The Cultures of Ancient Peru presents the most relevant advances in Peruvian archaeology of the past thirty years. It is a reflection on pre-Hispanic Andean history from the appearance of mankind in the Andes to the successful domestication of endemic species and the subsequent development of sedentary cultures. The story of this process will familiarize the reader with the uniqueness of Andean cultural development, focusing as it does on the importance of ethnic identity, productivity and the creation of a surplus as a source of wealth, as well as the position of organized labor as the most essential economic resource of these early societies. The mechanisms of interrelation and sociopolitical exchange which made this development possible were based upon the notion of reciprocity and redistribution. Intensive research carried out by Peruvian and foreign experts is helping us to better understand the many mysteries of ancient Peruvian culture.
