Henry Tantaleán

@unmsm.edu.pe

Full Professor, Department of Archaeology
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos

Henry Tantaleán


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https://researchid.co/htantalean

EDUCATION

Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos

FUTURE PROJECTS

Programa Arqueológico Chicama


Applications Invited
32

Scopus Publications

1840

Scholar Citations

19

Scholar h-index

44

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

  • Quebrada del Oso: A Chimú agricultural production centre in the Chicama Valley, north coast of Perú
    Carito Tavera-Medina, Henry Tantaleán, Charles Stanish, Juan Quispe-Baquedano, Diana Huachaca, José Roman, Alicia Boswell
    Antiquity, 2026
    Recent research at the Chimú site of Quebrada del Oso in the Chicama Valley, Peru indicates that the site functioned as a pre-Hispanic agricultural centre. This finding is relevant to debates about the nature and viability of the Chicama-Moche canal built by the Chimú state around the eleventh century AD.
  • A Theory of Andean Geoglyphs
    Charles Stanish, Henry Tantaleán, Carito Tavera, Jacob Bongers, Karen Wise
    Journal of Anthropological Research, 2026
    Geoglyphs are found throughout the premodern world. They represent some of the most undertheorized but important archaeological phenomena in our discipline. Decades of systematic work in the Andes has allowed us to model the development of geoglyphs through time. Geoglyphs were preceded by petroglyphs that demarcated travel routes. Isolated sets of figural geoglyphs on hillsides emerged alongside petroglyph clusters before the Early Horizon and functioned to mark places of congregation. During the late Early Horizon, a scalar transformation took place along the Peruvian coast. Clusters of linear geoglyphs with a variety of structures emerged on the desert pampas. These geoglyphs are composed of multiple figural and geometric shapes. We propose that these complexes were constructed by complex polities as ritualized, theatrical landscapes designed to attract people for periodic feasts and fairs. Linear geoglyph complexes became an essential component of the competitive feasting strategies embedded in the political economy of these early, complex societies.
  • Indigenous accounting and exchange at Monte Sierpe (‘Band of Holes’) in the Pisco Valley, Peru
    Jacob L. Bongers, Christopher A. Kiahtipes, David Beresford-Jones, Jo Osborn, Manuel Medrano, Ioana A. Dumitru, Christine Bergmann, José Román, Carito Tavera Medina, Henry Tantaleán, Luis Huamán Mesía, Charles Stanish
    Antiquity, 2026
    Stretching for 1.5km and consisting of approximately 5200 precisely aligned holes, Monte Sierpe in southern Peru is a remarkable construction that likely dates to at least the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000–1400) and saw continued use by the Inca (AD 1400–1532). Yet its function remains uncertain. Here, the authors report on new analyses of drone imagery and sediment samples that reveal numerical patterns in layout, potential parallels with Inca knotted-string records and the presence of crops and wild plants. All this, the authors argue, suggests that Monte Sierpe functioned as a local, Indigenous system of accounting and exchange.
  • Paleoparasitological analysis on animal-origin coprolites from the Moche archaeological site Licapa II, Chicama Valley, Peru (450 - 900 AD)
    Darío Alejandro Ramirez, Carito Tavera Medina, Henry Tantaleán, Rodrigo Nores
    Parasitology, 2026
    Abstract Paleoparasitological research has allowed the recovery and identification of parasite structures like helminth eggs, protozoan oocysts, arthropod remains, as well as parasite ancient DNA molecules preserved in human and animal-origin archaeological material from Peruvian contexts. However, these studies are still scarce in the region despite its potential to trace parasite infections and diseases through history, and to help understand ecological relationships in the past. Here, we examined 36 coprolites from rodents and South American camelids recovered from a test pit, through light microscopy-based paleoparasitological methods, in order to characterize the parasite diversity existing at the Licapa II Moche site. The results allowed us to identify six parasite taxa, including Eimeria macusaniensis , acantocephala, strongylids, Dioctophymatidae, possibly Paraspidodera sp. and Diphyllobotrium / Adenocephalus . One of these species, E. macusaniensis , allowed us to confirm the zooarchaeological origin of some coprolites as belonging to South American camelids. The urbanization and certain practices, such as the breeding of these animals by Andean societies, would explain the occurrence of these parasites at the site, while also prompting consideration of their potential effects on the health of camelids and rodents, in which parasite disease is today a major concern. Similarly, they suggest risks of zoonotic diseases to which the people who lived there in the past may have been exposed.
  • Las ocupaciones más tempranas de Pozuelo: Contexto arqueológico, producción cerámica, y relaciones sociales durante el Horizonte Temprano en el Valle de Chincha
    Henry Tantaleán, Charles Stanish, José Roman, Carito Tavera Medina
    Nawpa Pacha, 2026
    Pozuelo is an archaeological site located in the lower part of the Chincha valley on the south coast of Peru. It dates to the Early Horizon period (800-200 B.C.). In this paper we present the results of our recent archaeological investigations carried out at this site, with emphasis on a ceramic assemblage during its earliest occupational phases. Our results indicate that Pozuelo developed successfully as an independent community but participated in, and benefited from, participation in the multi-regional Chavín sphere of interaction.
  • Cerro Malabrigo and the Resurgence of Pre-Hispanic Monumental Architecture in the Chicama Valley, Northern Coast of Peru
    , Carito Tavera Medina, Henry Tantaleán, , Charles Stanish, , José Román, , Mauricio Gastelló, , Inés Uribe, and
    Boletin Del Museo Chileno De Arte Precolombino, 2025
    En este artículo se describe la investigación arqueológica de una de las estructuras arquitectónicas monumentales prehispánicas más antiguas hallada en Cerro Malabrigo, sitio ubicado en el área septentrional del valle de Chicama, costa norte del Perú. De acuerdo con nuestras excavaciones, el edificio fue construido a principios del período Intermedio Temprano (200 AC-600 DC). Presentamos los resultados de estas exploraciones, del análisis cerámico y los fechados radiocarbónicos asociados a la arquitectura. Contextualizamos estos datos en relación con el entorno sociopolítico en el que se desarrolló Cerro Malabrigo. Finalmente, evaluamos su vinculación con otros sitios en el área de Chicama y sus valles vecinos durante el siglo II AC.
  • An Introduction to Peruvian Archaeology
    Henry Tantalean
    An Introduction to Peruvian Archaeology the Excavated Past, 2025
    An Introduction to Peruvian Archaeology: The Excavated Past offers an accessible and up-to-date guide to Peru’s rich archaeological heritage. Through a broad vision of archaeology as a discipline and historical reality, Henry Tantaleán offers a fascinating immersion into the past of Peru. This book is structured in three parts: an introduction to the key concepts of global and local archaeology, a brief history of Peruvian archaeology, and a tour of the societies of ancient Peru, from the first settlers to the fall of the Inca Empire. Furthermore, the author highlights the role of archaeology in daily life, education, and popular culture. This book is an invaluable resource not only for students and professionals of Peruvian archaeology but also for anyone interested in understanding the cultural legacy that these findings contribute to our understanding of human history.
  • The Moches of Chicama: past, present and future
    Carito Tavera Medina, Henry Tantaleán, Mauricio Gastello Morales, Diana Huachaca Montes, Juan Quispe-Baquedano, Sayury Sanandres
    Boletim do Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi Ciencias Humanas, 2025
    Resumen En este artículo brindamos un panorama de los grupos sociales Moche (50-800 d.C.) que ocuparon el valle de Chicama en la costa norte del Perú. Si bien este valle ha sido objeto de diversos estudios arqueológicos, especialmente a lo largo del siglo XX, aún quedan varias áreas y temas que explorar con respecto a dicha sociedad. En ese sentido, por medio de la sistematización de los datos preexistentes y los nuevos obtenidos en el marco del Programa de Investigación Arqueológico Chicama (PRACH), analizamos la situación presente del conocimiento del fenómeno Moche a la luz de las metodologías e interpretaciones planteadas. Finalmente, presentamos los temas que nos faltarían investigar y profundizar en el desafío por explicar de mejor manera a los Moche de este valle de la costa norte peruana.
  • Early Monumentality, Ritual, and Political Complexity: Formative Peru and Copper Age Iberia
    Charles Stanish, Timothy Earle, Leonardo García Sanjuán, Henry Tantaleán, Gustavo Barrientos
    Current Anthropology, 2024
    Archaeology documents the critical roles that ritual played in early regional political organizations. These intermediate-scale societies represent a scalar jump in size and complexity from hunter-forager bands and farming villages. Ritual spaces and monuments materialized regional organizations, and their physical durability makes them ideal for archaeological study. Impressive monumental architecture in intermediate societies, however, has few ethnographic or historical analogs. We argue that these social formations are inherently unstable, characterized by oscillations in scale and structure. They were organized by ritual. Driven by dialectical relationships between emergent elite and commoner interests, alternative trajectories emerged. Societies oscillated between hierarchies to service the collectivity on one pole and to benefit elites on the other. Studying ritualized practices and their monumental manifestations bridges two approaches to emergent social complexity theory—collective action and political economy. We use a unified economic, anthropological approach that views these as “two sides of the same coin.” Combining them helps explain how people in egalitarian societies embraced hierarchy in the service of the community while unintentionally creating the social and material conditions for their exploitation. We illustrate this oscillation with two historically independent cases representing contrasting scales and contexts of monumentality in Formative Period Peru and Copper Age Iberia.
  • Reconstructing Lima La Vieja: Form and Function of an evanescent Inca site in the Pisco valley, Southern Coast of Peru
    José Román, Henry Tantaleán, Carito Tavera Medina, Charles Stanish
    Arqueologia, 2024
    Lima La Vieja es un sitio arqueológico a punto de desaparecer. A pesar de que ha sido objeto de estudios arqueológicos e históricos a lo largo del siglo XX y de que su arquitectura y función lo destacan entre otros asentamientos incas, el sitio ha sido gradualmente desmantelado a lo largo de los siglos XX y XXI. Lima La Vieja es muy importante dentro del sistema mayor del estado Inca en esta región y es además uno de los primeros asentamientos españoles fundados en el siglo XVI en Pisco y el Sur de Perú. Nuestro artículo reconstruye el asentamiento de Lima La Vieja mediante información inédita y el uso de nuevas metodologías, con el objetivo de contextualizar este sitio dentro del registro histórico y arqueológico del valle de Pisco, especialmente durante el Horizonte Tardío.
  • The Sechín Alto Complex in the Pre-Hispanic Central Andes
    Henry Tantaleán, Charles Stanish
    Journal of Urban Archaeology, 2023
  • Violence in the Prehispanic Andes: Materialities, Social Practices and the Moche Case
    Alex Gonzales-Panta, Henry Tantaleán
    Historical Materialism Book Series, 2023
  • THE TOPARÁ CERAMIC STYLE: A PERSPECTIVE FROM POZUELO IN THE LOWER CHINCHA VALLEY
    Boris Orccosupa, Henry Tantaleán, Charles Stanish
    Chungara, 2023
  • Un encargo muy especial: George Dorsey, las necrópolis de Ancón y la Exposición Universal de Chicago de 1893
    Henry Tantaleán
    Latin American Antiquity, 2022
  • THE LAST PARACAS: FUNERARY BUNDLES FROM THE PARACAS CAVERNAS TRADITION AT CERRO DEL GENTIL IN THE MIDDLE CHINCHA VALLEY, SOUTH COAST OF PERU
    Henry Tantaleán, Juliana Gómez Mejía, Charles Stanish
    Boletin De Arqueologia Pucp, 2022
  • La Cumbe: Un Centro Político-Religioso Paracas En El Valle De Chincha, Perú
    Henry Tantaleán, Charles Stanish, Alexis Rodríguez, Irving Aragonéz
    Nawpa Pacha, 2022
  • Integration of ancient DNA with transdisciplinary dataset finds strong support for Inca resettlement in the south Peruvian coast
    Jacob L. Bongers, Nathan Nakatsuka, Colleen O’Shea, Thomas K. Harper, Henry Tantaleán, Charles Stanish, Lars Fehren-Schmitz
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2020
  • THE ANCIENT ANDEAN STATES: Political Landscapes in Pre-Hispanic Peru
    Henry Tantaleán
    Ancient Andean States Political Landscapes in Pre Hispanic Peru, 2020
  • Nunca fuimos apolíticos: Comentarios a "en contra del populismo reaccionario: Hacia una nueva arqueología pública"
    Henry Tantaleán
    Chungara, 2019
  • Feasting and the evolution of cooperative social organizations circa 2300 B.P. in Paracas culture, southern Peru
    Charles Stanish, Henry Tantaleán, Kelly Knudson
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2018
  • Ritual and political landscapes of Paracas in the Chincha Valley, south coast of Peru
    Henry Tantaleán
    Latin American Antiquity, 2016
  • Intra-individual variability and strontium isotope measurements: A methodological study using 87Sr/86Sr data from Pampa de los Gentiles, Chincha Valley, Peru
    Kelly J. Knudson, Charles Stanish, Maria Cecilia Lozada Cerna, Kym F. Faull, Henry Tantaleán
    Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, 2016
  • Chaupisawakasi and the Pukara expansion in the Quilcamayo-Tintiri valley
    Henry Tantaleán, Carlos Zapata Benites
    Chungara, 2016
  • Peruvian Archaeology: A Critical History
    Henry Tantaleán
    Peruvian Archaeology A Critical History, 2016
  • The final days of paracas in Cerro del Gentil, Chincha Valley, Peru
    Henry Tantaleán, Charles Stanish, Alexis Rodríguez, Kelita Pérez
    Plos One, 2016
  • Archaeological heritage in Peru: Definitions, perceptions and imperceptions
    Louise Grove, Suzie Thomas
    Heritage Crime Progress Prospects and Prevention, 2014
  • A 2,300-year-old architectural and astronomical complex in the Chincha Valley, Peru
    C. Stanish, H. Tantalean, B. T. Nigra, L. Griffin
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2014
  • Lumbreras, Luis Guillermo
    Henry Tantaleán
    Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2014
  • Marxist Archaeologies Development: Peruvian, Latin American, and Social Archaeology Perspectives
    Henry Tantaleán
    Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2014
  • Machu Picchu: Geography and Culture
    Henry Tantaleán, Miguel A. Aguilar
    Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, 2014
  • Archaeological excavation at Balsaspata, Ayaviri
    Advances in Titicaca Basin Archaeology III, 2012
  • Returning to build: Funerary practices and ideology (IES) during the Inka occupation of Cutimbo, Puno-Peru
    Chungara, 2006

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • National Archaeologies and the Study of the Past II: Peru and the Southern Cone
    A Haber, H Tantaleán
    The Oxford Handbook of South American Archaeology, 43 , 2026
    2026
  • Jim Morrison’s Grave in Père-Lachaise: Social Materiality, Ritual Practices and the Construction of a Popular Cult
    H Tantaleán, B Ballester, J Roman, C Tavera-Medina
    Journal of Contemporary Archaeology , 2026
    2026
  • Quebrada del Oso: a Chimú agricultural production centre in the Chicama Valley, north coast of Perú
    C Tavera-Medina, H Tantaleán, C Stanish, J Quispe-Baquedano, ...
    Antiquity 100 (410), e22 , 2026
    2026
  • A Theory of Andean Geoglyphs
    C Stanish, H Tantaleán, C Tavera, J Bongers, K Wise
    Journal of Anthropological Research 82 (1), 000-000 , 2026
    2026
  • Paleoparasitological analysis on animal-origin coprolites from the Moche archaeological site Licapa II, Chicama Valley, Peru (450-900 AD)
    D Alejandro Ramirez, C Tavera Medina, H Tantalean, R Nores
    PARASITOLOGY , 2026
    2026
  • Indigenous accounting and exchange at Monte Sierpe (‘Band of Holes’) in the Pisco Valley, Peru
    JL Bongers, CA Kiahtipes, D Beresford-Jones, J Osborn, M Medrano, ...
    Antiquity 100 (409), 145-163 , 2026
    2026
    Citations: 1
  • Las ocupaciones más tempranas de Pozuelo: Contexto arqueológico, producción cerámica, y relaciones sociales durante el Horizonte Temprano en el Valle de Chincha
    H Tantaleán, C Stanish, J Roman, C Tavera Medina
    Ñawpa Pacha 46 (1), 105-131 , 2026
    2026
  • Paleoparasitological analysis on animal-origin coprolites from the Moche archaeological site Licapa II, Chicama Valley, Peru (450–900 AD)
    DA Ramirez, CT Medina, H Tantaleán, R Nores
    Parasitology, 1-9 , 2026
    2026
  • Quebrada del Oso: Nuevas investigaciones en un complejo agrícola Chimú en el valle de Chicama
    C Tavera-Medina, H Tantaleán, J Quispe-Baquedano
    Arqueológicas, 217-241 , 2025
    2025
  • An Introduction to Peruvian Archaeology: The Excavated Past
    H Tantaleán
    Taylor & Francis , 2025
    2025
  • Los Moches de Chicama: pasado, presente y futuro
    C Tavera Medina, H Tantaleán, MG Morales, D Huachaca Montes, ...
    Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Ciências Humanas 20, e20240054 , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • Archaeology, Nation, and Race: Confronting the Past, Decolonizing the Future in Greece and Israel , Raphael Greenberg and Yannis Hamilakis (2022)
    H Tantaleán
    Journal of Greek Media & Culture 11 (1), 140-143 , 2025
    2025
  • Cerro Malabrigo y el resurgimiento de la arquitectura monumental prehispánica en el valle de Chicama, costa norte del Perú
    C Tavera Medina, H Tantaleán, C Stanish, J Román, M Gastello, I Uribe
    Boletín del Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino 30 (1), 120-139 , 2025
    2025
  • DESCUBRIENDO UN MUNDO EN FLUJO: RICHARD BURGER, LAS ESFERAS DE INTERACCIÓN Y LOS PARACAS
    H Tantaleán
    Arqueología y VIda , 2025
    2025
  • Cerro Malabrigo and the Resurgence of Pre-Hispanic Monumental Architecture in the Chicama Valley, Northern Coast of Peru
    CT Medina, H Tantalean, C Stanish, J Roman, M Gastello, I Uribe
    BOLETIN DEL MUSEO CHILENO DE ARTE PRECOLOMBINO 30 (1), 120-139 , 2025
    2025
  • Early monumentality, ritual, and political complexity: Formative Peru and Copper Age Iberia
    C Stanish, T Earle, L García Sanjuán, H Tantaleán, G Barrientos
    Current Anthropology 65 (5), 810-836 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 19
  • Reconstruyendo a Lima La Vieja: forma y función de un sitio Inca evanescente en el valle de Pisco, Costa Sur del Perú
    J Román, H Tantaleán, CT Medina, C Stanish
    Arqueología 30 (2), 13058-13058 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 1
  • Violence in the Prehispanic Andes: Materialities, Social Practices and the Moche Case
    H Tantaleán
    Marxist Archaeology Today: Historical Materialist Perspectives in … , 2024
    2024
  • Reconstructing Lima La Vieja: Form and Function of an evanescent Inca site in the Pisco valley, Southern Coast of Peru
    J Roman, H Tantalean, CT Medina, C Stanish
    ARQUEOLOGIA 30 (2) , 2024
    2024
  • Luis Guillermo Lumbreras Salcedo (29 July 1936--9 November 2023)
    H Tantaleán
    Andean Past 14 (1), 4 , 2024
    2024

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Nometodología payanesa: notas de metodología indisciplinada
    A Haber
    Universidad de Chile. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales , 2011
    2011
    Citations: 471
  • Arqueología pública: reflexiones sobre la construcción de un objeto de estudio, con comentarios de Daniella Jofré, Lúcio Mesezes y Henry Tantalean
    V Salerno
    Revista Chilena de Antropología , 2013
    2013
    Citations: 107
  • La arqueología social latinoamericana
    H Tantaleán, M Aguilar
    Universidad de los Andes , 2012
    2012
    Citations: 79
  • Intra-individual variability and strontium isotope measurements: A methodological study using 87Sr/86Sr data from Pampa de los Gentiles, Chincha Valley, Peru
    KJ Knudson, C Stanish, MCL Cerna, KF Faull, H Tantaleán
    Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 5, 590-597 , 2016
    2016
    Citations: 64
  • Integration of ancient DNA with transdisciplinary dataset finds strong support for Inca resettlement in the south Peruvian coast
    JL Bongers, N Nakatsuka, C O’Shea, TK Harper, H Tantaleán, C Stanish, ...
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117 (31), 18359-18368 , 2020
    2020
    Citations: 61
  • Peruvian archaeology: A critical history
    H Tantaleán
    Routledge , 2016
    2016
    Citations: 54
  • Una historia de la arqueología peruana
    H Tantaleán
    IEP Instituto de Estudios Peruanos , 2016
    2016
    Citations: 45
  • A 2,300-year-old architectural and astronomical complex in the Chincha Valley, Peru
    C Stanish, H Tantaleán, BT Nigra, L Griffin
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111 (20), 7218-7223 , 2014
    2014
    Citations: 42
  • Andean ontologies: New archaeological perspectives
    MC Lozada, H Tantaleán
    University Press of Florida , 2019
    2019
    Citations: 41
  • Regresar para construir: prácticas funerarias e ideología (s) durante la ocupación Inka en Cutimbo, Puno-Perú
    H Tantaleán
    Chungará (Arica) 38 (1), 129-143 , 2006
    2006
    Citations: 34
  • Feasting and the evolution of cooperative social organizations circa 2300 BP in Paracas culture, southern Peru
    C Stanish, H Tantaleán, K Knudson
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115 (29), E6716-E6721 , 2018
    2018
    Citations: 33
  • Paracas en el valle de Chincha: Nuevos datos y explicaciones
    H Tantaleán, C Stanish, M Zegarra, K Pérez, B Nigra
    Boletín de Arqueología PUCP, 31-56 , 2013
    2013
    Citations: 31
  • L'arqueologia social peruana: mite o realitat?
    H Tantaleán
    Cota zero: revista d'arqueologia i ciència, 90-100 , 2004
    2004
    Citations: 31
  • Andean Ontologies
    H Tantaleán
    An introduction to substance “. Andean ontologies. New archaeological … , 2019
    2019
    Citations: 30
  • Arqueología de la formación del Estado: el caso de la cuenca norte del Titicaca
    H Tantaleán
    (No Title) , 2005
    2005
    Citations: 30
  • Chavín de Huántar y la definición arqueológica de un estado teocrático andino
    H Tantaleán
    Boletín de Antropología Americana, 99-168 , 2009
    2009
    Citations: 27
  • The final days of paracas in Cerro del Gentil, Chincha Valley, Peru
    H Tantaleán, C Stanish, A Rodríguez, K Pérez
    PLoS One 11 (5), e0153465 , 2016
    2016
    Citations: 25
  • El pasado tras del espejo: arqueología y nacionalismo en el Perú
    H Tantalean
    Nastri y Ferreira 2010, 137-166 , 2010
    2010
    Citations: 24
  • Paisajes rituales y políticos Paracas en el valle de Chincha, costa sur del Perú
    H Tantaleán
    Latin American Antiquity 27 (4), 479-496 , 2016
    2016
    Citations: 20
  • Early monumentality, ritual, and political complexity: Formative Peru and Copper Age Iberia
    C Stanish, T Earle, L García Sanjuán, H Tantaleán, G Barrientos
    Current Anthropology 65 (5), 810-836 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 19