The architect’s signature: The social production of a residential landscape at Monte Viudo, Chachapoyas, Peru

•Peru’s Chachapoyas region is characterized by elaborate residential buildings.•300 Houses were studied at the Chachapoya settlement site of Monte Viudo.•The interiors of seven houses from AD800–1450 were excavated.•Analysis privileged the study of variability and material features of residences.•Elites and non-elites worked agentively within traditional architectural canons to create status and social position.

The Chachapoyas region of northern Peru was home to one of the most elaborate, but little studied, traditions of residential architecture in the prehispanic Andes. This paper examines the ways in which individual and group decision-making, social and political circumstances, and physical environments articulated to shape the material features of circular stone houses at the settlement site of Monte Viudo. In particular, it emphasizes the process of house construction and the role of human agency. Data is based on excavation of seven residential buildings, combined with mapping and recording of features of all structures at Monte Viudo. Taking advantage of the site’s excellent preservation, special attention is paid to the material attributes of residential buildings as a source of information complementary to spatial organization.