Paracas funerary practices in palpa, south coast of per ú

‘Paracas ’ is the term used to describe one of the most important cultures of the Central Andean area, originally discovered by Tello, Mejía Xesspe and associates at various sites of the Paracas Peninsula (Pisco) in southern Per ú (Tello 1928, 1959; Tello and Mejía Xesspe 1979). Although ‘ Paracas’ has been used indiscriminately to describe a location, a ceramic style or a textile tradition, it is in fact a unique social entity that can be clearly dif erentiated from other contemporary Andean societies. 1 Since the discovery of Paracas between 1920 and 1925, research work has located important centres in the valleys of Chincha, Pisco and Ica, as well as various sites in the Paracas Peninsula and Bah í a de la Independencia (Pisco). These sites have yielded ceremonial centres, monumental public buildings and habitation sites, as well as cemeteries containing individuals with deformed and trepanned skulls, accompanied by grave goods such as textiles and i ne, incised polychrome pottery. Further work suggests that Paracas inl uence extended to the valleys of Cañete and Topará towards the north (Wallace 1963) and Palpa and Nazca in the south (Isla and Reindel 2008; Silverman 1994a). The Palpa Valleys have also yielded petroglyphs and geoglyphs, which comprise the direct antecedents of the famous Nasca Lines.