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Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (d. 1471) Inca emperorPachacuti Inca Yupanqui acceded to rulership afterhis victory over the Chanca in 1438 and remained inpower until 1471. The most notable project Pachacutiundertook as Sapa Inca was the rebuilding of the cityof C. The Spanish writer Juan de Betanzos offersa vivid account of this, depicting Pachacuti as a far-sighted urban planner and effective organizer of .Pachacuti first outlined the city and made a clay model to

show how he wanted it built. He then mobilized a crew of50,000 workers, who labored for 20 years, from the firstimprovements of channeling the Tullumayo and SaphyRivers that flow through Cuzco until the completionof the building program. When the city was finished,Pachacuti held a town meeting and assigned houses andlots to members of Cuzcos nobility and to all other resi-dents. He had people of lower social rank settle betweenthe Temple of the Sun (Coricancha) and the point wherethe two rivers joined. Pachacuti named this section of hiscity Hurin Cuzco (lower Cuzco); the far end was calledPumachupa, which means lions tail. The area from the

Temple of the Sun on up, between the two rivers to thehill of Sacsayhuamn, he distributed among the promi-nent lords of his lineage and his own direct descendants.This section became Hanan Cuzco (upper Cuzco). Basedon this description, Cuzcos new layout is understood asvisualizing the body of a puma, with its tail at Pumachupaand its head at Sacsayhuamn.

Pachacutis other significant accomplishments wereearly territorial expansions to the southeast and north-west, as well as the formulation of a political landscapeand sacred geography. Pachacuti commissioned the con-

struction of various royal estates in the Urubamba Valley,the most famous of which is MP.

Jessica Christie

paj The shamans of the indigenous peoples ofAmazonia and neighboring regions were known as pajs(from the Tup-G word for spiritual leader).Pajswere the repositories of special knowledge aboutthe world and were intermediaries between the humanand supernatural worlds. The peoples of the tropicalforest, despite their different cultures, languages, andethnicity, generally considered the natural environ-ment to be inhabited by spirits that interacted not onlywith humans but also with plants, animals, rivers, andother elements of the landscape (see A). Pajswere highly regarded by their societies and respectedfor their ability to heal; as a result, they were oftenrewarded with political authority and material wealth.Since in many cultures it was believed that sickness wascaused by enemy sorcerers or witches, pajs also led

military expeditions against the groups they claimedwere responsible (see ).

Pajsunderwent years of apprenticeship with estab-lished shamans, often secluded from the rest of the com-munity. This training likely included the mastery of alarge volume of information, from memorizing creationmyths to the elaboration of herbal remedies.

Renowned for their knowledge of medicinal plants,including hallucinogenic plants such as the ayahuascavine that was used both for healing and to communicatewith the spirit world, pajsare still an important element

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of folk among both indigenous and non-Indiancommunities in modern Latin America.

Francisco J. Gonzlez

Further reading:Anna Roosevelt, ed.Amazonian Indians: From Prehistory to the

Present(Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1994).

Panama For centuries, Panama has served as a landbridge, allowing the exchange of plants, animals, people,goods, and technologies between North and SouthAmerica (see ). Archaeological, linguistic, andgenetic data demonstrate that Panama has been occu-pied continuously since the initial colonization of theAmericas. Although animal bones found at La Trinaditadate to 45,000 ..., no associated Paleoindian toolshave been found. The earliest evidence for human occu-pation comes from pollen and Joboid tools collected at

La Yeguada and Lake Alajuela and dates to around 9500... Two lithic bifacial stone tool traditions and pollenremains are the only evidence of later human occupa-tion. These are associated with the North AmericanClovis and South American fishtail projectile heads usedby hunter-gather populations who inhabited the regionaround 9000 ... (see C). The tools havebeen found in open sites and rock shelters on the centralPacific coast, at locations such as La Mula-West, Nieto,and Vampiros.

During the Preceramic period, around 7000 to 5000..., humans inhabited coastal sites and rock sheltersalong the central Pacific coast. They used bifacial stone

tools and milling stones called edge-ground cobbles toprepare a variety of foodstuffs, including rodents, shell-fish, freshwater turtles, estuarine fish, and plants. Thereis evidence of early during this time. Slash-and-burn cultivation was practiced to grow crops such asarrowroot,, and squash, all of which were originallydomesticated outside Panama.

After 5000 ..., the use of unifacial stone toolsbecame more common. Early inhabitants continued touse animal and plant resources. M, sweet potatoes,and yams were added to the diet, and agriculture contin-ued to expand (see ). In western Panama, between

4000 and 2500

.

.

., human groups living in small campsand rock shelters used stone tools that differed fromthose used in central Panama. Bifacial wedges and axliketools of basalt and andesite were used for woodwork-ing. These people collected palm nuts and tree fruits;cultivated maize, manioc, and arrowroot; and probablyhunted peccary, deer, and small game.

Pottery was developed in central Panama around3000 ... at coastal and inland sites such as Monagrillo(where it was first identified), Zapotal, Corona, RoCobre, Calavera, and Ladrones (see ). In centralPacific Panama, there was an intensification of agricul-

ture, particularly in the drier foothills, but otherwise,most cultural patterns continued from the precedingPreceramic period. Throughout Panama, material cul-ture became more diverse during this period, and threedistinct cultural regions emerged in western, central, andeastern Panama.

By the first millennium ... until 300 .., Panama

experienced relatively rapid cultural development andagricultural intensification. Regional pottery styles devel-oped in western Panama (Concepcin complex style),central Panama (La Mula style), and eastern Panama(zoned linear incised). The growing population began set-tling in nucleated agricultural villages. In central Panama,people settled along the alluvial plains of the main riversin the lowlands, at sites such La MulaSarigua, SitioSierra, Nat, Cerro Juan Daz, Bcaro, La India, Caazas,El Indio, and El Cafetal; similar processes occurred atLa Pitahaya and Cerro Brujo in western Panama. Newtechnologies were introduced. In central Panama, sitesfrom this period indicate the broad usage of legless slabMETATES (grinding stones), manos, and polished axes, alltypically associated with maize cultivation, a staple in the region. In addition to maize, people consumedwhite-tail deer, fish, crabs, and shellfish.

The period between 400 and 800 .. saw the estab-lishment of stratified societies and settlement hierarchies.Elite individuals controlled and displayed luxury goodsmade of stone, shell, ivory, and and mobilizedfor the construction of cemeteries, mounds, stonesculptures, stone pavements, and buildings. Evidence ofthis can be found at sites such as Sitio Conte, Barriles,La Pitahaya, Sitio Pitti-Gonzalez, Miraflores, Rancho

Sancho, Cerro Juan Daz, and El Cao.After 800, the production of maize, hunting of game,

and exploitation of marine resources intensified. Politiesconsolidated in regional centers such as Cerro Cerrezuelaand El Hatillo, and populations increased along the rivervalleys. Tools, pottery, and other commodities wereproduced mainly by craft specialists, and burials reflectincreased social stratification.

When the Spanish arrived in 1501, Panama had avariety of settlement types of different sizes. Communitieswere stratified and spoke diverse Chibcha languages incentral and western Panama and the Cueva language in

eastern Panama. There is also evidence of long-distance between polities, as well as . In easternPanama, Cueva speakers were organized in dispersedvillages ruled by a local chief. Their was basedon hunting, gathering, and agricultural activities. Spanish described stratified communities ruled byparamount chiefs in central Panama. These nucleatedvillages were located in major river valleys, surroundedby a wide variety of habitats from which the inhabitantsobtained abundant game and fish; they also cultivatedmaize, manioc, sweet potatoes, and squash. In westernPanama at the time of the , groups such as the

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