Of Maize and Men: A Critique of the Maritime Hypothesis of State Origins on the Coast of Peru

The adaptation of preindustrial band and tribal groups to environments subject to aperiodic downturns of long duration can often be understood by reference to limiting factors affecting the productivity of the subsistence system. This paper examines the two alternative hypotheses of the maritime and agricultural foundations of state society on the coast of Peru, and by reference to limiting factors affecting the Peru Coastal Current, argues that coastal maritime groups never advanced beyond an egalitarian tribal stage. Support for the acceptance of the alternative agricultural hypothesis of state origins is provided by an ecological analysis of relevant features of the marine and terrestrial biomes, ethnographic data on marine subsistence villages, and archaeological data for the Late Archaic and Formative periods . [Central Andes, state origins, coastal adaptations, ecological anthropology, limiting factors]