (Bishoff and Cambor, 1972). As a result, practically few serious researchers share the hypothesis of transoceanic migration of immigrants from the Japanese islands (Jennings, 1983, p. 346). A well-established life corresponded to this complex economy - the settlements of Valdivia consisted of oval frame houses in terms of plan. On one monument, two central, larger buildings were discovered, which played the role of public centers.

Based on the complexes of Valdivia-San Pedro, the further evolution of the economy and cultural complexes of Ecuador, represented by a number of local and temporary divisions, is taking place. In the period around 500 BC. e. - 500 AD e. large structures appear in the form of terraced pyramids, sometimes lined with stones, the processing of copper and gold, as well as their alloys, is spreading, leaving a number of outstanding works of art. For the North Andean region, this was generally an unconditional progress, but the general level of development is noticeably inferior to the cultures of both Peru and Mesoamerica at the same time. Therefore, the constructions of individual researchers who propose to attribute to this region a special role in the formation of the Peruvian Chavin and the Mesoamerican Olmecs (Lathrap, 1974) hardly have solid grounds. Thus, Peru, or, more broadly, the Central Andean region, and Mesoamerica remain the main testing grounds for considering the process of the formation of civilizations on American materials.

In a number of respects, the area of ​​Peru was very favorable for the development of ancient cultures (Keatinge, 1988). Coastal regions are a series of alternating river valleys (Moche, Chikama, etc.) and desert spaces. It rains only in the mountains, and therefore the role of river arteries is especially great. The marine fauna is exceptionally diverse - the biomass of the sea here is the richest in the Western Hemisphere. Near the coast in the ocean, ascending currents bring water with nitrogenous compounds and phosphates to the surface, which forms an extremely favorable environment for the development of marine organisms. At the same time, most mollusks and small fish can be harvested all year round, which contributed to the stability of the existence of ancient communities and the strengthening of the settled factor. The highlands of the Andes are characterized by the presence of large plateaus, which are dry warm steppes. Precipitation ensures the development of terraced agriculture. Above the zone of possible agriculture are alpine meadows, where herds of llamas and alpagas graze.

Pre-Inca antiquities have become known since the end of the 19th century, when extensive excavations were carried out by the German explorer M. Ole. They aroused the unhealthy interest of antiquarians early on, with first-class art vessels of the Mochica culture becoming especially popular. The Peruvian researcher R. Larko-Oyle paid considerable attention to the study of these cemeteries, whose periodization for Moche antiquities generally retains its significance (Larko-Hoyle, 1938-1939). The great dryness of the climate contributed to the good preservation on the coast of products made of organic materials, which were, as it were, mummified. In particular, the collection of ancient Peruvian fabrics, and, as a rule, highly artistic, is the best collection in the world that characterizes ancient weaving. Of great importance was a comprehensive study of sites in the Viru Valley, in which leading experts from the United States and Peru took part. General periodization was built by American researchers, as in Mesoamerica, according to periods or phases - early agricultural, formative, experimental, etc. (see, for example: Mason, 1957; Willey, 1971). From the end of the 60s. great attention in research developments began to be given to the reconstruction of ancient economic and, to a lesser extent, social systems (D. Latrap, M. Mosley, I. Shimada, and others). Soviet researchers also turn to the ancient history of Peru (Bashilov, 1972; Berezkin, 1973). For the study of the Peruvian center of agriculture, R. McNeish's comprehensive studies in the high-mountain regions were of decisive importance (Mac Neish a. o., 1975a). A significant amount of the richest iconographic material - from stone reliefs to ceramic and wall paintings - determined the large share of such developments in Peruvian archeology as stylistic analysis, cult-mythological reconstructions, etc. The issues of typology of mass types of artifacts and the identification of archaeological complexes are much less developed. as statistically stable combinations of types, not just different ceramic styles.

Archaeological complexes of the Peruvian coast III millennium BC. e., at one time referred to as sites of the Huaca Prieta type (Bird, 1948; Mason, 1957, Willey, 1971), are distinguished by American researchers in a special pre-ceramic, or so-called cotton, period (Berezkin, 1969, 1980). The basis of their existence was a highly developed maritime economy (Moseley, 1975). It was the sea that delivered the bulk of food. In addition to fish, seals, sea lions, whales were caught, pelicans and penguins were hunted, and mollusks were collected in huge numbers. At some monuments, their shells are up to 25% per 1 m3 of cultivated 229
layer. The cultivation of plants, in particular pumpkins and cotton, after which the period as a whole was named, was connected to a large extent not with food, but with technical needs, including the manufacture of various nets with weights and floats. For weaving, the herbaceous plant junko was used, and the fruits of gourd gourd were used as floats. The cultivation of several types of beans and some fruits supplemented the diet without changing its general focus on seafood. Stone and bone tools fully satisfied the needs of this Neolithic, by the standards of the archeology of the Old World, culture (Fig. 59).

A comprehensive economic base ensured a high degree of stability.

Settled settlements, consisting of a variety of buildings, literally fill the coastal parts of the river valleys. Such, for example, is the settlement of Aspero, which occupied an area of ​​about 10 hectares (Moseley and Willey, 1973). Evidence of the significant production capabilities of the local society, as well as the level of its organization, are large platforms, the highest of which in Aspero reaches 10 m. These terraced platforms, often lined with stone, stand at the origins of the development of the monumental architecture of ancient Peru. Rooms and courtyards were located on the platforms. The interior of the buildings was often decorated with niches and friezes made of raw brick, called adobe in local terminology. An even larger area is occupied by the settlement of El Paraiso, located 2 km from the sea at the mouth of the river. Chillon (Engel, 1966). There are six hills here, which are the remains of monumental platforms, and numerous other buildings. The hills have a height of 3 to 6 m, the largest reaches 250 m in length and 50 m in width. It is estimated that almost 100,000 tons of stone were brought from neighboring rocks to build these platforms. Perhaps El Paraiso was a kind of capital of the coastal population, like Chatal Huyuk in Asia Minor. True, the cultural layer itself in El Paraiso is very poor. The strong settlement and relative stability provided by the orientation towards marine resources led to the development of prosperity. Cotton was used not only for utilitarian needs in the form of nets - numerous fabrics were made from it, including richly ornamented ones.

Living conditions and living conditions are getting better in many ways. Reed huts are replaced by houses built of stone with clay mortar or mud brick. In order to protect against erosion, settlements were often built on hills, the slopes of which were reinforced with retaining walls. Apparently, this tradition gave impetus to the construction of artificial platforms with terraces, so typical of ancient Peruvian civilizations. Clay was used to make figurines and small cones, possibly used as playing pieces. More and more applied art was included in everyday life: vessels made of pumpkins are decorated with geometric patterns. On pumpkins there are images of snakes, condors, crabs and people. The ancient fashionistas also had mirrors at their disposal, in which a piece of obsidian, inserted into a clay frame, played the role of a lens. The peculiarity of the pre-ceramic culture of Peru lies in the complex nature of the economy, where agriculture was largely a way of life, focused partly on technical needs, and not on food production. Increasing its share and overcoming the sea dominant was the general direction of further development. It was even proposed to see this as a special way for the development of the agricultural economy (Masson, 1971c, p. 135).

At the same time, the question of the original centers of domestication remained open. But, as the works of R. McNeish's expedition showed, in Peru, as well as in the Middle East, mountainous areas were the nuclear zone of flora cultivation (Mac Neish a.o., 1975a; Bashilov, 1979, 1980). The expedition chose the Ayacucho region in the mountains, which is distinguished by an abundance of caves and a relatively dry climate. Here, as a result of excavations in the Pikimachay cave, it was possible to outline an archaeological periodization with a fairly clear description of plant remains for individual stages. In the layers of the Haiva period, tentatively dated to 6600 - 5500 years. BC e., the remains of cultivated pepper, gourd gourd and a bush containing a red pigment, widely used by the aborigines in everyday life, were found, similar to how the early farmers of the Middle East used ocher. True, the very origin of a number of species that do not have wild-growing ancestors in the mountains remains unclear. At the Peak stage (5500 - 4300 BC), cultivated plants appear that are already more important for food balance - a special variety of quinoa and, apparently, an edible pumpkin. A decisive leap in this regard was made during the Chihua period (4300 - 2800 BC), when the inhabitants of the cave began to grow beans, corn and cotton. These data on early cultivation of plants were confirmed as a result of excavations of another cave - Gitarrero, where two varieties of beans were cultivated, apparently already in the 6th millennium BC. e. In Pikimachay cave, there is evidence of another direction in the formation of a manufacturing economy - breeding of guinea pigs and llamas. True, the osteological materials of wild and domestic llamas are difficult to distinguish, and therefore researchers use such an indicator as a sharp increase in the percentage of young individuals among the bones. According to this indicator, by the middle of the 4th millennium BC. e. the llama had already been tamed and provided man with both food and excellent yarn. Thus, in the mountainous regions of the Central Andes in the 7th - 4th millennium BC. e. there was a process of formation of two pillars of the producing economy - agriculture and cattle breeding. Probably, it was the early latitudinal contacts that contributed to the spread of some cultivated plant species on the Peruvian coast. However, if the origins of agriculture lay in mountainous regions, it was by no means gloomy caves and rocky sheds that were the centers of further progress, widely using the economic effect of the emerging changes. This happened on the coast, where a stable maritime economy with an agricultural way of life made it possible to achieve notable advances in culture and prosperity.

An external archaeological sign of the onset of a new period was the appearance of ceramic vessels, which occurred around 1800 BC. e. Prior to that, items made of stone or organic materials were used as vessels, although the plastic properties of clay were relatively widely used even earlier. Thus, the prerequisites for the emergence of ceramic production were also present in the local society, and in any case, its borrowing from Ecuador, if it took place, fell on favorable ground (Jennings, 1983, p. 209). The initial forms of the vessels were monotonous, and the ornamentation was limited, like the patterns on the pumpkin vessels, to simple carved drawings of geometric outlines and curvilinear patterns. At the same time, corn appears among the cultivated plants, and agriculture begins to come to the fore, noticeably crowding out the traditional maritime economy. It has been suggested that a crisis was brewing in the latter, which intensified the search for new sources of food (Jennings, 1983, p. 211). What is important is that cultural continuity is clearly traced.

There are a number of local complexes of ceramic production in coastal areas, of which the Guanyape complex is the most famous. Settlements are often located in the same places, although in some places there is a break in the cultural layers. Along with this, new settlements are located in river valleys, away from the sea coast, demonstrating the economic reorientation of their inhabitants. The arid climate of the coast with a low amount of precipitation made it possible to develop agriculture on any significant scale only on the basis of artificial irrigation. It is possible that already in the pre-ceramic period, irrigation of crops was used in the cultivation of cotton, but now the scale of irrigated agriculture has naturally increased, which, in particular, is associated with changes in the settlement system. Burials of llamas, possibly cult ones, indicate the development of cattle breeding.

Old cultural traditions are also manifested in the arrangement of terraced platforms. Moreover, there is evidence that it was from the middle of the II millennium BC. e. a new stage in the development of monumental architecture begins, the features of which in the form of stepped pyramid platforms and stone cladding took shape as early as the 3rd millennium BC. e. For II millennium BC. e. Of particular interest is the Cerro-Sechin complex, which has the shape of a square with a side equal to 52 m. The height of one of the best preserved parts reaches 10 m. The most interesting thing here is the facing with stone slabs, on which various characters are depicted in expressive reliefs, including in battle scenes. So, we see warriors, captives, severed heads - a theme that was later very popular in the civilizations of the New World. The use of stone reliefs was a fundamentally new step in monumental construction, leading to an organic synthesis of different forms of art. True, doubts were also expressed about such an early dating of this expressive complex (see: Mason, 1957, p. 45; Berezkin, 1982, p. 50-52; Jennings, 1983, p. 213). However, in principle, the presence of such richly decorated architectural complexes at least in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. can hardly be doubted. So, on the outskirts of Lima, there is a huge Garagay complex with large painted reliefs, and its main buildings date back to the 18th-16th centuries. BC e. In the highlands to the II millennium BC. e. includes the Paco-pampa complex, which occupies an area of ​​200X400 m at a height of 35 m. On one of its upper terraces there is a sanctuary with stone columns; 52 - 53). All this allows us to conclude that at that time, first of all, an effective system for obtaining food was created on the coast, and public structures made it possible to carry out large-scale cooperation for the construction of monumental and labor-intensive cult complexes. Thus, in the II millennium BC. e. in the coastal areas there is an active process of building up the economic, cultural and intellectual potential, which formed the basic foundation of the ancient Peruvian civilizations. At the same time, the territorial isolation of groups of communities scattered along the river valleys, as well as the wealth they accumulated, contributed to the aggravation of intergroup conflicts, which, judging by the reliefs of Cerro Sechin, turned into direct armed clashes. This side of social development stimulated the institutionalization of the power of leaders, who are not only the organizers of economic activities and religious ceremonies, but also military leaders.
At the same time, the specific historical situation developed in such a way that the artistic and, to a certain extent, ideological archetype, which determined the subsequent development, was formed not on the coast, but in the mountainous zone. Its brilliant expression is the exquisite monumental complex Chavin de Untar, located at an altitude of 3000 m in a small mountain valley (Tello, 1943). The construction of the complex began approximately around 1200 BC. BC, and with additions and repairs, it lasted for at least five centuries (Rowe, 1962; Lembreras, 1974).

Its central part was formed by a stepped pyramid, carefully lined with stone slabs, interspersed with stone heads of people and reliefs depicting snakes and jaguars. A staircase led to the top of the pyramid, framed by columns, also covered with reliefs depicting fantastic monsters. Excavations of swollen massifs near the pyramid showed that there were two buildings called temples here. In one of them, apparently, there was a stone stele depicting a deity with wands in his hands. The length of the complex reaches almost 250 m, and in some places its walls have been preserved to a height of 15 meters.

It is clear that these structures were not erected by the inhabitants of a small mountain valley and that a significant labor force was involved in this event (Jennings, 1983, p. 216). In this architectural monument, only the scale of construction from stone blocks was fundamentally new, since through simple cooperation, step pyramids had long been erected on the coast, and even in mountainous areas. Another thing is architectural decor. In the stone reliefs of Chavin, a single, seasoned style of sophisticated symbolism is embodied. Cat predators, fanged deities in multi-tiered headdresses, and anthropomorphic monsters with jaguar attributes are reproduced in this manner. The figures are covered with ornamental patterns with spiral elements. This finished style had a decisive influence on the cultures of both the coastal regions and the highlands for many centuries. We see Chavin's direct impulses and chavinoid influences both in the painting on ceramics, and in the ornamentation of fabrics, and on other objects of applied art. Of course, in this case, artistic and plot solutions were found that met the standards of mythological thinking, which determined their reference character. Artistic innovations turned into traditions that became one of the fundamental achievements of the Peruvian hotbed of civilization. It is not surprising that from time to time, in various forms, the concept of the huge scale of Chavin influences, including the Olmec culture of Mesoamerica, is resurrected (Lamberg-Karlovsky, Sabloff, 1979, p. 249). The very origin of Chavin gave rise to many contradictory statements and hypotheses. The point of view was even expressed that this is not a culture, but a reflection of a religious cult that has become widespread and widespread (Willey, 1951). Some researchers in search of the origins of Chavin are ready to stretch their eyes all the way to the Amazon. However, as regards the structures themselves, the architectural tradition and construction business lead us to the circle of the sedentary cultures of Peru and the Peruvian coast in the first place, where the construction of terraced platforms as an architectural idea was formed very early, and apparently on a utilitarian basis.

During the I millennium BC. e. on the coast of Peru, there is an active process of development of early agricultural societies, turning into more and more complex socio-cultural organisms. In the archaeological embodiment, they are represented by a number of complexes, possibly in some cases being separate cultures and differing, as a rule, in the types of ceramics now invariably richly ornamented. The natural situation - the presence of a number of isolated river valleys - enhanced the mosaic nature of ancient cultural complexes. Of these, the Kupisnike complex on the north coast and Paracas on the south are of considerable interest.

The culture of Kupisnike is associated with the wide development of river valleys by sedentary farmers, who cultivated primarily corn. The second place among food plants was occupied by legumes. In the settlements, cult centers are known, located on platforms, where multi-stage stairs led. The interior of these buildings was often decorated with reliefs and even frescoes. The latter adorn the walls of Huaca Lucia in Batan Grande, where a 16 m long staircase and clay columns 1.2 m in diameter and 3–4 m high were also discovered (Berezkin, 1983b). The scale of the buildings and the developed architectural canons allow us to consider them as genuine temple complexes.

Sustainable food production contributed to the development of specialized industries. So, according to stylistic features, this culture includes gold jewelry, reflecting the influence of Chavin. Forging, embossing and soldering techniques were used, but casting was not yet known (Lothrop, 1951). The manufacture of ceremonial ceramics, usually found in burials, also began to turn into a specialized artistic production. Relief was widely used here and excellent vessels in the form of people, plants, animals, models of houses are known. Some samples are made with portrait expressiveness, anticipating the realism of Mochika's clay masterpieces. Typologically, the shape of the vessel with a loop-shaped spout-handle, conventionally called a stirrup spout, was also distinguished (Mason, 1957, p. 50). This ceramic type would also then be quite popular in Mochik culture. Despite the success of metallurgy associated with the production of prestigious objects, tools and weapons were made from stone and flint.

We see the same features of production specialization in the Paracas culture of the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e., where artificial caves, called caverns, were used as collective tombs. Ceramics with multi-coloured paintings contain motifs dating back to the traditions of Chavin. Mummified bodies were wrapped in richly ornamented clothes, as a rule, in several layers, while spending many tens of meters of matter. At the same time, there is no particular difference between the buried by the nature of the rite or other signs.
In the early Paracas, there are also sculptural vessels in the form of heads of monsters with fangs, having a loop-shaped hollow handle on top, ending with a spout (“a drain in the form of a stirrup”). The manufacture of various materials, in particular openwork fabrics, is clearly separated into a specialized production that requires high professional training. Copper and gold objects testify to the progress of metallurgy. Such high economic and technological potential contributes to cultural and social progress.
These phenomena are clearly expressed in the Nazca culture, inheriting Paracas. It is also known mainly from the materials of necropolises and is concentrated mainly on the southern coast of Peru. The gold foil found in the monuments of this culture testifies to the acquaintance with the metal, but it has not yet received wide distribution. The largest center, apparently the capital, of this society was the settlement of Kauchachi, located in the valley of the river. Nazca, which gave its name to the entire archaeological complex. The settlement itself has not been sufficiently explored, although it is claimed that the ruins are spread over an area of ​​almost 1 km2 (Jennings, 1983, p. 217). There is also a terraced pyramid about 20 m high. Even more grandiose are the famous figures laid out with stones on the surface of the earth, depicting fish, birds, monkeys. Some lines sometimes go up to 10 km. A lot of scientific and pseudo-scientific literature arose around these structures, but in essence their interpretation did not advance beyond the most general considerations about the cult and astral nature of these figures. In any case, the enormous effort expended on their construction is undeniable, which, like the tens of meters of cloth swaddling the mummies, testifies to unproductive costs from the standpoint of our pragmatic world, reminiscent in sociological terms of the huge costs of the funeral cult in ancient Egypt. There is another line of evidence pointing to the complex structure of Nazca society. The figures of people and fantastic creatures depicted in paintings on ceramics and in patterns on fabrics lead us into the complex world of mythology and ideology, reflecting ultimately earthly realities through bizarre refractions. As Yu. E. Berezkin points out, three main themes are presented here: cultivated plants and the fertility of fields; water creatures and fishing; human sacrifices (Berezkin, 1982, p. 27). Sometimes priests are depicted, next to whom severed heads lie on the altars. In addition to cult and ritual aspects, this, apparently, also indicates the ongoing confrontation between the inhabitants of neighboring valleys. It is noted that in the later stages of Nazca among the deities, the main place is occupied by the goddess with plants and streams of water coming out of her mouth - an image of a fairly transparent semantics and a mustachioed warrior, possibly her husband. It is possible that this reflects the process of institutionalization of power in the Nazca society and the promotion of the supreme ruler, who relies to a large extent on his military functions.

The first stages of the Nazca culture date back to the 3rd - 1st centuries. BC e., but its development continues many centuries later. However, it was precisely at this time that a powerful culture was already taking shape on the northern coast of Peru, which spread its influence far to the south and which can be considered as the first civilization of South America. This is the Mochica culture, famous for its artistic ceramics, thousands of samples of which fill museums and private collections (Fig. 60 - 63). A number of general and special works have been devoted to this expressive sociocultural community (Bankes, 1980; Benson, 1972; Donnan, 1976, 1978). In the USSR in recent years, Yu. E. Berezkin has been specially engaged in it (Berezkin, 1983a). It was formed in the II - I centuries. BC e. on the northern coast of Peru in the Moche and Chicama valleys on the basis of local sedentary cultures, which, like many others in this era, were influenced by chavinoid traditions. As for the archaeological complex, Mochika is characterized by ceramics with a complex plot painting, sculptural vessels made in molds, often with a hollow loop-shaped handle on the back side, ending with a spout (“a stirrup-shaped drain”), copper adzes and pins with figured tops, biconical terracotta spindle whorl (Fig. 64).

After the advent of our era, the Mochik culture began to spread to the south, where, judging by the symbiotic manifestations in material culture, the local population was partially assimilated with their local traditions dating back to the early agricultural layer.

The technological basis of the Mochican civilization created all the prerequisites for social and cultural progress. Irrigated agriculture, which cultivated a wide range of food and industrial crops, was based on a complex system of canals that made the most of the water resources of the river valleys. As a rule, the main canals were paired, and in the head part they departed at an acute angle, which facilitated the intake of water. The length of the channels sometimes reached 20-30 km. In some cases, the transfer of water was carried out through aqueducts built of mud brick. The tools of the ancient farmers-irrigators are also known, both real working tools and their prestigious counterparts, which were placed in the tombs of the elite elite. These were blades of two types - with a narrow blade, about 1.5 m long and shorter, 40 - 60 cm long, apparently intended for processing fields after the initial loosening. As Yu. E. Berezkin notes, the Inca parallels make it possible to consider the first instrument as male and the second as female (Berezkin, 1983, p. 32). A digger-shovel found in a rich burial has a copper blade attached to the shaft with copper studs and a carved pommel.

The high efficiency of Mochika irrigated agriculture fully corresponded to the developed sector of handicraft industries. In terms of the level of metallurgy and metalworking, Mochica occupied a leading position in the New World (Emmerich, 1965; Patterson, 1971; Donnan, 1973; Berezkin, 1983a, pp. 35-37).

Here, metal smelting was widely mastered, established by production waste, by crucibles, furnaces, metal ingots and by images of production processes in art monuments. Artistic metal products clearly show that the technique of casting on the lost model was also mastered. In this case, copper was the main metal, but gold (often in an alloy with copper), silver and lead were also used. Vessels and various ornaments were made of copper and silver. Copper was used to make adzes, pins, mirrors, maces, pommel for helmets. The golden masks found in the hoards testify to the significant success of Mochik toreutics. The differentiation of lifestyle was also reflected in the use of precious metals for the manufacture of household objects in a prestigious version, as can be seen from the spear thrower made of gold.

The production of the fields was supplemented by fishing and sea fishing, as well as the breeding of domestic animals. As in pre-ceramic times, nets with gourd floats were used, but the hooks of the fishing rods were already made of copper. The llama, sometimes kept in pens, belonged to the number of domestic animals. Sometimes, apparently, the meat of dogs was also eaten.

Ceramic production, beloved by archaeologists for the mass production of standard products, almost not experiencing the destructive effects of natural factors, at the time of Mochika essentially became an art craft. In any case, this applies to ceremonial dishes made in composite forms. The pottery was fired with the help of special furnaces, but the potter's wheel, sporadically found in Peru, did not receive any mass distribution there in pre-Columbian times (Berezkin, 1982, pp. 41-42). At the same time, there is no doubt that the dressing of ceremonial dishes was a highly specialized production, the work of professional craftsmen who combined technical skills and the talent of a sculptor. Most likely, the skill was traditionally passed down from generation to generation. At one of the major Mochik settlements, the site of Pampa Grande, in the quarter adjacent to the cult monumental center, a number of handicraft workshops, including copper foundry, were discovered. But the number of residential premises in this quarter was clearly limited. This led the author of the excavations, I. Shimada, to conclude that craftsmen who came to work from residential areas located to the side worked here (Schimada, 1978; Berezkin, 1983a, p. 125). Be that as it may, we have a clear concentration of industrial activity, a direct analogue of the large specialized workshops or artisan quarters of the Middle East. The level of technological development of the Mochik crafts, of course, needed a similar social organization of production, cooperation, carried out not only in irrigated agriculture, but also in industries that had reached a high degree of specialization.

This economic foundation became the secure foundation of the Mochica civilization. Its main centers were large settlements with complexes of monumental architecture, symbolizing the economic power and ideological unity of the society that built them. Probably, these centers can be considered as urban-type settlements, places of concentration of specialized activities that perform specific functions. So, the ancient center of Mochika, probably the capital of their society, located in the lower reaches of the river. Moche, occupied an area of ​​about 60 hectares. There are two large step pyramids here - Huaca del Sol, about 40 m high, with a base of 159X34 m2, and Huaca dela Luna, 20 m high with a base of 85X95 m2. Among the numerous buildings located on these monumental elevations, there were rooms decorated with repeatedly renewed murals. It has been suggested that Huaca del Sol was associated with funeral rites, since a relatively rich burial was found there, and a number of valuable items, including gold and silver items, come from random and outright predatory excavations carried out at this site (Berezkin, 1983, pp. 43-44). There was also a burial ground near Huaca dela Luna, in which individual burials contained up to 75 vessels.
Interesting observations were made by American researchers during a more detailed study of the constructions of the giant pyramids of the Mochika capital (Hastings and Moseley, 1975; Moseley, 1975b). In the pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, it was established that on the mud bricks used for construction, various signs, the number of which reaches a hundred. These bricks were not mixed up, but in compact groups, and besides, different signs correlated with the different composition of the clay used to make them. The researchers suggested that the signs mark the results of the activities of individual communities that participated in the construction of this grandiose building. Separate arrays were erected section by section and, apparently, the work was entrusted to different groups of craftsmen.

The area on which the ruins of another ancient settlement, Pampa Grande, are scattered, is defined as several square kilometers. Here, the relief traces streets, places of ancient quarters, concentrating buildings. But the layout as a whole is somewhat chaotic, apparently reflecting the process of spontaneous formation of this center. In a closed area there is also a pyramid, called by the local population Huaca Fortales, which has a height of 55 m and 200X300 m2 at the base. Adjacent to it is the handicraft quarter, which has already been mentioned above (Schimada, 1978). Along with such large centers, there were also small settlements and, apparently, even separate estates (banning, 1967). Be that as it may, this was a period of a certain demographic peak on the Peruvian coast, and a massive labor force was the material basis for the achievements of Mochik culture.

Already these data allow us to assume that the Mochica society as a social and political structure was a rather complex formation. Judging by the available data, the cult and everyday isolation of certain social groups in Mochik society has reached very high levels. The reflection of these processes in the funeral rites can be judged by the burial, which received the name of the burial of the “warrior-priest”, discovered near the pyramid in a settlement in the valley of the river. Viru, one of the local subdivisions of the Mochik community. Here, in a grave pit, there was a coffin made of reeds with the remains of an elderly man. Nearby in a crouched position were two women, as if squeezed into a grave, on top of the coffin lay the skeleton of an adult man and at his feet a boy. Apparently, these were accompanying burials, where persons were placed, perhaps even forcibly killed. This alone emphasized the extraordinary status of the main burial. This also confirms the nature of the funeral offerings and accompanying inventory. Two headless llamas, 25 vessels, textiles, articles made of copper (sometimes with traces of gilding), stones and wood were found in the grave pit. Particularly spectacular are the carved inlaid staff, club and digger crowned with a sculpture depicting an anthropomorphic deity with a boy at his feet. Naturally, an analogy arises between this paired image and the placement of a boy in the tomb. Most likely, the extraordinary life status of a man of advanced years was determined, among other aspects, by the implementation of some ritual functions, possibly related to the cult of fertility. Apparently, this was a representative of a social group that occupied a high position in society. Prestigious and ceremonial objects as attributes of the corresponding social arrangement are well known from finds, and among them, as already mentioned, there is even a golden spear thrower. The iconography shows that there was a certain regulation in clothing, at least in headgear.

Iconography proved to be an invaluable source for the study of more general questions of the ideology and social structure of Mochican society. The artistic form of transmission of information, preserved in the Mochica society in the form of plot panels on front painted ceramics, makes it the richest source. At the same time, unlike the ornamentation of many cultures of painted ceramics, codedness and symbolism appear in an artistically visible form, and not in the form of conventional signs, which are far from always amenable to unambiguous interpretation. In terms of richness of information, the scenes on Mochica ceramics are to some extent comparable with the painting of ancient Egyptian tombs. True, in the semantic and, accordingly, in the artistic solution, there is a fundamental difference here: the realistic style and, in most cases, the themes of Egyptian frescoes are phenomena of a different order than the complex mythological images and plots of ancient Peruvian vase painting. Researchers have done considerable work to use this most valuable source to illuminate various aspects of the functioning of Mochik society, including its social structure. These issues are considered most systematically and completely in the works of Yu. E. Berezkin (Berezkin, 1978, 1983a). Among the plots are numerous scenes of battles, which finds a direct correspondence in the wide distribution of weapons. These were mainly clubs and darts with spear throwers, from which they tried to protect themselves with small square or oval shields. The image of one of the mythological characters, the so-called Warrior Owl, indicates the importance of the function of a military leader. The high social position of the leaders was emphasized by a number of attributes - they sit on elevations such as thrones, they are carried on a stretcher, they are located on top of the monumental pyramids, making judgment and giving orders. It is quite clear that there was a whole system of hierarchies in Moche society, including military leaders, supreme worshipers, as well as organizers of production, and these functions often overlapped. At the same time, Yu. E. Berezkin's observation that in the second half of the period of the existence of the Mochica culture, a deity with rays, conventionally called Ai-Apek, comes to the fore. It is it that now directs the ceremonies, sitting on a throne or standing on top of a pyramid (Berezkin, 1983a, pp. 127, 138). This probably corresponded to a change in the structure of power in society itself, where large rulers, the so-called kings of the Mochica, were increasingly coming to the fore, whose tombs were supposedly located in the Pyramid of the Sun complex and, apparently, disappeared without a trace under the shovels of robbers. Be that as it may, Mochica is a society of complex social structure with a far-reaching process of institutionalization and sacralization of power, as is usual for the first civilizations.

Particular attention to the artistic form of information transmission, among other factors, was most likely due to the absence of a genuine writing system in the Moche society. For a long time attention has been drawn to the images in the mochika vase of beans with signs applied to them, which, in combination with various backgrounds, give about 300 different options. Similar signs are also found on the fabrics of the Paracas culture. Almost immediately, it was suggested (Larco-Hoyle, 1938 - 1939) that this was a kind of writing system that now found active supporters (Jara, 1973). Perhaps these symbols served for some purposes of economic accounting and information transfer, similar to the functions of pictographic writing, but this was not yet writing in the proper sense (Berezkin, 1983a, pp. 47-48). In this respect, the Mochica were indisputably inferior to their Mesoamerican contemporaries.

The end of Mochik is typical for the fate of many highly developed cultures during the formation of the first civilizations. Gradually, as evidenced by cultural monuments, the area directly affected by the Mochik standards is shrinking, on the eve of complete desolation, traces of conflagrations appear on many settlements. Apparently, the Mochica society, which paid so much attention to battle scenes in iconography, was itself among the defeated. It is possible that natural factors also contributed to this, in particular, the reduction in precipitation, which had a detrimental effect on Mochik irrigated agriculture (Berezkin, 1983a, pp. 28-29). However, the Mochik tradition is not interrupted. Civilization as a complex socio-cultural formation continues to exist in South America, although the level of its achievements changes over time, as well as the ethnic appearance of specific carriers. Actually, the Mochik cultural layer organically entered the culture of the state of Chimor, which at one time was a dangerous rival of the Incas in the struggle for regional hegemony. Its capital, Chan Chan, is practically not inferior to the Mesoamerican urban giant - Teotehuacan. In Chan Chan, by the way, there were apparently "royal" tombs. Things from them have long been stolen, but hundreds of female skeletons have been preserved - traces of the ruthless custom of human sacrifice, which accompanies the formation of the sole power of kings from Sumer to Yin China.

In Mesoamerica, the second most important center of the New World, we observe a number of the same patterns as in the ancient Peruvian center of ancient cultures, but they are common only as a general direction of development, modified by ecological and ethnic specifics. Two such common features immediately attract attention - the early gradual formation of productive agriculture on the basis of the evolution taking place in mountainous regions, and the coming to the fore at the time of the formation of civilization of the community, which was the standard bearer of the cultural standards of the new era. In Peru it was Chavin, in Mesoamerica it was the Olmecs.

The natural situation of Mesoamerica is determined by a series of mountain ranges that divide the region into low-lying plains and high plateaus. One of the most fertile is the valley of Oaxaca, which essentially unites three river valleys. The most significant mountain range is the highlands of Chiapas and Guatemala, marked by very active volcanic activity. Depressions irrigated by river flows are characterized by a semi-arid climate. The limestone platforms located to the north of the mountain systems, including the Yucatan Peninsula, are characterized by dense tropical vegetation, partly waterlogged and poorly supplied by a river system compensated by heavy rainfall. These were the main areas of development of the civilization of the lowland Maya.

Discovery by travelers of the 19th century. Antiquities of Mayan monuments in the rainforest marked the beginning of the study of the Mesoamerican center of the first civilizations. Gradually, amateur descriptions and excavations gave way to more focused research. Archaeological periodizations were created, concepts were developed that illuminated the formation of highly developed societies and their internal structure, general problems were discussed at special seminars and symposiums (Gulyaev, 1972, pp. 7-16). In the analysis of antiquities, an increasing number of methods of natural and technical sciences began to be used, which quantitatively and qualitatively increased the information received. Particularly indicative in this respect is the brilliant success of the complex work in the Tehuacan Valley carried out in the 1960s. expedition led by R. McNeish and opened up new horizons in the study of the origins of Mesoamerican agriculture, this backbone of local civilizations (Mac Neish, 1964). The paleoecological approach with the allocation of microdistricts as the main units of paleoeconomic reconstructions was successfully demonstrated by researchers of a new generation in the 60s and 70s. (Flannery 1968, 1976; Soe and Flannery 1964). Much attention is paid to developments of a paleosociological nature, among which, first of all, it is necessary to note the studies of M. Ko, K. Flannery, J. Markus. However, sometimes general formulations, bright and interesting in themselves, appear in isolation from specific material. In some summary works, this kind of formulation dominates to the detriment of information about archaeological realities, complexes, and the typology of artifacts, which should serve as the basic basis for generalizing constructions of any kind. Mesoamerican problems are well known to Soviet readers thanks to the summary works of R. V. Kinzhalov (1971), V. I. Gulyaev (1972, 1979) and Yu. V. Knorozov’s research on ancient writing systems (1963, 1975).

The origins of the agricultural economy in Mesoamerica date back, as in Peru, to the mountainous regions of the region. Moreover, just as in Peru, a qualitative leap in the development of this problem is associated with the name of the prominent Americanist R. MacNeish, who carried out purposeful comprehensive studies, first in the northeast of Mexico (Mac Neish, 1958), and then on a larger scale. and in its central part, in the Tehuacan Valley (Mac Neish, 1964; Mac Neish a.o., 1975b).

As a general direction of development, the formation of agriculture in Mesoamerica took place on the basis of cultural and economic complexes based on gathering with a hunting lifestyle. Climate change and intense hunting activity led to the partial extinction of megafauna, and hunters lost their usual food sources. Now the plant world is becoming the main supplier of food. We find such highly specialized collectors in the north-east of Mexico in the 7th - 6th millennium BC. e. (Infernillo phase). Perhaps, the placement of seasonal camps was also associated with plant cycles. Agave, beans, various fruits were used for food, baskets, nets and mats were made from plant fibers and stems. Special varieties of pumpkin were used to make vessels. According to estimates, gathering provided 90% of food, while hunting only 10%. However, there are already signs of coming changes: bottle gourd, pepper and squash (a kind of edible gourd) seem to have signs of initial domestication. At first, these potentially very significant innovations brought relatively little variety to the lives of the inhabitants of northeastern Mexico. In fact, bottle gourd was used to make vessels, pepper was used as a seasoning, and only squash fruits were directly eaten. The proportion of cultivated plants among floristic remains increases very slowly. In the III millennium BC. e. it still amounts to 10-15%, although primitive but undeniably cultivated corn appears. In the II millennium BC. e. the share of agricultural products rises to 30%, but it was still the economy of agricultural gatherers. The marginal position on the periphery of the Mesoamerican region certainly played a role in this slow development.

The process of formation of new forms of economy in the Tehuacan Valley was somewhat more intensive. Here, research surveys covered about 400 locations, and excavations were carried out on 30 of them. As a result, a clear picture of the gradual development of economic and cultural systems was recreated. The original layer resembled the situation that developed in the northeast of Mexico in the 10th-7th millennium BC. e. at the Ajuerado stage: hunting experienced a certain decline and about half of the food was supplied by gathering. The main prey were mainly small animals - rabbits, ground squirrels, turtles, rats and birds. R. MacNeish even suggests figuratively calling the inhabitants of Tehuacan of that time not hunters, but "gatherers of plants and animals" (Mac Neish, 1964, p. 30). The dominance of gathering is becoming more and more distinct, and all new plant species fall into the sphere of transformative human activity. So, at the stage of El Riego (7200 - 5200 BC), the orientation of the economy towards intensive gathering intensified, two types of grain graters appeared among the stone tools. Perhaps the edible pumpkin was already an artificially cultivated plant for this time.

There is further development. During the Coxatlán stage (5200-3400 BC), in addition to pumpkins, avocados, peppers, amaranth, beans and, most importantly, corn are cultivated. The most ancient cobs of this plant, found in the Tehuacan Formation, are small and coarse, almost indistinguishable from wild species. Stone products become more diverse - stone vessels appear. Apparently, the strengthening of the Pale of Settlement is also connected with the development of agriculture. At the Abejas stage (3400-2300 BC), according to R. McNeish, corn was already the main agricultural product, the selection process began and its hybrid species appeared. The use of cotton is noted, stone vessels are characterized by excellent workmanship and a variety of forms. On the river terraces there were settlements consisting of 5 - 10 dugouts. At the same time, analysis shows that another 70% of food was provided by gathering. According to researchers, only at the Purron stage (2300 - 1900 BC), when the first rough pottery appeared, agriculture prevailed over gathering. Forms of the first clay vessels follow similar stone products. Pieces of clay with imprints of poles and twigs suggest that these are the remains of a new type of solid dwellings that replaced dugouts. The descendants of the collectors left the caves and rocky sheds and firmly moved on to a new way of life. At the Ajalpan stage (1500 - 900 BC), their settlements already accommodate from 100 to 300 inhabitants. The quality of ceramics noticeably improves, clay figurines of women appear. So in one of the mountain valleys of Mesoamerica, the early agricultural era began.

The general direction of the ongoing processes is the formation of agriculture based on highly specialized cultures of plant collectors with a noticeable decline in the hunting economy (Masson, 1971c, p. 129). However, as a concrete historical phenomenon, this process was carried out in conditions of significant local diversity. Of particular importance was the specific natural specificity, which drew the attention of M. Ko and K. Flannery in a special article on ecological microzones (Soy, Flannery, 1964). In the same Tehuacan, four microzones of different potential can be distinguished in terms of the food needs of the ancient communities. As a result, the economic activity itself and the cultural image as a whole were affected by various factors or their combination. In areas of food abundance, for example, sedentism seems to have preceded agriculture as such (Jennings, 1983, p. 35).

Thus, in the Valley of Mexico, along with the reference Tehuacan scheme, a somewhat different path of development is presented, in which the settled way of life developed before the establishment of the agricultural economy (Neiderberger, 1979). Here, the year-round habitation of settlements took place already in the Playa phase (5200 - 3700 BC), when the first steps in the cultivation of plants were only outlined. The balanced exploitation of the three micro-zones, including the lake, contributed to this stability. The focus on the maritime economy also played a certain role (Friedd, 1978), which played such a significant role in the cultural progress on the Peruvian coast. We observe the same trend towards a strong settled way of life in the 3rd millennium BC. e. in the Atlantic zone of Belize, where the sites are located along the estuaries (Mac Neish a.o., 1981). In the Sweisi phase (2000-1000 BC), earthenware appears here, decorated with a red engobe and scratched ornament. The dwellings were set up on small platforms, showing the same nascent building tradition that we have seen in Peru in complexes such as Huaca Prieta. On a round platform with a diameter of 6 m there was a building that apparently performed some public functions. Protecting buildings from spills and flooding, these platforms then developed into an architectural concept of prestigious structures elevated above utilitarian ones. Ceramics, shell bracelets, and jadeite beads were found in the burials. The fact of finds of grain graters is noteworthy. Fishing and hunting were combined with corn cultivation.

Another example of a complex economy is La Victoria on the Pacific coast of Guatemala (Soe, 1961). Here, at the beginning of the II millennium BC. e. fishermen, crab and turtle collectors begin to cultivate corn. During the Okos period (1500 - 1000 BC), ceramics were distinguished by good workmanship, were decorated with carved ornaments and paintings. As in Belize on the Atlantic coast, buildings here were erected on small platforms.

Thus, in the context of the development of various cultural and economic complexes in Mesoamerica during the 2nd millennium BC. e. there is a confident formation of a new economy and a new way of life, an expressive archaeological indicator of which was pottery. In general, pottery is widely distributed around 1500 BC. e. As well as plant cultivation, its introduction probably took place in several centers, which gave rise to various ceramic traditions, among which the researchers propose to distinguish coastal and Yucatan (Weaver, 1981, p. 58). Technologically and typologically, the oldest ceramic complexes differ markedly. Thus, in Tehuacan, pottery of the Purron stage has a large admixture of sand, is poorly fired, and forms are predominantly rough: bowls and pots with a rounded body. The quality of the Belizean ware of the Sveisi stage is much higher, not to mention the Okos ceramics, which are distinguished by rich decoration. This diversity of development paths, but already in the field of economic activity, is well expressed by the concept of microzones. It is quite clear that the development of agriculture in the Tehuacan Valley is only one of the ways of a productive economy, and the valley itself was a kind of cultural backwater. The rich resources of the coasts of the two oceans contributed to the early development of settled life and ensured the stable development of culture. M. Ko and K. Flannery specifically emphasize that one of the ways to establish a manufacturing economy is the cultivation of corn in an economy based on fishing and gathering, perhaps even when cassava cultivation has already begun (Soy, Flannery, 1964). But all these paths merged into one main stream of economic and cultural progress, the sign of which was highly productive agriculture with corn as the leading food crop. The factors of stability and settled way of life, even if they were outlined in the previous era, are acquiring a new impetus. An effective system for obtaining food products is being formed, the population is growing, and there is a tendency for its concentration in separate points, which become local centers, organizational and ideological leaders of community groups.

On the territory of Mesoamerica, monuments characterizing these changes have been found in a number of regions. For example, in the Valley of Mexico during the Zohapilco stage (2400-1800 B.C.) there is an active process of becoming an agricultural economy, expanding the range of cultivated plants, which include pepper, pumpkin, amaranth and, apparently, corn. Pottery appears in the area around 1500 BC. e. and at the same time the number of settlements is increasing, of which there are now about 20. The Toltiko burial ground contains burials with a rich and varied inventory. Around 650 BC e. buildings of monumental architecture appear (Hammond a.o., 1979).

Development is even more rapid in the fertile valleys of Oaxaco, where the origins of the agricultural economy are as ancient as in the Tehuacan Valley (Gulyaev, 1972, p. 43). In the second half of the II millennium BC. e. the settlements in Oaxaca were located along the foothills water channels in conditions where water could be withdrawn to irrigate the fields (Blanton a. o., 1979). At the San Jose stage (1150-850 BC), large centers stand out among the settlements, the most significant of which, San José Mogote, reaches an area of ​​40 hectares. Structurally, this settlement is also a rather complex organism, where elite residences, terraced houses, centers of various industries, in particular, jewelry made from shells and magnetite stand out. In a number of types of things, for example, in figurines, the influences of the cultural complex, which became the standard for the era of the formation of civilization in the Mesoamerican region, are manifested. It received the code name Olmec, which turned out to be successful and firmly established in the literature (Gulyaev, 1972, pp. 78-106; Benson, 1981; Soe, 1968b, 1972; Grove, 1973; Gay, 1972).

The term "Olmek", first used to designate objects of a certain artistic style (Gulyaev, 1972, p. 78), now means an archaeological culture left by a highly developed society that has clearly begun to climb the steps of civilization. Olmek complexes are currently characterized primarily by a combination of such features from the field of cult ceremonies, art and architecture (Gulyaev, 1972, p. 81), such as colossal stone heads, stylized jaguar masks, mirrors made of polished stone, the motif of a dwarf with pathological defects and etc. Terracotta figurines imprinted in molds, jade and jadeite ornaments, and jade figurines can be added here as mass archaeological artifacts (Fig. 65).

The main territory of the Olmec culture was the marshy lowlands of the Pacific coast. Settlement developed in a balanced economy based on seafood and progressive agriculture. As in other areas of the region, pottery has been firmly established here since the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e., but in the first ceramic complexes there is still little to anticipate the coming flourishing. Only at the stage of Chika-charras (1250-1150 BC) does sculpture appear, clearly belonging to the stylistic circle of Olmec works. At the stage of San Lorenzo (1150-900 BC), the Olmec culture is already in full splendor.

The largest cult centers of La Venta (Drucker a.o., 1959) and Tres Zapotes (Soe, 1968a, 1970) have been studied best among the Olmec sites. In Tres Zapotes, relatively large area a significant number of pyramids are scattered. Around them there are stone stelae and giant stone heads. Quite clear signs of Olmec monumental architecture and sculpture can be traced in San Lorenzo (Soy, 1968a). The desire for monumentalism, represented by bulk platforms, manifests itself very early in the Mesoamerican region, as well as in Peru. It is assumed that some of these structures also had predetermined outlines in plan and in one case depicted a giant flying bird (Coe, 1977).

The heyday of the Olmec culture is associated with La Venta, dating back to 900-400 BC. BC e. The entire complex is located on a small piece of land measuring about 6X4.5 km. Surrounded on all sides by swamps and low river valleys, it is like an island. The Gulf of Mexico is about 30 km away. The architectural complex itself is a complex structure with a clear and well-thought-out layout, designed to perceive both individual volumes and the overall planigraphic solution. It is not for nothing that there is an assumption that in plan the entire complex reproduced a giant jaguar mask (Weaver, 1981, p. 74). It also has a stepped pyramid with a marching staircase leading straight to the top, and two-meter basalt columns on mud brick pillows, and three massive pavements, each of 485 blocks of green serpentine. A characteristic feature of the Olmec sites is the presence of buried treasures, consisting of various handicrafts and ornaments carved from stone. Thus, one of the hoards included 225 jaguar masks made of half natural size and about 1000 celts made of jadeite and serpentine. Undoubtedly, this set of objects was of considerable value in antiquity. The cultural layers as such in La Venta are insignificant. Pottery, sometimes decorated with carved ornamentation, was found in small quantities. Stone stelae, statues, colossal heads in close-fitting helmets, massive stone altars decorated with reliefs, now interpreted as thrones, are part of the richest decoration of this complex, which can clearly be characterized as a temple.

The stone monumental sculpture and reliefs of the Olmecs first of all attracted the attention of researchers, who are also fond of striking stylistic features and complex semantic associations (Fig. 66). To a lesser extent, attention was paid to the fact that we have before us the works of professionals not only of artistic talent, but also of a high level of craft training. The giant heads weighed up to 20 tons, and their careful processing required the highest skill. Metal tools, and metal products in general, were completely unknown to the Olmecs. The manufacture of stone sculptures and reliefs was carried out entirely with stone tools. Judging by the stone statues themselves, it was a complex set of tools for picketing technique, various types and shapes of abrasives, and various files. It is quite clear that this line of activity gave rise to a whole group of professional craftsmen who worked successfully in the main Olmec centers (Jennings, 1983, p. 42). A special specialized area was the manufacture of figurines and various kinds of pendants from jade and jadeite.

Regular exchange ties were also widely established, to which American researchers, who attach special sociological significance to trade in the structure of the first civilized societies, pay great attention (Rathje, 1971; Lamberg-Karlovsky, Sabloff, 1979). Basalt blocks for the manufacture of giant heads were delivered to temple centers for 100 or more kilometers. Blocks of other volcanic rocks were transported to the same distance for reliefs and architectural details. The same fully applies to colored obsidian, jade, serpentine, mica and jadeite, which were used both for the manufacture of tools and a number of artistic crafts that meet the increased demands of the new way of life. In particular, slightly concave, beautifully polished obsidian items, known in conventional archaeological nomenclature as mirrors, judging by the small holes, were most likely part of a kind of pectorals worn by persons of high social rank. The technical achievements of the Olmec civilization rested entirely on the enormous possibilities of liner plate and picket tools, created as a tool complex in the Paleolithic era and reached their peak during the Neolithic. From a position corresponding to the archaeological nomenclature, the Olmecs, by the way, should be called the Neolithic civilization.

At the same time, it is obvious that the tool complex, which is very archaic in terms of formal indicators, gave such effective results thanks to the social organization of production, the wide and large-scale use of simple cooperation. American researchers have long drawn attention to this aspect of the Olmec antiquities. R. Heitzer offered quite convincing estimates, according to which the construction and functioning of the temple complex in La Venta should have been supported by several thousand people, who were not able to feed the island lost among the marshes (Heizer, 1968). Apparently, this center arose and existed as an organized concentration of efforts of a whole group of communities united by a system of social and economic management. According to M. Ko's estimates, although perhaps somewhat overestimated, at least 1000 people were required to transport giant blocks for stone heads or the heads themselves.

The specialization of activities in the craft sector certainly had an economic foundation in the form of an efficient system of food production. Unfortunately, this side of the functioning of the Olmec society has been little studied. Most likely, corn, which penetrated into these lowland areas from mountain ranges as early as the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e., gave rise to a number of genetic mutations under new conditions (Lamberg-Karlovsky, Sabloff, 1979, p. 252), which constituted the selection fund for the development of intensive slash-and-burn agriculture. The presence of drainage ditches on a number of monuments allows for the possibility of some kind of irrigation work.

According to the main parameters, bearing in mind the craft specialization and the development of monumental architecture, as well as, let us add, monumental sculpture, the Olmec society was clearly an actively developing civilization. True, hieroglyphic writing appeared only in Maya complexes, and one of the steles with a text dating back to 31 BC. e., found, by the way, at the settlement of Tres Zapotes, which was an important center in an earlier, proper Olmec era. Recently, developments have appeared showing that hieroglyphic iconography as a kind of forerunner of Maya writing could be laid in Olmec art, certainly oriented towards a complex and stable system of symbols (Marcus, 1976). However, of course, these were only heralds of future discoveries. Undoubtedly, Olmec society had a complex social structure. Its sociopolitical system is usually reconstructed as a pre-state chiefdom or theocracy (Jennings, 1983, p. 42; Lamberg-Karlovsky and Babloff, 1979, p. 245). There are even more striking characteristics that speak of semi-deified kings, descended from the mythological marriage of a woman and a jaguar and embodied in colossal helmeted heads (Weaver, 1981, p. 83). There is not much real data on these issues. It is quite clear that a large-scale organization of labor put forward leaders who consolidated their position by cult and everyday isolation. Whoever was personified in giant heads - celestials or earthly rulers, the presence of combat helmets is very significant. It is not for nothing that the Olmec reliefs found on the periphery of the Olmec metropolis contain triumphal scenes depicting victors and defeated captives whose heads are cut off. Ceremonial headdresses, the so-called thrones, palanquins of honor indicate external signs of the institutionalization of power. Social differentiation and the formation of complex political structures, as elsewhere, accompanied the formation of civilization in Olmec society.

The origin of the Olmec culture has naturally been the subject of various discussions and constructions. Attempts to bring the solution of this issue beyond the framework of the New World and, in particular, emphasizing the similarity of the style of jadeite items from the Olmec and Yin China (Jairazbhoy, 1974) in general, with external effectiveness, are not very convincing. As the researchers note, it is very strange that only certain artistic canons were imported and wheeled transport and metallurgy were forgotten (Jennings, 1983, p. 354), not to mention the fact that the hypothetical Yin cultural tragers strangely crossed the isthmus and settled on its Atlantic rather than the Pacific coast. More promising are the search for internal driving forces, including trade, religious ideology, and highly efficient agriculture (Lamberg-Karlovsky, Sabloff, 1979, p. 252 - 254). Apparently, such factors should not be considered in isolation, but in complex interaction. Perhaps the most important role was played by the fertility of river soils, which was renewed during periodic floods. Under conditions of an efficient economy, ideological innovations were brilliantly embodied, architectural, sculptural and artistic canons and concepts were created, which largely determined the appearance of subsequent civilizations of the Mesoamerican region. In this regard, researchers are quite right - from the emotional M. Kovarrubis (Gulyaev, 1972, p. 79) to the analytical M. Ko (Soe, 1977), who see in the Olmecs the basic standard of subsequent evolution. Olmec things, Olmec style, Olmec influences are widespread in Mesoamerica.
Jadeite products as a standard of prestigious status determined the cultural genesis from the centers of impulsive development to the far periphery for a long time (Creamer, 1984). However, not only the genius and exclusivity of the Olmecs was the root cause. The Olmec cultural complex, created in the conditions of the most favorable economic conditions, reflected the process that K. Flannery called the crystallization of cultural standards in conditions when a number of societies in the Mesoamerican region went on independent paths to the formation of a class society (Flannery, 1968) and, let us add, state structures. In the coastal lowlands of Vera Cruz and Tabasco, a cultural, and perhaps also a socio-cultural, model was created that embodied the main tendencies of spontaneous transformation, just as was the case for the Near East region in Sumer and for the Peruvian region in Chavin. The first pyramids of civilization were created, and society, having passed a qualitative milestone, continued its forward movement, the complex and contradictory nature of which, perhaps, only intensified with the increase in uneven development on the scale of macroregions and entire continents.

Having existed for about seven centuries, the Olmec civilization fell into decline, its main centers were deserted and abandoned. At San Lorenzo, early Olmec statues and reliefs, for example, were placed in a moat, deliberately damaged, and buried. There are traces of similar actions in La Venta. It is possible that armed clashes, combined with internal crises, led, as apparently took place in the Peruvian Mochica, to decline and disintegration. True, an opinion was even expressed about a social revolution that allegedly crushed the authoritarian regime of the Olmec rulers, but there are practically no concrete data in favor of such a conclusion. On the territory of the Olmec metropolis in the first centuries BC, in the so-called post-Olmec or Epiolmec time, an active process of cultural and socio-economic development of Mesoamerican societies continues along the path of civilization. They were not only the sociological successors of the Olmec population, but also directly preserved many of the cultural models and standards created in the era of colossal heads.

Apart from the Aztecs, who, like the Peruvian Incas, inherited the traditions of highly developed predecessors, we can talk about the three main civilizations of the Mesoamerican region: the Mayan civilization, the Monte Alban civilization, or Zapotec, and the Teotehuacan civilization. In them everywhere we find monumental complexes, partly developing the techniques developed by the Olmecs, but far exceeding them in their scale; highly developed crafts, the range of which is expanding; and, as a new phenomenon, hieroglyphic writing, the monuments of which are more abundant in the Maya regions, but are known practically throughout the entire Mesoamerican ecumene. The dispersed nature of settlement (Ashore, 1980) has given rise to considerable debate about the presence of urban settlements and has given rise to the well-known concept that the Plains Maya proper are a civilization without cities. This issue was considered in detail by V. I. Gulyaev in a special monograph (1979), and the author of these lines fully shares his position. Since we have to take into account the functional characteristics of the respective centers, we clearly have urban-type settlements.

The efficient food production system that sustained these societies seems to have varied by region, and perhaps here, as in the early days of the manufacturing economy, the microzone system should be taken into account. Of course, in the rainforests, given the climatic conditions and rainfall patterns, the slash-and-burn farming system known as milpa was extremely effective. It was based, in particular, on a precise agrarian calendar provided by astronomical observations, and on the astonishing success of Mesoamerican plant breeders. This system made it possible to obtain a significant surplus product and ensured high demographic parameters (Cowgill, 1962; Gulyaev, 1972, p. 191 et seq.). At the same time, it turned out that more efficient farming systems were also used, connected in one way or another with irrigation work. Irrigation canals have long been known in the Oaxaco Valley, this nuclear part of the Monte Alban civilization. At the same time, it turned out that artificial irrigation in one form or another was also used among the lowland Maya. Stone terraces arranged on the slopes with a special soil moistening system were found here. On the indigenous lands of the plain Maya, canals were built for reclamation purposes, which are so significant in the conditions of swampy lowlands (Gulyaev, 1982). Such events certainly required an established system of social production, which united the efforts of a number of communities. Irrigation canals and a system of original floating gardens, the so-called chinami, existed in the Valley of Mexico, the natural center of the Tetehuacan civilization.

With common features of similarity determined by epochal and regional types of culture, each socio-cultural system of Mesoamerica had its own unique features (Fig. 67), and the paths of development of these first Mesoamerican civilizations were also different. The development of the tropical jungle in the lowlands, which were the original lands of the lowland Maya, took place during the 2nd millennium BC. e., and by its end, agricultural communities had spread widely throughout the Yucatan. From the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e., judging by the materials of the burials, social inequality is increasing among the community members, the priestly and secular nobility are separated. Differentiation of lifestyle in conditions of social inequality is also manifested in funeral rites, the tombs of the nobility, often with human sacrifices, are arranged at the base of the pyramid (Gulyaev, 1972, p. 166 et seq.; Rathje, 1970). The population is growing markedly, and the capital Tikal has 10-11,000 inhabitants. With no doubt great importance religious institutions, represented by a huge number of religious buildings and objects, there is no reason to downplay the role of secular rulers, as well as the process of institutionalization of power through a military leader - the organizer of production, gradually striving to become an ideological leader. V. I. Gulyaev considered this aspect of the structure of the Mayan society in detail, and in his book (1972) significant iconographic material is concentrated, confirming this position. Here we see such plots as the ruler on the throne, the ruler after the battle, scenes of military triumph, we see the reproduction of the attributes of power (Gulyaev, 1972, p. 206 et seq.). The importance of the military factor in the socio-political development of Mesoamerican civilizations has been shown by many researchers (Webster, 1977; Marcus, 1974).

From the 8th century n. e. the decline of the main centers of Maya civilization is noted, and by the end of the 9th century. in low-lying areas they become deserted. As a political structure, the lowland Mayan society was, according to the most convincing interpretation, small states with metropolitan settlements that played the role of military-administrative and ideological centers, such as Tikal, Copan, Plenke, etc. V. I. Gulyaev rightly sees an analogy here pre-dynastic Sumer (Gulyaev, 1979, p. 286). The toppled stelae and damaged sculptures in the deserted centers point to some kind of violent action. The mountainous regions, under the cultural and political influence of the Mayan civilization, seem to be invaded by the Teotehuacans in the 8th century. The subsequent death of Teotehuacan itself served as a kind of impetus for a chain reaction of desolation of the ancient centers (Gulyaev, 1972, p. 225 et seq.).

If the materials of Mayan archeology could still be a field for various kinds of discussions about the role and even the very presence of urban centers, then for the civilization of Teotehuacan such a formulation of the question could not be considered. Teotehuacan is a giant urban center of the ancient world. Its total area is determined to be almost 28 km2, and the cult center is spread over a space of several square kilometers. The high plain on which it is located early became one of the centers of the early agricultural culture of Mesoamerica. The trend towards the concentration of the population in one supercenter also manifested itself early. Already in the first centuries BC, the habitable area of ​​this center reaches 6-8 km2 with an estimated population of 30 to 40,000 people (Jennings, 1983, p. 47). A thorough study of one of the main monumental structures of Teotehuacan - the Pyramid of the Sun showed that in its bowels, as in the platforms of the Sumerian temples of Eredu and Uruk, an older structure of smaller dimensions, but of the same functional significance, was buried. This wonderful center of pre-Columbian America flourished in the first centuries of our era. His death, apparently, occurred under rather tragic circumstances. The grandiose layer of the conflagration testifies to the catastrophic events of the end of the 5th - beginning of the 6th century. n. e. As it often happens, the creators of the first civilization, having lost the impulsive energy of the heyday and, perhaps, weakening the military-political structures, succumb to the energetic aggression of their neighbors, which they themselves had previously generated by military campaigns and raids. At the same time, cultural traditions, as a rule, are modified, but not interrupted, while significant changes occur in the ethno-political sphere.

Equally heir to another early agricultural center of the Mesoamerican region was the civilization of Monte Alban (Blanton, 1978; Blanton a.o., 1979). As we have seen, in the Oaxaca Valley, the intensification of agriculture, oriented towards artificial irrigation of fields, favored the early formation of large population centers. At the same time, already from the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. the Olmec impact determines the type of development that acquires the features of a stimulated transformation. Around our era, at the Monte Albán II stage in Monte Albán itself, that natural capital of Oaxaca, the administrative district of the so-called palace stands out. Significant influence from the Teotehuacan culture is soon noted. True, the size of the capital city never reached the scale of the northern giant. However, for the III century. n. e. the number of inhabitants of Monte Alban itself is estimated at 1500 (Jennings, 1983, p. 60). The originality of the local hieroglyphic writing, represented by a number of texts on the steles. By the 7th century includes a certain decline of Monte Alban and the whole region, where only small provincial settlements remain. This epoch of the decline of civilizations of the first cycle was, with slight local fluctuations, common to the entire Mesoamerican region. However, the most important step along the path of progress has already been taken - in the New World, socio-cultural systems of a qualitatively new type have moved to the forefront of history, putting an end to the primitive era in at least two regions - Mesoamerican and Central Andean. Regardless of their political destinies, a certain turn of the spiral was passed, and the foundation of cultural achievements is palpable until the era of Montezuma, celebrated by Spanish chronicles and modern novelists.