The Early Intermediate Period of Andean history lasted from 400 BCE to 550 CE,
[1]
and is known for the emergence of regional forms of political organization, such as the Moche in northern Peru (100‒800 CE) and the Nazca in the Rio Grande de Nazca and Ica regions (100 BC‒800 CE). In the Cuzco Valley, this period saw the development of numerous chiefdoms of varying sizes.
[2]
One of these polities is known as Qotakalli (200‒500 CE),
[3]
and may have controlled an area of up to 1000 square kilometres.
[4]
The period also saw a change in settlement patterns. Wimpillay no longer dominated the valley, as several new large sites grew in the west of the basin, with a possible large settlement under the modern city of Cusco.
[5]
New settlements grew along the lower valley slopes below 3500 metres above sea level, which archaeologist Brian Bauer interprets as evidence for population growth and a possible shift in the valley’s economy towards maize production.
[6]
In the Lucre Basin further to the east, the Chanapata culture still flourished in the form of small farming villages until 600 CE: Chanapata ceramics were found in the lowest strata during excavations at the site of Choquepukio.
[7]
These polities may have centred around the sites of Choquepukio and Mama Qolda.
[5]
Furthermore, the presence of Pucara ceramics and early Tiwanaku-related wares indicate possible contacts between the Cuzco Valley polities and the Titicaca cultural sphere, perhaps through trade, but not through political assimilation.
[7]
[8]
Population and political organization
Although the population of the region during this period is currently impossible to determine, it is worth mentioning that 16 Qotakalli sites with an area of between 1 and 5 hectares have been surveyed, as well as 35 sites between 0.25 and 1 hectares,
[9]
suggesting a possible two-tiered settlement pattern.
[10]
The density of sites near modern Cuzco may indicate various groups of elite households interacting with each other within the Qotakalli chiefdom.
[5]
The chronological boundaries between this polity and the previous one are not clear-cut. Brian Bauer designates 200-600 CE as the Qotakalli period,
[3]
while Alan Covey states that Qotakalli appeared around 400 CE.
[4]
Moreover, Covey refers to a settlement shift after 400 CE in the Sacred Valley (within our NGA, natural geographical area): before 400 CE, he says there was a small chiefdom with a three-tiered settlement hierarchy, and another one in the Cuzco Basin. After 400 CE the large villages were abandoned and new ones built at about 3500 metres above sea level. In the Sacred Valley, the abandoned sites represent 70% of the sample. Qotakalli pottery has been found at the new sites.
[11]
Depending on the chronology used, we could postulate either continuity or cultural assimilation of the previous polity in the Qotakalli circa 400 CE.
What can be noted with more confidence, however, is that the 6th and 7th centuries CE saw the incursion of Wari colonies into the Cuzco valley, interacting with smaller local polities in the south and west of the valley.
[12]
Araway ceramics may have been one of the markers of elite status, exchanged between local chiefs and Wari representatives.
[13]
There seems to be strong cultural continuity between the Qotakalli sites and the sites where Araway pottery is present: although Wari colonists were present in the valley, their numbers remained low and evidence suggests that they did not exert political or military dominance over other groups.
[14]
[15]
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 12) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
[2]: (Bauer 2004, 54) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
[3]: (Bauer 2004, 47) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
[4]: (Covey 2006, 59) Alan R. Covey. 2006. How the Incas Built Their Heartland: State Formation and the Innovation of Imperial Strategies in the Sacred Valley, Peru. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
[5]: (Bauer 2004, 52) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
[6]: (Bauer 2004, 53) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
[7]: (McEwan 2006, 88) Gordon F. McEwan. 2006. ’Inca State Origins: Collapse and Regeneration in the Southern Peruvian Andes’, in After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies, edited by Glenn M. Schwartz and John J. Nichols, 85-98. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press.
[8]: (Bauer 2004, 143) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
[9]: (Covey 2006, 60) Alan R. Covey. 2006. How the Incas Built Their Heartland: State Formation and the Innovation of Imperial Strategies in the Sacred Valley, Peru. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
[10]: (Bauer 2004, 51) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
[11]: (Covey 2006, 60-63) Alan R. Covey. 2006. How the Incas Built Their Heartland: State Formation and the Innovation of Imperial Strategies in the Sacred Valley, Peru. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
[12]: (Bauer and Covey 2002, 850) B. S. Bauer and A. R. Covey. 2002. ’Processes of State Formation in the Inca Heartland (Cuzco, Peru)’. American Anthropologist 104 (3): 846-64.
[13]: (Covey 2006, 77) Alan R. Covey. 2006. How the Incas Built Their Heartland: State Formation and the Innovation of Imperial Strategies in the Sacred Valley, Peru. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
[14]: (Covey 2006, 74) Alan R. Covey. 2006. How the Incas Built Their Heartland: State Formation and the Innovation of Imperial Strategies in the Sacred Valley, Peru. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
[15]: Alan Covey 2017, personal communication
| alliance with [---] |
| Lake Titicaca cultural sphere |
| PeWari* |
| continuity | |
| cultural assimilation |
| Preceding: Cuzco - Early Intermediate I (pe_cuzco_2) [absorption] | |
| Succeeding: Wari Empire (pe_wari_emp) [elite replacement] |
| quasi-polity |
| Year Range | Cuzco - Early Intermediate II (pe_cuzco_3) was in: |
|---|---|
| (500 CE 649 CE) | Cuzco |
"Although the site of Wimpillay is still relatively large, it no longer dominates the settlement pattern of the Cuzco Basin as it did in Late Formative times. Instead, what we see is a greater overall density of large sites at the western end of the Cuzco Basin.[...]The location of these large Qotakalli Period sites surrounding Cuzco suggests that there may also have been a large village in the area now covered by the city."
[1]
Language
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 52)
{400 CE; 500 CE}-650 CE
Start date
End of the Formative Period c500 CE. "The Qotakalli chiefdom may have covered an area roughly 50 km (31 mi) in diameter"
[1]
Ceramic sequence for Cuzco region gives a date range from 500 CE to 800 CE with the core period 550-650 CE.
[2]
"Qotakalli pottery appears to have been produced in the Cusco Basin by about AD 400"
[3]
End date
Fig. 25 shows spread of radiocarbon dates from "Wari and Wari related contexts" in Cuzco region. The earliest spread (one context) calibrated with 68.2% probability is from 540-690 CE. The earliest main cluster (5 contexts) of spreads at 68.2% probability agree on a period 650-780 CE.
[4]
[1]: (Quilter 2013, 196)
[2]: (Bauer 1999, 144)
[3]: (Covey 2006, 59)
[4]: (Bauer 2003, 16)
"When the Wari entered the Cuzco region they encountered thriving local societies. ... numerous chiefdoms had developed across the region. The largest and most powerful of these were located in the areas of greatest agricultural production, including the Plain of Anta, the Cuzco Basin, the Lucre Basin and the Huaro Basin. Elsewhere, smaller chiefdoms also developed. Depending on their locations, these were most likely in a constant state of conflict or alliance formation with the large polities of the region." [1]
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 54)
The boundaries between this polity and the previous one in terms of chronology are unclear, as Bauer refers to 200-600 CE as the Qotakalli period [1] and Covey states that Qotakalli appeared c.400 CE [2] . Moreover, Covey refers to a settlement shift after 400 CE in the Sacred Valley (within the NGA): before 400 CE, he says there was a small chiefdom with a three-tiered settlement hierarchy, and another one in the Cuzco Basin; and after 400 CE the large villages were abandoned and new ones built at about 3500m. In the Sacred Valley the abandoned sites represent 70% of the sample. In the new sites, Qotakalli pottery was found. [3] Depending on the chronology used, there would either be continuity or cultural assimilation of the previous polity in the Qotakalli circa 400 CE.
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 47)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 59)
[3]: (Covey 2006, 60-63)
The boundaries between this polity and the previous one in terms of chronology are unclear, as Bauer refers to 200-600 CE as the Qotakalli period [1] and Covey states that Qotakalli appeared c.400 CE [2] . Moreover, Covey refers to a settlement shift after 400 CE in the Sacred Valley (within the NGA): before 400 CE, he says there was a small chiefdom with a three-tiered settlement hierarchy, and another one in the Cuzco Basin; and after 400 CE the large villages were abandoned and new ones built at about 3500m. In the Sacred Valley the abandoned sites represent 70% of the sample. In the new sites, Qotakalli pottery was found. [3] Depending on the chronology used, there would either be continuity or cultural assimilation of the previous polity in the Qotakalli circa 400 CE.
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 47)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 59)
[3]: (Covey 2006, 60-63)
The boundaries between this polity and the previous one in terms of chronology are unclear, as Bauer refers to 200-600 CE as the Qotakalli period [1] and Covey states that Qotakalli appeared c.400 CE [2] . Moreover, Covey refers to a settlement shift after 400 CE in the Sacred Valley (within the NGA): before 400 CE, he says there was a small chiefdom with a three-tiered settlement hierarchy, and another one in the Cuzco Basin; and after 400 CE the large villages were abandoned and new ones built at about 3500m. In the Sacred Valley the abandoned sites represent 70% of the sample. In the new sites, Qotakalli pottery was found. [3] Depending on the chronology used, there would either be continuity or cultural assimilation of the previous polity in the Qotakalli circa 400 CE.
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 47)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 59)
[3]: (Covey 2006, 60-63)
(Relationship): "While Wari colonization left an indelible mark on the Lucre Basin and Huaro area, it did not disrupt settlement in areas where Qotakalli pottery was most prevalent."
[1]
Ceramic analysis and settlement patterns by Covey and Bauer suggest that the Wari colonised selected parts of the NGA (the Lucre Basin) and influenced some of the elites, the local population carried on producing local ceramics. There were a few pockets of control but no hegemonic state controlling the NGA.
[2]
"The data suggest an archipelago of colonies and strategic installations, with restricted areas displaying high fidelity to Wari canons surrounded by regions with little or no evidence of Wari influence (Fig. 9). Such a viewpoint is consis- tent with settlement patterns in other regions of the Andes."
[3]
, "While Wari colonization left an indelible mark on the Lucre Basin and Huaro area, it did not disrupt settlement in areas where Qotakalli pottery was most prevalent."
[1]
Ceramic analysis and settlement patterns by Covey and Bauer suggest that the Wari colonised selected parts of the NGA (the Lucre Basin) and influenced some of the elites, the local population carried on producing local ceramics. There were a few pockets of control but no hegemonic state controlling the NGA.
[2]
"The data suggest an archipelago of colonies and strategic installations, with restricted areas displaying high fidelity to Wari canons surrounded by regions with little or no evidence of Wari influence (Fig. 9). Such a viewpoint is consis- tent with settlement patterns in other regions of the Andes."
[3]
(Entity): In the Cuzco NGA, that would be the Qotakalli quasi-polity. Examples of Early Intermediate period polities on the coast of Peru include the Nasca, the Moche, and the Lima.
[4]
[1]: (Covey 2006, 68)
[2]: (Covey, Bauer, Bélisle, Tsesmeli 2013)
[3]: (Covey, Bauer, Bélisle, Tsemeli 2013, 549)
[4]: (Moseley 2001)
"Pottery distributions indicate that this polity was not organized as a centralized state."
[1]
"Settlement patterns from the Sacred Valley and Paruro study regions indicate that the polity in the Cusco Basin was capable of dominating an area within about 20 kilometers of its principal settlements (fig. 4.8). Groups living outside of that area interacted with the Cusco polity but probably were not under its control."
[2]
However, the Cuzco polity may have been large enough to influence small polities to the north and south.
[3]
[1]: (Covey 2006, 69)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 68)
[3]: (Bauer 2004, 54)
[1]
"Fig. 4.2. Qotakalli sites in the Cusco Basin (after AD 400)" redrawn from Bauer.
[2]
Qotakalli sites in the Cuzco Basin
1-5 ha sites: 16
0.25-1 ha sites: 35
There was a greater density of large sites at the Western end of the Cuzco Basin, with a cluster around the modern Cuzco city area. It is possible there is a large Qotakalli era village under Cuzco.
[3]
The largest site may have covered 5 ha or more.
[1]: (Brian Bauer 2015, personal communication)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 60 cite: Bauer 2004)
[3]: (Bauer 2004, 52)
in squared kilometers.
"The distribution of Qotakalli pottery suggests the precence of a complex prestate polity in the Cusco region that might have controlled an area of up to 1000 square kilometers."
[1]
"The Qotakalli chiefdom may have covered an area roughly 50 km (31 mi) in diameter"
[2]
Northern border likely was the Vilcanota river.
"... percentage of Qotakalli materials dramatically diminishes on the far, or northern, side of the Vilcanota River. This suggests ... the influence of Cuzco waned at the river during the Qotakalli Period."
[3]
Southern border likely was the Apurimac river
"the number of sites that contain Qotakalli ceramics declines as one leaves the Cuzco Basin and enters the Province of Paruro. They all but disappear on the far, or southern, side of the Apurimac River."
[4]
Western border was the Anta plain
There was an independent chiefdom on the Anta plain.
[4]
Eastern border was the Lucre Basin
Possible chiefly centres in the Lucre Basin at two large sites, Chokepukio and Mama Qolda.
[4]
115 sites contained Qotakalli ceramics.
[5]
[1]: (Covey 2006, 59)
[2]: (Quilter 2013, 193)
[3]: (Bauer 2004, 52 cite: Covey)
[4]: (Bauer 2004, 52)
[5]: (Bauer 2004, 51)
[1]
"Fig. 4.2. Qotakalli sites in the Cusco Basin (after AD 400)" redrawn from Bauer.
[2]
Qotakalli sites in the Cuzco Basin
1-5 ha sites: 16
0.25-1 ha sites: 35
If the 16 largest sites average 2.5 ha, and the 35 smallest sites averaged 0.625 ha Qotakalli sites cover a total of 61.875 ha.
"Strong population growth occurred during this period" as revealed by settlement pattern data.
[3]
[1]: (Brian Bauer 2015, personal communication)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 60 cite: Bauer 2004)
[3]: (Bauer 2004, 54)
levels.
"Prior to the Wari occupation of the Lucre-Huaro area, the Cusco Basin was characterized by a two- or three-tier settlement hierarchy, with a few clusters of two or three small villages (1-5 hectares each) possibly indicating the most important settlement areas. In addition to these are single small villages, some of them surrounded by hamlets, as well as groups of hamlets."
[1]
1. Large village (1-5 ha): Cluster of villages near the modern location of Cuzco. "The location of these large Qotakalli Period sites surrounding Cuzco suggests that there may also have been a large village in the area now covered by the city. Based on these findings, it is proposed that local power was concentrated in the western end of the Cuzco Basin during the Qotakalli Period. In other words, although there was a continuation of a chiefly society in the basin from Late Formative times to the Qotakalli Period, the loci of elite occupation may have shifted slightly from the single site of Wimpillay to a dense array of sites in the area where Cuzco is now. The cluster of sites in this area during the Qotakalli Period suggests that the power and wealth of the valley may have become divided between groups of elite households located in a series of separated but closely spaced kin-based (i.e. ayllu) settlements."
[2]
2. Secondary center "Settlements were more numerous near the best agricultural land, and a site hierarchy suggests that social organization may have been complex with secondary centers beyond the immediate vicinity of Cuzco."
[3]
"few clusters of two or three small villages (1-5 hectares each) possibly indicating the most important settlement areas"
[1]
3. Small village (<1ha) "single small villages, some of them surrounded by hamlets, as well as groups of hamlets."
[1]
"While most of the sites with Qotakalli ceramics are small, we estimate that at least 14 Qotakalli sites in the basin were villages measuring 1-5 ha."
[4]
[1]: (Covey 2006, 60)
[2]: (Bauer 2004, 52)
[3]: (Quilter 2013, 193)
[4]: (Covey and Bauer 2013, 543)
According to Alan Covey: "Veronique Belisle (2011) has large-ish structures at Ak’awillay that she interprets as public (they are larger than houses), and Bauer and Jones (2003) dug a structure at Peqoykaypata in the Cuzco Basin that might have had EIP corporate architecture. We don’t know a lot about burial or architecture at this time, as there have only been test pits done in the Cuzco Basin." [1]
[1]: (Alan Covey 2015, personal communication)
There probably was no formal legal code as writing was not developed until the arrival of the Spanish. "There was no true writing system in the Andes prior to the arrival of the Spanish, notwithstanding recent interpretations of the quipu (see Quilter and Urton 2002) and the tocapu pictograms." [1]
[1]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 236)
According to Alan Covey: "No evidence of money. I don’t know how one would document “markets”—in the exchange sense or the spatial sense? There is not enough evidence to evaluate exchange systems in the Cuzco region before Inca times, and the study of Inca exchange is steeped in substantivist/Marxian ideology that downplays exchange." [1]
[1]: (Alan Covey 2015, personal communication)
"For more than a thousand years, the peoples of the Cuzco region had obtained their obsidian from sources located in the Alca region. During the Wari Period, when Wari occupied parts of the Cuzco region, the obsidian flow from this source stopped." [1] This suggests that the Cuzco people did not have their own obsidian quarries.
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 68)
According to Alan Covey: "No evidence of money. I don’t know how one would document “markets”—in the exchange sense or the spatial sense? There is not enough evidence to evaluate exchange systems in the Cuzco region before Inca times, and the study of Inca exchange is steeped in substantivist/Marxian ideology that downplays exchange." [1]
[1]: (Alan Covey 2015, personal communication)
According to Alan Covey: "No evidence of money. I don’t know how one would document “markets”—in the exchange sense or the spatial sense? There is not enough evidence to evaluate exchange systems in the Cuzco region before Inca times, and the study of Inca exchange is steeped in substantivist/Marxian ideology that downplays exchange." [1]
[1]: (Alan Covey 2015, personal communication)
According to Alan Covey: "No evidence of money. I don’t know how one would document “markets”—in the exchange sense or the spatial sense? There is not enough evidence to evaluate exchange systems in the Cuzco region before Inca times, and the study of Inca exchange is steeped in substantivist/Marxian ideology that downplays exchange." [1]
[1]: (Alan Covey 2015, personal communication)
"Other sites with Qotakalli pottery are found in the Sacred Valley, as well as in its larger side valleys. The sites in the main valley tend to be quite small and are usually located 200 to 300 meters above the valley floor, in areas with natural defense that are close to small streams." [1]
[1]: (Covey 2006, 66)
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
The Peruvian Moche civilization (end c700 CE) had small round shields attached to forearm, as demonstrated by the Moche warrior pot in the British Museum. [1] Not the same archaeological sub-tradition
[1]: (British Museum. Link to photo: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Moche_warrior_pot_at_the_British_Museum.jpg)
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
The Peruvian Moche civilization (end c700 CE) had helmets, as demonstrated by the Moche warrior pot in the British Museum. [1] Not the same archaeological sub-tradition
[1]: (British Museum. Link to photo: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Moche_warrior_pot_at_the_British_Museum.jpg)
Although there is no information on the warfare of this period, it is highly unlikely the resources were available for this technology.
