Dr. Christian Mader

Disentangling Dependencies: Resource Use, Social Stratification, and Complexity in the Pre-Columbian Andes of Southern Peru

As an anthropological and economic archaeologist specializing in the Andean region and with a keen interest in comparative perspectives, my research is driven by the question of how to identify forms of asymmetrical dependency in the archaeological record. Integral to this question is the concept of resource dependencies embodied in a wide range of material culture. Resource dependencies imply two significant sorts of strong structural dependency within a larger ecological and sociopolitical context: the first concerns the dependency of people on resources of every kind, which is a crucial basis for the second, which is dependencies between humans.

The methodological key for the examination of resource dependencies is a holistic approach combining several lines of archaeological and, if available, textual evidence. Three important lines of archaeological evidence include (1) the analysis of landscapes, architecture, and households, (2) the analysis of artifacts and ecofacts, and (3) the analysis of funerary contexts.

Performing this research involves pronounced interdisciplinary components, such as the application of analytical techniques from natural science and economics. In my own project, the pre-Columbian past in southern Peru serves as a case study to explore the links between the access to raw materials, resource use, human cooperation and exploitation, as well as the concomitant dependencies on all levels.

2013–2017 
Ph.D. in Anthropology of the Americas, University of Bonn, Germany

2010–2013
M.A. in Anthropology of the Americas, University of Bonn, Germany

2007–2010
B.A. in Cultural and Social Anthropology with Latin American Studies and Spanish Philology, Free University of Berlin, Germany

since 2019
Researcher and Coordinator of Research Group "The Archaeology of Dependency (ArchDepth):
Resources, Power and Status Differentiation," BCDSS, University of Bonn, Germany

2018–2019
Postdoctoral Researcher, Research Group "Archaeology of Pre-Modern Economies," Universities of Bonn and Cologne, Germany

2017–2018
Traveling Scholar, German Archaeological Institute (DAI), short-term research stays in Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Mexico, USA, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Cyprus

2013–2017
Research Associate, Research Group "Archaeology of Pre-Modern Economies," Universities of Bonn and Cologne, Germany

2012–2013
Research Assistant, Project "Center and Periphery: The Territory of the Paracas Culture in the South of Peru (800–200 BC)," Commission for Archaeology of Non-European Cultures (KAAK), German Archaeological Institute (DAI)

2011–2013
Teaching Assistant, Department for the Anthropology of the Americas, University of Bonn, Germany

2009–2010
Student Assistant, Virtual Library of Social Anthropology (EVIFA), Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

Journal Articles

• Bilotti, G., Reindel, M., Isla, J., Mader, C., 2025. Points, patterns, and predictions in archaeological settlement data: site-environment relationships of Paracas and Nasca communities in the Peruvian Andes. Journal of Archaeological Science 183, 106385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2025.106385
• Ragkou, K., Mader, C., 2025. What makes a market in preindustrial societies? A comparative, spectrum-based analysis of Byzantium and the prehispanic Andes. Frontiers in Human Dynamics 7, 1651430. https://doi.org/10.3389/fhumd.2025.1651430
• Mader, C., Godde, P., Hägele, E., Lyons, M., Weber, A.-K., Odenthal, R., Stryjski, P., Binder, C., Leceta, F., Isla, J., Reindel, M., Meister, J., 2025. Mapping and geospatial analysis of ancient terrace agricultural systems in Lucanas province, Peruvian Andes, based on satellite imagery, high-resolution DSMs, and field surveys. Geoarchaeology 40, e70002. https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.70002
•  Conrad, C., Mader, C., 2024. De lo visible a lo oculto: un estudio de visibilidad (SIG) en la región de Vilcabamba, Andes peruanos, durante los periodos Intermedio Tardío y Horizonte Tardío [From visible to hidden: a visibility study (GIS) in the Vilcabamba region, Peruvian Andes, during the Late Intermediate period and Late Horizon]. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 35, 54–72. https://doi.org/10.18800/boletindearqueologiapucp.202402.003
• Leceta, F., Binder, C., Mader, C., Mächtle, B., Marsh, E., Dietrich, L., Reindel, M., Eitel, B., Meister, J., 2024. The impact of agriculture on tropical mountain soils in the western Peruvian Andes: a pedo-geoarchaeological study of terrace agricultural systems in the Laramate region (14.5°S). SOIL 10, 727–761. https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-727-2024
• Mader, C., Conrad, C., Viteri, T., Schubert, H., Mauricio, A.C., 2024. Arqueología de las dependencias en América Latina: segunda parte [Archaeologies of dependency in Latin America: part two]. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 35, 2–6. https://doi.org/10.18800/boletindearqueologiapucp.202402.000
• Schubert, H., Mader, C., 2024. Dependencia espacial entre sistemas de irrigación y patrones de asentamiento: el manejo del agua en la costa norte prehispánica del Perú [Spatial dependency between irrigation systems and settlement patterns: water management on the pre-Hispanic north coast of Peru]. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 34, 96–117. https://doi.org/10.18800/boletindearqueologiapucp.202401.005
• Viteri, T., Mader, C., 2024. Dependencia y resistencia en la Amazonía colonial ecuatoriana: un estudio de cuentas de vidrio de una urna funeraria [Dependency and resistance in the Ecuadorian colonial Amazon: a study of glass beads in a funerary urn]. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 34, 76–95. https://doi.org/10.18800/boletindearqueologiapucp.202401.004
• Mader, C., Viteri, T., Conrad, C., Schubert, H., Mauricio, A.C., Isla, J., Reindel, M., Meister, J., 2024. Arqueología de las dependencias en América Latina: una introducción [Archaeologies of dependency in Latin America: an introduction]. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 34, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.18800/boletindearqueologiapucp.202401.000
• Mader, C., Godde, P., Behl, M., Binder, C., Hägele, E., Isla, J., Leceta, F., Lyons, M., Marsh, E., Odenthal, R., Fernengel, E., Stryjski, P., Weber, A.-K., Reindel, M., Meister, J., 2024. An integrative approach to ancient agricultural terraces and forms of dependency: the case of Cutamalla in the prehispanic Andes. Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology 3, 1328315. https://doi.org/10.3389/fearc.2024.1328315
• Mader, C., Reindel, M., Isla, J., 2023. Economic directness in the western Andes: a new model of socioeconomic organization for the Paracas culture in the first millennium BC. Latin American Antiquity 34, 385–403. https://doi.org/10.1017/laq.2022.40
• Mader, C., Reindel, M., Isla, J., Behl, M., Meister, J., Hölzl, S., 2023. In the land of the apu: Cerro Llamocca as a sacred mountain and central place in the pre-Columbian Andes of southern Peru. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 49, 104045. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104045
• Antolín, F., Brückner, H., Castanyer, P., Colombi, C., Dinies, M., Ducke, B., Hausleiter, A., Heinrich, I., Hofmann, K.P., Julià, R., Kowarik, K., Laaha, V., Leo, M., Mader, C., Marzoli, D., Meister, J., Morera, N., Notroff, J., Ögüt, B., Rassmann, K., Reindel, M., Reinhold, S., Salvador-Baiges, G., Schittek, K., Schlöffel, M., Schlotzhauer, U., Schneider, S., Schultz Rasmussen, M., von Rummel, P., Wagner, M., Watson, J., 2023. Global archaeology and climate change from the experience of research within a public body and a proposal to collaborate internationally on “super-sites.” World Archaeology 55, 259–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2023.2432140
• Beresford-Jones, D., Mader, C., Lane, K., Cadwallader, L., Gräfingholt, B., Chauca, G., Grant, J., Hölzl, S., Coll, L.V.J., Lang, M., Isla, J., French, C., Reindel, M., 2023. Beyond Inca roads: archaeological mobilities from the high Andes to the Pacific in southern Peru. Antiquity 97, 194–212. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2022.168
•  Mader, C., Hölzl, S., Heck, K., Reindel, M., Isla, J., 2018. The llama’s share: highland origins of camelids during the Late Paracas period (370 to 200 BCE) in south Peru demonstrated by strontium isotope analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 20, 257–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.04.032

Books and Edited Special Issues/Volumes

• Mader, C., Viteri, T., Conrad, C., Schubert, H. (Invited Editors), 2024. Arqueología de las dependencias en América Latina: parte 2 [Archaeologies of Dependency in Latin America: Part 2], Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 35. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima. https://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/boletindearqueologia/issue/view/1953
• Mader, C., Viteri, T., Conrad, C., Schubert, H. (Invited Editors), 2024. Arqueología de las dependencias en América Latina: parte 1 [Archaeologies of Dependency in Latin America: Part 1], Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 34. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Lima. https://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/boletindearqueologia/issue/view/1942
• Mader, C., 2019. Sea Shells in the Mountains and Llamas on the Coast: the Economy of the Paracas Culture (800 to 200 BC) in Southern Peru, Forschungen zur Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen 16. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.34780/faak.v16i0.1000
• Kerig, T., Mader, C., Ragkou, K., Reinfeld, M., Zachar, T. (Eds.), 2019. Social Network Analysis in Economic Archaeology: Perspectives from the New World, Studies on Economic Archaeology 3. Habelt, Bonn.
• Mader, C., 2010. Vienen y se van: Neuinterpretationen einer Moche-Ikonographie und der Tourismus in Magdalena de Cao, Nordperu. GRIN, Munich.

Book Chapters

• Mader, C., Beresford-Jones, D., 2024. Agriculture and social asymmetries in the pre-Hispanic Andes, in: Bentz, M., Grube, N., Zeidler, P. (Eds.), Dependent: Global Perspectives on the History of Resources and Slavery. Sandstein, Dresden, pp. 64–75.
• Mader, C., Beresford-Jones, D., 2024. Landwirtschaft und soziale Asymmetrien in den prähispanischen Anden, in: Bentz, M., Grube, N., Zeidler, P. (Eds.), Abhängig: Globalhistorische Perspektiven auf Ressourcen und Sklaverei. Sandstein, Dresden, pp. 64–75.
• Mader, C., Reindel, M., Isla, J., 2022. Camelids as cargo animals by the Paracas culture (800–200 BC) in the Palpa valleys of southern Peru, in: Clarkson, P.B., Santoro, C.M. (Eds.), Caravans in Socio-Cultural Perspective: Past and Present. Routledge, London, pp. 174–192. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003179276-11
• Mader, C., 2019. La economía de la cultura Paracas (800–200 a.C.) en el sur del Perú [The economy of the Paracas culture (800–200 BCE) in southern Peru], in: Mundos excavados: 40 años de búsqueda arqueológica en cuatro continentes. German Archaeological Institute, Bonn, pp. 64–73.
•  Mader, C., 2019. The economic organisation of the Paracas culture (800–200 BC) in southern Peru, in: Excavated Worlds: 40 Years of Archaeological Research on Four Continents. German Archaeological Institute, Bonn, pp. 64–73.
• Mader, C., 2019. Die Wirtschaft der Paracas-Kultur (800–200 v.Chr.) in Südperu, in: Ergrabene Welten: 40 Jahre archäologische Spurensuche auf vier Kontinenten. German Archaeological Institute, Bonn, pp. 64–73.

Outreach Publications

• Mensah, P., Bens, J., Gyimah Mensah, E., Mader, C., 2025. Sensing the materiality of the transatlantic slave trade: a fieldwork report on slave dungeons in Ghana. Dependent 11, 48–53.
•  Mader, C., Beresford-Jones, D., 2024. Stitches of dependency: a Nasca textile from the Bonn Collection of the Americas, in: Enmeshed and Entwined: Textures of Dependency (Digital Exhibition). Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, Bonn.
• Mader, C., Beresford-Jones, D., 2024. Maschen der Abhängigkeit: ein Nasca-Textil aus der Bonner Amerikas-Sammlung, in: Verstrickt und Verwoben: Texturen der Abhängigkeit (digitale Ausstellung). Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, Bonn.
• Lane, K., Mader, C., 2021. A HAARD project: archaeological research, sustainability and dependency. Dependent 4, 57.
• Mader, C., Walker, B.J., Graf, P., Hegewald, J.A.B., Morenz, L.D., 2021. Material experience makes dependencies real: a resource perspective. Dependent 3, 8–15.
• Mader, C., Winnebeck, J., 2020. Beyond slavery and freedom: opening up new fields of research. Dependent 1, 30–33.

Data Publications

• Lang, M., Mader, C., Gyimah Mensah, E., Bens, J., Mensah, P., 2025. 3D model of the Children’s Dungeon at Fort William (Ghana). bonndata, V1. https://doi.org/10.60507/FK2/SHYTM0
• Lang, M., Mader, C., Gyimah Mensah, E., Mensah, P., Bens, J., 2025. 3D model of the Concubine Dungeon at Fort William (Ghana). bonndata, V1. https://doi.org/10.60507/FK2/65F6H4
•  Bilotti, G., Reindel, M., Isla, J., Mader, C., 2025. Supplementary information for: Points, patterns, and predictions in archaeological settlement data: site-environment relationships of Paracas and Nasca communities in the Peruvian Andes. Zenodo, V6. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14938957
•  Mader, C., 2019. Catalog of Paracas archaeological materials. iDAI.objects Arachne. https://arachne.dainst.org/project/faak16

Reports

• Mader, C., 2019. Abschlussbericht: Reisestipendium des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 2017/2018. Bonn. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29975.52647