1000 - 1400 A.D.
Norther Andes
Populations settle in valleys and highlands, some lived in big villages and others small towns. Coastal areas provided fertile land for agriculture. Despite frequent wars and conflicts, no group succeeds in establishing a state. Many villages stayed in contact through trade, but the variety in ceramic styles, metalwork, architecture, and burial practices reflects significant cultural differences. Many groups continue to bury their important dead in shaft tombs with niches or side chambers or in urns; others inter them beneath mounds or house structures. Burial offerings include ceramic vessels and ornaments of semi-precious stone, shell, metal, and perishable materials such as textiles and featherwork. Metalworking using copper alloys continues. In many areas emphasis is on mass production of simple, small-scale ornaments rather than the manufacture of elaborate works bearing complex imagery as in earlier periods.
Central and Southern Andes
With the decline of Wari and Tiwanaku, the north coast of Peru, which has abundant water supply for irrigation, is the center of development and sees the rise of the powerful Chimú state. Small and mid-sized kingdoms control the valleys of the central and southern coasts. Despite political fragmentation, many groups have similar societal goals and approaches to art. There is increased emphasis on wealth. In the arts, a trend toward standardization and repetitiveness dominates; subject matter is limited. Coastal peoples focus on sea-related motifs, geometric designs, and a stylized frontal human figure.