Speaker: Ben Nigra, PhD Candidate, UCLA’Paracas’ refers to a polychromatic fine-ware tradition, a canon of architectural elements, a set of specific mortuary practices, and a rich textile tradition associated with Peru’s southern coast during the first millennium BCE. Despite decades of research dedicated to Paracas ‘art’, craft goods and iconography, south coast archaeologists struggle to understand the basic sociopolitical character of Paracas and the social and material conditions that drove its development through time. Excavations at Huaca Soto (2014-2015) re-calibrate this narrative by examining the evolution of monumental ceremonial architecture in the Chincha Valley. Our investigation further suggests that Paracas platform mounds became widely recognized as huacas, or sacred spaces, that garnered attention from later Wari, Chincha and Inca groups. Huaca Soto thus provides a case study on the appearance and evolution of coastal monuments in the long-term – spanning the first millennium BCE to today.