The Paijan complex, of late Pleistocene to early Holocene age, 
is known from numerous open-air sites and one rock shelter and 
occurs more than one thousand kilometers off the Peruvian 
coastal desert. Claude Chauchat and his team present a detailed 
archaeological case study of the Cupisnique region at the Pampa 
de Los Fosilies locality on the north coast of Peru. This volume 
exemplifies the use of the Chaine operationaire approach, which 
views lithic assemblages as a succession of technical actions 
beginning at the moment of raw material acquisition, manufacture,
utilization, and finally abandonment of tools.

    This case study documents raw material use at flaking loci, 
description of cores, flakes, flake tools, limaces, bifaces, and 
lithic reduction practices of the Paijan site occupants. In 
addition to providing a detailed history of stone tool flaking 
activities, raw material acquisition patterns combined with 
regional survey data provide the foundation for inferring mobility
models for the Paijan people.

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CLAUDE CHAUCHAT, archaeologist and senior leader of the
research team, is affiliated with CNRS at the University of Allee, 
Nanterree Cedex, France.