Nasca culture integration and complexity: A perspective from the site of La Tiza

•A review of Nasca culture complexity and integration.•Results of excavations at the site of La Tiza in the southern Nasca drainage of Peru are presented.•Higher population and more variable settlements for the area are proposed.•Greater inequality and integration are likely.

The Nasca culture (AD 1-650) located on the south coast of Peru has been interpreted in many ways since it was first investigated by Max Uhle in 1901. Scholars have described it as a middlerange society, heterarchy, simple chiefdom, confederacy, paramount chiefdom, theocracy, state, and empire. This paper explores past interpretations of Nasca and presents data from the site of La Tiza in the southern Nasca drainage. The evidence from La Tiza indicates that population was larger and settlements were more variable than has previously been proposed for southern Nasca. In addition, there are indications of a greater degree of social differentiation and ritual activities not previously identified at other sites in the area. This has implications for the overall integration and complexity of the Nasca culture.