El período Formativo de Tarapacá y su cerámica: Avances sobre complejidad social en la costa del norte grande de Chile (900 AC-800 DC)

this paper contributes to the debate on the emergence of social complexity during the late formative in the coast of tarapacá (iquique and loa river mouth) by identifying the more significative qualitative aspects provided by ceramic analysis. although the first communities with pottery appear in 900 bc, between ad 200-800, they were intensifying their exploration, settlement and exploitation around local resources on the basis of archaic coastal practices articulated with the inland, while keeping to intense mobility patterns that reaches a widespread distribution with strong ceremonial content. this scenario defines a particular form of social complexity whereby agricultural, ceramic and other innovations were the logical outcome of local knowledge and practices, neither dependent on foreign agents or sources, nor constrained by the arid environment.