The Shape of things to come: the genesis of Wari Wak'as (original) (raw)
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The Archaeology of Wak'as, 2015
∞ This paper meets the requirements of the ansi/niso Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper).
Wari is sometimes described as the first empire of the Andes, conquering and controlling a broad region during the Middle Horizon (600-1000 CE). This article synthesizes archaeological research to offer a new perspective on Wari's rise, expansion, and collapse. Wari emerged in a rapidly urbanizing environment as a set of ideas about the world and how it should work that blended foreign ideas with local traditions. Heartland cities were organized around elite kin groups who competed for followers by hosting small-scale gatherings. Wari-related ideas, objects, and people circulated far more widely, creating a dynamic cultural horizon of considerable heterogeneity. Efforts to centralize decision making in the ninth century CE may have led to the polity's decline. Although this reconstruction of Wari politics differs from previous models, it is in keeping with contemporary interpretations of collective and low-power early expansive polities in other parts of the world.
Landsat image of Peru showing Wari sites 000 1.2. The Wari-associated sites of Pikillacta and Azangaro 000 1.3. Site plan of a portion of Conchopata 000 1.4. A Viñaque-style bowl from Huari showing captured individuals 000 1.5. Site plan showing the Huaro complex 000 1.6. Site plan of portion of Cerro Baúl 000 1.7. Trail network and associated sites in the southern part of the Nazca drainage 000 1.8. Site plan for Jincamocco 000 1.9. Vessels and a feather panel from Corral Redondo 000 2.1. Google Earth image of the coast of southern Peru 000 2.2. Imported Chakipampa and Viñaque ceramics from La Real 000 2.3. Wari-influenced parts of Sonay and Alca la Antigua 000 2.4. Map of the Majes to Chuquibamba corridor 000 2.5. Aerial orthophoto and site plan of Pakaytambo 000 2.6. Map of the Vitor to Chili corridor 000 2.7. Satellite image of the Middle Horizon site of Millo 3 000 2.8. Schematic drawing of mosaic and network models 000 3.1. Sihuas Valley sites 000 3.2. Drone photograph from the pampa above Sihuas 000 3.3. Map of the Sihuas Valley showing trails 000 3.4. Examples of geoglyphs found in the Sihuas Valley 000 3.5. Location of various types of geoglyphs in the Sihuas Valley 000 3.6. Bar graph showing thematic distribution of documented petroglyphs 000 proof x • Figures 3.7. Bar graph showing thematic distribution of zoomorphic petroglyphs 000 3.8. Petroglyphs of camelids 000 3.9. Petroglyph of a mythical serpent 000 3.10. Petroglyph of a predatory zoomorph holding a trophy head 000 3.11. Bar graph showing thematic distribution of nonzoomorphic petroglyphs 000 3.12. Anthropomorphic petroglyphs 000 3.13. Petroglyph of a mummy bundle in a checkered cloth 000 3.14. A cluster of circular petroglyphs connected by lines 000 3.15. A "line-and-node" petroglyph 000 3.16. Maps showing petroglyphs 000 3.17. Statistical clusters of petroglyphs 000 3.18. Map of zoomorph and nonzoomorph distribution 000 3.19. Map of line-and-node petroglyph locations 000 3.20. Interconnected circular petroglyphs 000 4.1. Site plan showing the Middle Horizon occupation of Quilcapampa 000 4.2. Middle Horizon site plan showing components 000 4.3. Wall dividing Components I and II that runs to the edge of the plaza 000 4.4. Orientation of site walls to plaza sides 000 4.5. Orthophoto of Middle Horizon portion of site 000 4.6. Middle Horizon site plan showing identifiable public and private spaces 000 4.7. Middle Horizon site plan showing possible archaeological groups 000 4.8. Access maps for selected areas of the core and outlying area 000 4.9. Visibility graph analysis of selected core and outlying area 000 4.10. Visibility graph analysis of outlying area with low-lying walls removed 000 4.11. Orientation of the plaza to the Southern Cross 000 4.12. Orientation of the plaza to distant mountain peaks 000 4.13. Rotation of lines from plaza corners to distant mountain peaks 000 4.14. Site plan of Sector A of Beringa 000 4.15. Site plan of Cocahuischo 000 proof xii • Figures
Plotting abandonment: Excavating a ritual deposit at the Wari site of Cerro Baúl
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2019
Ritual was an effective power building strategy in many archaic states and early empires. In this paper we describe the ritual abandonment of a palace residence at the Wari site of Cerro Baúl in southern Peru. This exclusive ritual event brought provincial and local elites together and included a funerary internment, feasting, and the intentional creation of numerous and varied offerings throughout the structure. We document the patterning and contents of these deposits including food animals, non-consumable and exotic animals, lithics, and broken ceramic vessels. We posit that lavish offerings such as the one we document here were sponsored by the state and communicated institutional facts to participants. Elements of these rituals may have been repeated across the Wari Empire and been integral to Wari institutions. As such, the study of ritual depositions and other patterned practices may be one means by which the presence of Wari elites or control by the Wari polity may be assessed through material remains. The features of ritual deposits may shed light on the strategies elites used to exert power over their subjects. This methodology may have broad application in the study of expansive polities in the Andes and elsewhere.
Pataraya: The Archaeology of a Wari Outpost in Nasca
Latin American Antiquity, 2014
The research reported in this article explores Wari imperial strategies in the upper Nasca Valley of south-central Peru and, building on previous research, documents the flexibility and diversity of those strategies. The focus of these investigations is the site of Pataraya, a small Wari provincial outpost, and its environs. Despite its size, the rectangular enclosure at Pataraya is well planned and conforms to the canons of Wari state architecture documented at other Wari provincial sites. The site was founded early in the Middle Horizon (A.D. 650–1000) and then abandoned during the collapse of the Wari system. Extensive excavation at this condensed version of the Wari building tradition— over 60 percent— uncovered a pattern of spatially segregated use and access within the enclosure. Activities were relegated to specific patio groups with little replication of function, and the sectors themselves were connected by an astonishingly complex system of narrow corridors. The site appears to have been involved in the transfer of coastal products, especially cotton, to the sierra along an ancient road that is also associated with another much larger Wari compound and with the reorganization of an older local site near modern-day Uchuymarca, both of which were also documented during the project.
As Wari Weakened: Ritual Transitions in the Terminal Middle Horizon of Moquegua, Peru
Empires are expansive states that incorporate other groups. Their extension may result from conquest, colonization, marriage alliance, or in modern times, purchase. These processes can be disruptive to subordinate groups but may also open up new trade routes and offer opportunities to cooperative individuals. Successful, long-lived empires fi nd ways to integrate subordinate polities and typically devise a range of strategies to do so. In other words, imperial polities that fall apart after a hundred years or so are more common than those that manage to maintain cooperation among elite ranks and stay together over the course of several centuries. The formation of strong relationships that maintain such polities are often constituted as state institutions, which involve a relatively standard set of activities, some of which were rituals. These rituals do not have to pertain to religion, but may have promoted adherence to ideals, legitimized the power of state offi cials, and reifi ed the existence of the state within the natural order of things. Institutions are often materialized by formal architecture or monuments in major centers of a state (Nash and Williams 2005). The design of these buildings may provide some clues to the type of rituals performed and the messages communicated to participants during such events (Moore 1996). Iconography embellished these messages and helped reinforce ideals. In this paper, we consider architecture and iconography to propose the types of rituals practiced in these spaces during the Wari Empire. We focus on the region of Moquegua in southern Peru, where Wari ritual was infl uenced by interactions with Tiwanaku, and ultimately abandoned in the wake of political collapse as both polities broke apart at the end of the Middle Horizon (ca. 550-1150 CE). As we will show, if rites performed in these architectural settings and associated iconographic themes were used during the Middle Horizon to legitimize elites, these practices and symbols were completely eradicated in the following period. This suggests a rather abrupt break and rejection of some ritual practices that promoted the power of state elites during the Middle Horizon with the collapse of the Wari Empire, at least in Moquegua.