Thomas C. Patterson is a significant figure in the history of Peruvian archaeology. This article reviews some of his contributions with an emphasis on his work on early Andean civilization. Beginning in the 1960s he focused along with Edward Lanning on the settlement patterns and economic systems of the central coast, especially those of the Preceramic (or Archaic). This work shed light on the interdependence of shoreline dwellers and inland farmers. It also produced information on the Lima culture, a subject that served as the basis for his doctoral dissertation at the University of California, Berkeley under the supervision of John Howland Rowe. Patterson’s subsequent excavations at the shoreline site of Ancón, his survey of the Lurin Valley and his visits to previously known early sites helped to clarify the pottery sequence of the central coast and the Initial Period and to demons...