Following a period of regionalization known as the Early Intermediate Period, two polities came to dominate the Andes. Tiwanaku (Tihuanaco, Tihuanacu) extended from its core on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca to the highlands of western Bolivia, northern Chile and southern Peru.
[1]
Meanwhile, the Wari (Huari) polity may have controlled an area incorporating much of the Peruvian coast and highlands.
[2]
These two spheres of influence appear to have been united by a religious belief focusing on the cult of a ’staff deity’.
[3]
[4]
This is manifest in the iconography of both polities, together forming the ’Middle Horizon’, a period characterized by the substantial spread of uniform material culture across this large territory between the 7th and the 11th centuries CE.
[5]
The exact nature of the Wari phenomenon is debated. While some scholars are of the view that it was a centralized empire, others think it was a smaller state based in Ayacucho with small enclaves of power dispersed across the Andes.
[6]
The empire hypothesis describes Wari as a ’mosaic of control’:
[7]
regions with Wari architecture may have been under direct Wari domination while large cities that only exhibit Wari pottery and textiles may have been autonomous polities whose ruling class closely cooperated with the Ayacucho polity.
Pikillacta in the Cuzco Valley is one of the most prominent Wari-controlled sites outside of its core in Ayacucho.
[8]
This planned settlement spreading over 47 ha follows a strictly enforced grid pattern regardless of the topography.
[9]
The rectangular cells were interpreted variously as granaries, barracks or houses.
[10]
However, later excavations revealed that the city was composed of several interconnected sites performing different functions: there were administrative, ceremonial, residential, and defensive components.
[11]
This settlement appears to have been left unfinished and abandoned sometime before 1000 CE.
[12]
Beyond Pikillacta, the spread of Wari in the Cuzco Valley is limited, and local polities still controlled the western half of the valley.
[13]
The capital of the Wari polity, also named ’Wari’ or ’Huari’, was more organically built: patios and galleries filled the empty spaces between compounds, and have been interpreted as elite residences and administrative buildings.
[14]
D-shaped ceremonial spaces were common in the capital but rare in the provinces,
[15]
and may have hosted rituals and sacrifices, as suggested by the trophy heads found at Conchopata.
[16]
Population and political organization
Estimating the population under Wari control is problematic. The capital Huari, situated in the Ayacucho valley, stretched over 200-300 ha and may have housed between 30,000
[15]
and 70,000 people.
[17]
Beyond Ayacucho, Wari architectural compounds only cover an area of a few hundred hectares;
[6]
the total population under Wari control may have been limited to 100,000-500,000.
[13]
Proponents of the empire hypothesis hold the view that Wari controlled a territory of 320,000 square kilometres, extending from the core near Ayacucho to its provinces in the north (Moche) and to the south near Cerro Baul (Moquegua).
[18]
Other interpretations are more cautious; as Wari remains have only been found in the Ayacucho valley and small pockets of control beyond the core, its total territory was in no way comparable to that of the later Inca Empire and may have covered 10,000-50,000 hectares at most.
[13]
What is known from archaeological surveys, however, is that four or five tiers of settlement existed: the capital may have controlled colonies situated around the major administrative centres of Pikillacta, Viracochapampa and Conchopata (40-50 ha).
[19]
On the third tier, towns such as Huaro,
[20]
Batan Orqo, Cerro Baul,
[21]
Jincamocco or Wari Willka may have been secondary centres (c. 10 hectares). Finally, villages and hamlets would have produced resources for these larger cities.
[22]
In terms of political organisation, the Wari king may have held influence over client rulers or Wari nobles: royal tombs with Wari paraphernalia have been found at Huarmey in coastal Peru.
[13]
The Wari may have also had a military hierarchy, as suggested by the ceramic depictions of warriors with distinctive face paint, arms, dress, and shield motifs.
[23]
The Wari left their stamp on technology and infrastructure in the Andes. Some archaeologists see them as the predecessors of the Incas, laying the foundations for the Inca road system;
[24]
however, this hypothesis is disputed.
[13]
[1]: (Stanish 2003, 290) Charles Stanish. 2003. Ancient Titicaca: The Evolution of Complex Society in Southern Peru and Northern Bolivia. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
[2]: (Bergh 2012, xiv-xv) Susan Bergh. 2012. Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes. New York: Thames & Hudson.
[3]: (Cook 2012, 65) Anita G. Cook. 2012. ’The Coming of the Staff Deity’, in Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes, edited by Susan Bergh, 103-21. New York: Thames & Hudson.
[4]: (Cook 2001, 158) Anita G. Cook. 2001. ’Huari D-Shaped Structures, Sacrificial Offerings, and Divine Rulership’, in Ritual Sacrifice in Ancient Peru, edited by E. P. Benson and A. G. Cook, 137-63. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
[5]: (Isbell 2008, 731-73) William H. Isbell. 2008. ’Wari and Tiwanaku: International Identities in the Central Andean Middle Horizon’, in Handbook of South American Archaeology, edited by H. Silverman and W. Isbell, 731-60. New York: Springer.
[6]: (Covey et al. 2013, 538-52) Alan R. Covey, Brian S. Bauer, Véronique Bélisle and Lia Tsesmeli. 2013. ’Regional Perspectives on Wari State Influence in Cusco, Peru (c. AD 600-1000)’. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (4): 538-52.
[7]: (Schreiber 1992, 29) Katharina J. Schreiber. 1992. Wari Imperialism in Middle Horizon Peru. Ann Arbor, MI: Museum of Anthropology, University of Michigan.
[8]: (McEwan 2005, 157-58) Gordon F. McEwan. 2005. ’Conclusion: The Functions of Pikillacta’ in Pikillacta: The Wari Empire in Cuzco, edited by Gordon F. McEwan 147-64. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press.
[9]: (Covey et al. 2013, 540) Alan R. Covey, Brian S. Bauer, Véronique Bélisle and Lia Tsesmeli. 2013. ’Regional Perspectives on Wari State Influence in Cusco, Peru (c. AD 600-1000)’. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (4): 538-52.
[10]: (McEwan and Couture 2005, 21-23) Gordon F. McEwan and Nicole Couture. 2005. ’Pikillacta and Its Architectural Typology’, in Pikillacta: The Wari Empire in Cuzco, edited by Gordon F. McEwan, 11-28. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press.
[11]: (McEwan 1991, 99) Gordon F. McEwan. 1991. ’Investigations at the Pikillacta site: A Provincial Huari Centre in the Valley of Cuzco’, in Huari Administrative Structure: Prehistoric Monumental Architecture and State Government, edited by W. H. Isbell and G. F. McEwan, 93-120. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks.
[12]: (Glowacki 2005, 123) Mary Glowacki. 2005. ’Dating Pikillacta’, in Huari Administrative Structure: Prehistoric Monumental Architecture and State Government, edited by W. H. Isbell and G. F. McEwan, 115-24. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks.
[13]: Alan Covey 2017, personal communication
[14]: (Schreiber 2012, 36) Katharina Schreiber. 2012. ’The Rise of an Andean Empire’, in Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes, edited by Susan Bergh, 31-46. New York: Thames & Hudson.
[15]: (McEwan and Williams 2012, 67) Gordon F. McEwan and Patrick Ryan Williams. 2012. ’The Wari Built Environment: Landscape and Architecture of Empire’, in Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes, edited by Susan Bergh, 67-81. New York: Thames & Hudson.
[16]: (Tung 2014, 246) Tiffiny A. Tung. 2014. ’Making Warriors, Making War: Violence and Militarism in the Wari Empire’, in Embattled Bodies, Embattled Places: War in Pre-Columbian America, edited by A. K. Scherer and J. W. Verano, 229-58. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Library.
[17]: (Isbell et al. 1991, 99) William H. Isbell, Christine Brewster-Wray and Lynda E. Spickard. 1991. ’Architecture and Spatial Organization at Huari’, in Huari Administrative Structure: Prehistoric Monumental Architecture and State Government, edited by W. H. Isbell and G. F. McEwan, 19-53. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks.
[18]: (Schreiber 2012, 39) Katharina Schreiber. 2012. ’The Rise of an Andean Empire’, in Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes, edited by Susan Bergh, 31-46. New York: Thames & Hudson.
[19]: (McEwan 2005, 1) Gordon F. McEwan. 2005. ’Introduction: Pikillacta and the Wari Empire’, in Pikillacta: The Wari Empire in Cuzco, edited by Gordon F. McEwan, 1-7. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press.
[20]: (Glowacki 2012, 190) Mary Glowacki. 2012. ’Imperialismo en el Horizonte Medio: Una reevaluación del paradigma clásico, Cuzco, Perú’. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 16: 189-207.
[21]: (Moseley et al. 1991, 132) Michael E. Moseley, Robert A. Feldman, Paul S. Goldstein and Luis Watanabe. 1991. ’Colonies and Conquest: Tihuanaco and Huari in Moquegua’, in Huari Administrative Structure: Prehistoric Monumental Architecture and State Government, edited by W. H. Isbell and G. F. McEwan, 121-40. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks.
[22]: (Covey et al. 2013, 543) Alan R. Covey, Brian S. Bauer, Véronique Bélisle and Lia Tsesmeli. 2013. ’Regional Perspectives on Wari State Influence in Cusco, Peru (c. AD 600-1000)’. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (4): 538-52.
[23]: (Arkush 2006, 502) Elizabeth Arkush. 2006. ’Collapse, Conflict, Conquest: The Transformation of Warfare in the Late Prehispanic Andean Highlands’, in The Archaeology of Warfare: Prehistories of Raiding and Conquest, edited by E. Arkush and M. Allen, 286-335. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press.
[24]: (D’Altroy and Schreiber 2004, 269) Terence N. D’Altroy and Katherine Schreiber. 2004. ’Andean Empires’, in Andean Archaeology, edited by H. Silverman, 255‒79. Oxford: Blackwell.
| alliance with [---] |
| Middle Horizon |
| PeCuzL1 |
| 720,000 km2 |
| continuity | |
| elite migration |
| Preceding: Cuzco - Early Intermediate II (pe_cuzco_3) [elite replacement] | |
| Succeeding: Cuzco - Late Intermediate I (pe_cuzco_5) [continuity] |
| unitary state |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| 1. Most widespread | Wari religion (Sizeable minority) | |
| Other | Tiwanaku Religion (Sizeable minority) | |
| Other | Moche Religion (Sizeable minority) | |
| Other | Nasca Religion (Sizeable minority) |
| Wari religion |
| Wari religion |
| inferred absent |
| inferred never (absent) |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| inferred absent |
| Year Range | Wari Empire (pe_wari_emp) was in: |
|---|---|
| (650 CE 999 CE) | Cuzco |
Middle Horizon.
[1]
Wari State.
"What the Wari called themselves or their empire we do not know—archaeologists and art historians use the term “Wari” because that is the modern name of the site that was its capital. At the time of the Spanish conquest, how- ever, that ancient city was called “Vinaque.” Could this have been the name of the capital, the people, or the empire in Wari times? Another possibility exists. A legend recorded in the sixteenth century about the Wari capital stated that it was built by a people who were bearded and white (see pp. 5-27, “The History of Inquiry into the Wari and Their Arts”). A similar legend was told about a Wari provincial center, Jincamocco; in this version the strangers were termed “Viracochas.” The Inca gave the name Viracocha to their creator deity, the god who brought civilization to the Andes. Does this name perhaps harken back to the earlier empire— Wari, which first brought this form of civilization to the Andes? Or does Viracocha simply refer to any foreigner, as the term does today? Sadly, we cannot answer these questions with any degree of certainty."
[2]
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 55)
[2]: (Schreiber in Bergh 2012, 35-36)
Middle Horizon.
[1]
Wari State.
"What the Wari called themselves or their empire we do not know—archaeologists and art historians use the term “Wari” because that is the modern name of the site that was its capital. At the time of the Spanish conquest, how- ever, that ancient city was called “Vinaque.” Could this have been the name of the capital, the people, or the empire in Wari times? Another possibility exists. A legend recorded in the sixteenth century about the Wari capital stated that it was built by a people who were bearded and white (see pp. 5-27, “The History of Inquiry into the Wari and Their Arts”). A similar legend was told about a Wari provincial center, Jincamocco; in this version the strangers were termed “Viracochas.” The Inca gave the name Viracocha to their creator deity, the god who brought civilization to the Andes. Does this name perhaps harken back to the earlier empire— Wari, which first brought this form of civilization to the Andes? Or does Viracocha simply refer to any foreigner, as the term does today? Sadly, we cannot answer these questions with any degree of certainty."
[2]
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 55)
[2]: (Schreiber in Bergh 2012, 35-36)
[{550 CE; 600 CE; 650 CE; 700 CE}-{1000 CE; 1100 CE}] ... cannot yet be machine read.
Duration in the NGA: 600 - {900; 1000} CE."While some ceramic evidence exists in Cuzco for Wari activity during Epoch 1A (ca. A.D. 500 - 600), extensive Wari presence did not occur until Epoch 1B (ca. A.D. 600 - 700). At this time, the Wari began building Pikillacta, occupying it during its construction. [...] During Epoch 1B until sometime in Epoch 2 (ca. A.D. 700 - 800), Pikillacta continued to be built and occupied. [...] Sometime during Epoch 2, but perhaps somewhat later, Wari activity at Pikillacta began to decrease. [...] Pikillacta was finally abandoned, although Wari activity in the Cuzco region may have persisted."
[1]
.
According to Alan Covey: "The dates that McEwan and Glowacki offer for early Wari colonization (before AD 600) are based on their interpretation of relative ceramic chronologies, and the presumably earlier Huaro area colonization has not been dated absolutely. Maeve Skidmore completed a dissertation at SMU in 2014 with excavations at a Wari colony site, and she concluded that there was an intensification of Wari state relationships with their own colonists after AD 800. That would be my sense of the general chronology right now: an early Wari colonization around AD 600, an intensification of state efforts to extend administrative control over Wari and local populations around AD 800, and a failure of that intensification process by AD 1000."
[2]
550 CE
Expansion "sometime after AD 550" continued until "at least AD 900" then sudden collapse.
[3]
Expansion occurred during an environmental crisis involving droughts and floods in the mid sixth century.
[4]
Start date possibly 540 CE.
[5]
600 CE
"Flourished in the central Andean highlands and some coastal regions from around AD 600 to AD 900."
[6]
600-1000 CE. Ayacucho valley.
[7]
700 CE
Katherine Schreiber’s interpretation of Wari as an empire: "By "empire" she means a political state that, starting in the mid-eighth century AD, rapidly expanded beyond its regional borders in Ayacucho to take control of a very large territory that encompassed much of highland and coastal Peru as well as many groups of people of diverse ethnicities, cultures, languages and social organization."
[8]
Radiocarbon dates
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.
Fig. 25 shows the latest radiocarbon spread at 68.2% probability (one context) is 990-1100 CE, whilst the last main cluster at 68.2% probability (4 contexts) is roughly 890-1000 CE.
[9]
Wari periodization, according to Menzel (summary quoted from Giersz and Makowski 2014):
"In the 1960s, Dorothy Menzel undertook a monumental and influential comparative study of pieces found in collections and the relatively scant ceramic sherds derived from test pits in Wari sites, some of which already had the first radiocarbon dates. The relative chronology of the Middle Horizon, the outcome of this study, represents the main starting point in any discus- sion of Wari and its time, and is still the conceptual framework for interpretation. In accordance with the stylistic seriation methodology outlined by Rowe, Menzel subdivided the period that extends from the rise of the Wari styles in the midst of local Early Intermediate Period pottery (Huarpa) into four epochs—which was marked by the influence of the coastal Nasca style (phases 8-9)—to the final decline of the forms and designs derived from this Ayacuchano tradition at the hands of others related with local traditions (i.e. Late Intermediate Tradition: Chanka pottery). These last two epochs were discarded after it was shown that they were in fact posterior to the abandonment of the presumed capitals in Ayacucho. With these modifications, Menzel argues that the history of the Wari culture is divided into two epochs and four phases, followed by a third phase, that of the decline:
Epoch 1, Phase A (Menzel’s original chronology: A.D. 550-600; new estimates: A.D. 600-700). The complex Altiplano iconography and its well-known front and profile personages from the Tiwanaku reliefs appear on Ayacucho pottery within the context of two new locally produced styles, Chakipampa—strongly related with the coastal tradition (Nasca 9)—and Ocros, as well as a third style with ample local antecedents—Huarpa (Figs. 11, 12 and 13). The Robles Moqo and Conchopata styles appear. More complex designs are found in the urns and jars from Conchopata, which have no Huarpa or Nazca precedent.
Epoch 1, Phase B (Menzel’s original chronology: A.D. 600-650; new estimates: A.D. 700-850). The new styles spread to the South Coast (Pacheco in Nazca, Cerro del Oro) and influence the local output of the Central Coast, for instance the Nievería style in the Rímac Valley.
Epoch 2 (new estimates: A.D. 850-1000), Phase A (Menzel’s original chrono- logy: A.D. 650-700). Wari consolidates its presence on the coast. New styles that synthesise and simplify the designs from previous phases spread from Arequipa to Piura: Viñaque, Atarco, Pachacamac and Ica-Pachacamac. It should however be emphasised that their decoration comprises religious motifs that in the previous epoch remained restricted to the Ayacucho’s ceremonial styles (Conchopata, Robles Moqo). The Wari Empire expanded rapidly in Epoch 2, Phase B (Menzel’s original chronology: A.D. 700-775) and reached its maximum extent. The Viñaque style reached such distant areas as Cajamarca to the North and Chuquibamba to the South. The trend towards schematisation and simplification were likewise heightened in the development of the styles, thus anticipating the decline of Wari (Figs. 14 and 15). The Empire evidently had declined by the end of Epoch 2 and most centres were abandoned.
Epochs 3 and 4 (new estimates: A.D. 1000-1050). Epoch 3 (Menzel’s original chronology: A.D. 775-850) was defined from the stylistic transformations seen in the mould-stamped pottery from the Central-North Coast: local forms and designs supposedly re-emerged, but several Wari designs and conventions endured. After Epoch 3, some Wari-style survivals would have characterised Epoch 4 (Menzel’s original chronology: A.D. 850-1000), which is superimposed with the subsequent Late Intermediate Period (Fig. 16).
Thanks to the first C14 dates, which were still reduced, Menzel proposed dating the Middle Horizon 1 and 2 to A.D. 550-775, and Epoch 3, that of the decline, to A.D. 775-850. We now have several long series of dates well- located in stratigraphic contexts, particularly from Conchopata, Pikillacta, Moquegua, Cajamarca, and also from Huari itself. The dates related with the construction of planned public architecture outside Ayacucho in the high- lands fall chronologically in A.D. 600-700 (cal.), and are visibly contemporary with the capital itself. The decline of Huari, the capital, took place instead in the eleventh century AD. Even so in some parts of Ayacucho like Azángaro, the Wari buildings remained in use up to the thirteenth century A.D. (cal.). The manufacture of pottery in the local, Middle Horizon “Huamanga” style also continued. A similar situation is observed in Cuzco and in Apurímac.8 The dated contexts evince that although Menzel correctly apprehended the broad outlines of some general trends in the development of ceramic styles, these do not let themselves be exclusively ascribed to short phases. Most of these styles endured for two or three centuries and none of them became the official imperial style, comparable in terms of their reception and prestige to the Imperial Inca style."
[10]
[1]: (Glowacki in McEwan 2005, 123)
[2]: (Alan Covey 2015, personal communication)
[3]: (Bauer 2004, 55)
[4]: (Lumbreras in Bergh 2012, 2)
[5]: (McEwan ed. 2005, 1)
[6]: (Covey 2006, 56)
[7]: (Covey, Bauer, Bélisle, Tsesmeli 2013, 538-552)
[8]: (Jennings and Bergh in Bergh 2012, 23)
[9]: (Bauer 2003, 16)
[10]: (Milosz and Makowski 2014, 285)
"As the Wari entered the Cuzco region, they would have attempted to form coalitions with certain members of the local elite families, and then, over time tried to extend their direct administrative control over the region and its populace." [1] "In spite of Cajamarca’s great distance from the Wari capital, it seems to have been one of Wari’s strongest associates, hopping along wherever the Wari went." [2]
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 67)
[2]: (Castillo Butters in Bergh 2012, 59)
"“Middle Horizon” is a period in Peruvian prehistory (Figure 37.1), but cultural dynamics embraced an area much larger than Peru [...]. The Middle Horizon was the time when leadership in complexity within the Central Andes shifted from northern Peru and the Pacific coast - especially the spectacular Moche culture [...] - to south central Peru, northwestern Bolivia and the Andean highlands [...]. A new religious art spread through the Andes, composed of three primary supernatural images." [1]
[1]: (Isbell in Silverman and Isbell 2008, 731-73)
In the Cuzco Valley, the succeeding quasi-polity was the Killke. Elsewhere in the Andes, Late Intermediate Period polities include the Wanka, the Chimu empire, the Huarco polity, the Chincha.
km squared. The territories of Wari and Tiwanaku: "From new urban capitals in central highland Peru and Lake Titicaca Bolivia, the distinctive religious icons diagnostic of the Middle Horizon reached the northern Peruvian mountains and coast. In the south they dispersed through the highlands, reaching southern Bolivia and the eastern valleys that descend to tropical forests - among them, Cochabamba with its immense mounds and idyllic conditions for maize agriculture. Northern Chile, at least as far south as San Pedro de Atacama, participated in this great interaction sphere, as did northwestern Argentina’s La Aguada cultural style [...]."
[1]
320,000 squared kilometers (extent of Wari polity)
[2]
+ 400,000 squared kilometers (extent of Tiwanaku polity)
[3]
= 720,000 squared kilometers for the Middle Horizon.
[1]: (Isbell in Silverman and Isbell 2008, 732)
[2]: (Schreiber in Bergh 2012, 39)
[3]: (Stanish 2003, 290)
"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]
[1]: (Covey 2006, 68)
[2]: (Covey, Bauer, Bélisle, Tsesmeli 2013)
[3]: (Covey, Bauer, Bélisle, Tsemeli 2013, 549)
"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]
[1]: (Covey 2006, 68)
[2]: (Covey, Bauer, Bélisle, Tsesmeli 2013)
[3]: (Covey, Bauer, Bélisle, Tsemeli 2013, 549)
(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)
(Relationship): Linguistic and biological evidence suggests that Incas spoke Puquina and Aymara, and were genetically related to the altiplano populations.
[1]
". Intriguingly, the Inca-era populace of the Cuzco area differs from earlier residents of the same zone; the latter group is biologically more closely affiliated with the Wari region. That evidence supports the idea that the Incas were latecomers to the Cuzco area, after ad 1000. Even so, they also found that some human remains recovered from Saqsawaman (just above Cuzco) had closer links to more northerly and coastal populations. They deduce from this evidence that there may have been some genetic mixing as a consequence of imperial programs (Shinoda in press). The complexity of this patterning emphasizes the difficulties of sorting out Inca history, whether political or biological. Overall, however, the suggestion that the Incas had a strong pre-imperial link to the Lake Titicaca area is far better supported now than it was a short time ago, even if we cannot quite argue that the issue is settled."
[2]
"Generally, there is little continuity between Cusco-dominated Wari Period styles and Killke period settlements, of which 83.5% (183/224) have no occupation from AD 400 to AD 1000."
[3]
. However, another polity in the Cuzco Valley exhibited more continuity with the Wari: "The end of Wari occupation at Chokepukio is marked by the burial of some Wari temples and the complete razing of a number of very large buildings on the site. These were dismantled leaving only their foundations."
[4]
"There is strong Wari cultural influence in the ceramics and architecture of the Late Intermediate Period at Chokepukio, suggesting a continuity of cultural elements after the collapse of the Wari Empire."
[5]
Although it seems that the Killke and the Incas were not native to the zone, they might have been interpreted as genetically affiliated to the altiplano because of their conquest and subsequent mixing with the Lucre Basin Polity based at Choquepukio between 1300-1430 CE, as McEwan explains when referring to Choquepukio: "In a collaborative effort, Hiltunen and I (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004) have compared the archaeological evidence with the history given by Montesinos and suggest that descendants of the elite personages involved in the first migration to Cuzco later went on to found the Hanan (or upper moiety) of the Inca dynasty and united the various ethnic groups using K’illke ceramics, who were organized into the Hurin (or lower moiety)"
[6]
. The Killke groups that mixed with the Lucre might have been a continuation of previous Cuzco quasi-polities., Linguistic and biological evidence suggests that Incas spoke Puquina and Aymara, and were genetically related to the altiplano populations.
[1]
". Intriguingly, the Inca-era populace of the Cuzco area differs from earlier residents of the same zone; the latter group is biologically more closely affiliated with the Wari region. That evidence supports the idea that the Incas were latecomers to the Cuzco area, after ad 1000. Even so, they also found that some human remains recovered from Saqsawaman (just above Cuzco) had closer links to more northerly and coastal populations. They deduce from this evidence that there may have been some genetic mixing as a consequence of imperial programs (Shinoda in press). The complexity of this patterning emphasizes the difficulties of sorting out Inca history, whether political or biological. Overall, however, the suggestion that the Incas had a strong pre-imperial link to the Lake Titicaca area is far better supported now than it was a short time ago, even if we cannot quite argue that the issue is settled."
[2]
"Generally, there is little continuity between Cusco-dominated Wari Period styles and Killke period settlements, of which 83.5% (183/224) have no occupation from AD 400 to AD 1000."
[3]
. However, another polity in the Cuzco Valley exhibited more continuity with the Wari: "The end of Wari occupation at Chokepukio is marked by the burial of some Wari temples and the complete razing of a number of very large buildings on the site. These were dismantled leaving only their foundations."
[4]
"There is strong Wari cultural influence in the ceramics and architecture of the Late Intermediate Period at Chokepukio, suggesting a continuity of cultural elements after the collapse of the Wari Empire."
[5]
Although it seems that the Killke and the Incas were not native to the zone, they might have been interpreted as genetically affiliated to the altiplano because of their conquest and subsequent mixing with the Lucre Basin Polity based at Choquepukio between 1300-1430 CE, as McEwan explains when referring to Choquepukio: "In a collaborative effort, Hiltunen and I (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004) have compared the archaeological evidence with the history given by Montesinos and suggest that descendants of the elite personages involved in the first migration to Cuzco later went on to found the Hanan (or upper moiety) of the Inca dynasty and united the various ethnic groups using K’illke ceramics, who were organized into the Hurin (or lower moiety)"
[6]
. The Killke groups that mixed with the Lucre might have been a continuation of previous Cuzco quasi-polities.
(Entity): "their ascendancy began sometime after AD 1000, when they were just one of many highland societies jockeying for position following the decline of Wari and Tiwanaku."
[7]
[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 85)
[2]: (D’Altroy 2014)
[3]: (Covey 2006, 89)
[4]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 243)
[5]: (McEwan 2006a, 66)
[6]: (McEwan 2006b, 95)
[7]: (D’Altroy 2014, 89)
{70,000; 40,000; [20,000-40,000]} ... cannot yet be machine read.
70,000
Wari capital max 70,000 people.
[1]
40,000
Wari capital population conservatively estimated at 40,000.
[2]
20,000-40,000
Wari capital perhaps 20,000-40,000 inhabitants.
[3]
200-300 ha
Wari had 200 ha of compound architecture. The entire urban sprawl covered 300 ha.
[4]
[1]: (Covey, Bauer, Bélisle, Tsesmeli 2013, 538-552)
[2]: (Pringle 2013 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130627-peru-archaeology-wari-south-america-human-sacrifice-royal-ancient-world/)
[3]: (McEwan and Williams in Bergh 2012, 65)
[4]: (Bauer 2004, 56)
in squared kilometers.
Upper limit:"If we use the distribution of provincial centers to estimate the size of the empire, Wari’s control of mountain territory reached 800 km (497 mi.) to the north of the capital, 525 km (326 mi.) to the south, and 275 km (171 mi.) to the east (to the region around Cuzco; it also stretched down to the central and south coast, 350 km (217 mi.) to the west and south-west. Thus the empire extended more than 1,300 km (807 mi.) along its north-south axis; its width varied from about 100 km (62 mi.) in the north, where it encompassed only the highlands, to some 400 km (248 mi.) in the south, where it spanned both highlands and coast. The total spatial extent of the empire could have been as much as 320,000 sq. km (124,000 sq. mi.)."
[1]
Lower limit: (Alan Covey): "Clearly, the Wari capital region had some span of control, although it might not have been much more than a day’s walk or so, given that a site like Azangaro is treated as a colony. If you said 50 km around the capital, you would have a heartland of around 8000 sq km. There are some corridors that seem to have strategic Wari installations, especially on the Ayacucho-Nasca route. Nevertheless, surveys that work more than about 5-10 km from known Wari installations typically find no Wari sites or material culture. Pikillacta and the Wari colonies around Huaro represent a cluster about 100 sq km in size, and Wari-style pottery is found at nearby sites in a region that might be as large as 500 or so sq km. If you calculated the sustaining area around the generous estimate of Wari sites that Jennings and Craig (2001) list, giving a generous 1000 sq km to the largest centers (Pikillacta and Viracochapampa) and 500 sq km all the others--even tiny and unverified sites--you would maybe get 20,000 sq km. of course, the "mosaic of control" model that is dominant for Wari studies would say that there are some areas with indirectly ruled subjects or client rulers (although the latter should be found only in coastal valleys that had centralized polities and existing political hierarchies). I think doubling that territorial estimate would be a really generous estimate, but I also think that the researchers who continue to ignore the accumulated settlement data from across the highlands would still insist on a much larger territory. For example, Bill Isbell has cited the presence of Wari-style buildings and tombs in Espiritu Pampa (150 km northwest of Cuzco) and the complex at Pikillacta (30 km southeast of Cuzco) as evidence that everything in between was directly governed by Wari--even though Brian Bauer (1992, 2004; Bauer et al. 2015), Veronique Belisle (2010, 2015), Steve Kosiba (2010), Ken Heffernan (1996), Ann Kendall (1994) and I (2006, 2014, Covey et al. 2008) have found patterns suggesting no Wari sites beyond a few hours’ walk of Pikillacta."
[2]
" As a lower bound, I would probably be more generous than 10,000 sq km. I would probably say 20,000, which would put Wari closer in line with Susa, Early Uruk, and Monte Alban."
[2]
[1]: (Schreiber in Bergh 2012, 39)
[2]: Alan Covey 2017, pers. comm.
"On the other hand, the “administrative centres” whose meticulous geometric design gave rise to the formal definition of Wari urbanism— e.g. Pikillacta or Viracochapampa—were never finished. It has been proven that these were never populous cities."
[1]
Alan Covey: "This is a difficult calculation, as there are not systematic settlement data for the entire central Andes that would allow for a valley-by-valley assessment of settlement levels. Even if there were, archaeologists would argue over population estimates and what the distribution of Wari-style material culture signifies in terms of state rule. Having said that, a very "back of the envelope" estimate might be to take the population estimate for the Wari capital and say that it might represent some percentage of the total population of the Ayacucho region--maybe that could be estimated based on the size of the capital and the rough estimate of settled area (with the capital assumed to be more densely settled than lower-order sites)? Beyond the Wari heartland, the nodes of direct Wari control represent a fairly modest area--a few hundred hectares at most, even if one buys the more generous estimates of Wari site counts (e.g., Jennings and Craig 2001) and of Cuzco Wari sites. I think that we did a maximal number of hectares at Wari peripheral sites in my co-authored 2013 paper (in a note), and that could be calculated using the same general assumptions for the heartland. My guess is that the number for those areas wouldn’t go much over about 100,000 people. However, Wari specialists will rightly argue that there should be some populations that served Wari through indirect or hegemonic relationships (although outside of Huarmey, there is little evidence of possible client rulers), and that would mean adding some arbitrary estimate of "indirect" subjects. So, maybe Wari polity population could be pegged in the low hundred thousands. Inca estimates run from a low of 2 million to more widely accepted estimates of 6-10 million, although these are based on backward mathematical acrobatics from spotty early Colonial population records. Still, there were A LOT more Inca subjects than Wari ones."
[2]
"The area encompassed by colonies and state architectural compounds outside the Ayacucho region reaches only a few hundred hectares at most." And the corresponding note: "This figure is heavily weighted by large size estimates for Cusco Wari sites (47 ha for Pikillacta and 150 ha for Huaro [Glowacki and Zapata, 1998; McEwan, 2005]). It also includes the incomplete site of Viracochapampa (32 ha), disputed sites such as Achachiwa (35 ha—see Doutriaux, 2004), and unconfirmed sites identified using air photos, such as Pariamarca and Tocroc. See Jennings (2006a: 269-270) for discussion of assumed lower-order Wari sites."
[3]
RA suggested a range of 100,000-500,000 taking into account most possibilities. Approved by Alan Covey: "If we think of a contemporaneous New World state like Teotihuacan, this falls in the range of the overall population estimates for the urban core and broader area of interest. There is tremendous uncertainty, but for me the important thing is the horizontal comparison (other first generation states) and vertical (Inca empire) comparison."
[2]
[1]: (Milosz and Makowski 2014, 286)
[2]: Alan Covey 2017, pers. comm.
[3]: (Covey et al. 2013, 550) Alan R. Covey, Brian S. Bauer, Véronique Bélisle and Lia Tsesmeli. 2013. ’Regional Perspectives on Wari State Influence in Cusco, Peru (c. AD 600-1000)’. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 32 (4): 538-52.
levels.
1. Capital
200-300 ha including outlying settlements.
[1]
"Urban capital surrounded by densely populated hinterland." Capital - Heartland - Colonies.
[2]
2. Major imperial administrative centre
[3]
Pikillacta (47ha)
[4]
Viracochapampa
Conchopata
[5]
3. Minor imperial administrative centreHonco Pampa
Huaro - 9ha
[6]
Batan Orqo
Cerro Baul - c.10 ha
[7]
Jincamocco - c. 15 ha
[8]
Azangaro
Wari Willka
[5]
4. VillageCuzco basin largest settlements 3-4 ha
[1]
5. HamletThese settlements would include sites of 1 ha and smaller, as seen in the Cuzco Valley.
[9]
[1]: (Covey, Bauer, Bélisle, Tsesmeli 2013, 538-552)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 58)
[3]: (McEwan ed. 2005, 1)
[4]: (Covey, Bauer, Bélisle, Tsesmeli 2013, 540)
[5]: (Milosz and Makowski 2014, 286)
[6]: (Glowacki 2012, 190)
[7]: (Moseley M E, Feldman R A, Goldstein P S, Watanabe L in Isabell and McEwan ed. 1991, 132)
[8]: (Schreiber in Alcock et al 2001, 90)
[9]: (Covey et al 2013, 543)
levels."Drawing on the distinctions between depicted warriors in face paint, arms, dress, and shield motifs, Ochatoma and Cabrera (1999:234-5; 2002:240-243) posit that Wari had professional warriors with a military hierarchy."
[1]
From this we can infer there were at least three or four levels:
1. Leader
2. Generals3. Officers (possibly recruited from the elite
[2]
)4. Professional soldiers
[1]: (Arkush 2006, 502)
[2]: (Tung 2014)
levels.
Alan Covey: "For Wari, it seems plausible from the archaeological evidence that there were royalty, and the royal tombs in Huarmey suggest client rulers or Wari nobles in at least one distant location (although probably not as many as in Inca times). There is no evidence of a decimal hierarchy for Wari (but the Inca one is not demonstrated archaeologically, either), but pretty good evidence of internal hierarchies in urban and provincial settings. Overall, the Incas had tons more of the units that were administered (a lot more population over a much greater area), but not necessarily a qualitative difference in the levels of hierarchy."
[1]
"A range of 2-5 administrative levels seems realistic based on mortuary differences. I still think the Inca hierarchy was modestly more complex and vastly more prevalent, but in terms of structure, I don’t think I would treat the levels of the Inca decimal hierarchy as distinct administrative levels, so it probably wasn’t qualitatively more hierarchical."
[1]
[1]: Alan Covey 2017, pers. comm.
"Finally, group participation in a chicha drinking ceremony and association of supernatural symbols with an individual suggests that the Wari developed the role of priest to manage the increasing social complexity of their expanding political system." [1] . Likely if there were temples. [2]
[1]: (Knobloch 2000, 400)
[2]: (McEwan and Williams in Bergh 2012, 65)
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)
probably absent. No archaeological record for a market/ no reference to markets in the literature. 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)
Irrigation canals and agricultural terraces. [1] Wari were "the first to transform the highland Andean landscapes of the Pacific watersheds through terraced irrigation agriculture." [2] Wari constructed at least 7 irrigation canals in the Lucre Basin with total length of 48 km. The final 5 km of Canal A averaged 0.07 percent grade - "a true feat of engineering skill" since most ancient societies could manage only 0.5-1.5 percent grade. Also aqueducts at Cambayoq and Rumicolca. [2]
[1]: (Covey 2006, 73)
[2]: (McEwan and Williams in Bergh 2012, 74)
Sub-subterranean canals under Pikillacta may be drainage or water supply. [1] Canals, aqueducts, reservoirs and field systems constructed to support work at Pikillacta. [2] In the capital Wari, a "system of canals and drains provided water to residents and allowed waste water to leave the city." Aqueducts were used to transport water for urban consumption. [3]
[1]: (McEwan ed. 2005, 83)
[2]: (McEwan ed. 2005, 83 Cite: Alfredo Valencia)
[3]: (McEwan and Williams in Bergh 2012, 65, 74)
[1] [2] Imperial road system. [3] Many highways often "erroneously attributed to the Inca" [4] The Wari road network is known as the Warinan. [5]
[1]: (Covey 2006, 56)
[2]: (Covey, Bauer, Bélisle, Tsesmeli 2013, 538-552)
[3]: (McEwan ed. 2005, 83)
[4]: (Morell 2002 http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/features/world/south-america/bolivia/sun-empires-text/3)
[5]: (Lumbreras in Bergh 2012, 3)
"In the case of the Wari Empire, a major administrative structure was needed, but there was no local political organization to use as a foundation for this structure. As a result, it had to build from the ground up: a large center, small satellite centers, terraces to increase agricultural production, new villages nearer the terraced zone, a road system, a bridge, etc." [1] . Example from the Carahuarazo valley.
[1]: (Schreiber 1987, 281)
"Wari may have controlled a number of major sources of important raw materials, including Quispisisa, the largest obsidian (volcanic glass) quarry in the Andes. Obsidian was one of the best materials available for making sharp knives and points for spears and arrows. In the Middle Horizon, the distribution of this distinctive type of obsidian was suddenly restricted to sites with Wari associations. The sources of other minerals, precious metals, and some imported shells may also have been under Wari’s exclusive control. For example, Wari sites contain bronze artifacts made of an alloy of copper and arsenic, derived from smelting an ore called enargite.30 There are a number of enargite sources in Wari territory, and Wari may have controlled one or more of them." [1]
[1]: (Schreiber in Bergh 2012, 42)
According to Alan Covey: "We should not assume that Wari used khipus, as none have been found. The “Wari” khipus that Urton reports from the AMNH are from poorly known coastal provenances, and Wari never really ruled over the coast. The Middle Horizon dates suggest that someone on the coast was using a khipu-like device, but it is a stretch to say that this was an imperial accounting device invented or used by Wari, and there is no evidence for Wari khipus in excavations of well-preserved Wari sites that have yielded abundant textile remains." [1] The Wari "employed a system of recording and accounting based on the use of khipus (fiber recording devices). [2] A device of knotted strings. Archaeological evidence exists for these "in Middle Horizon contexts." [3] [4] "An intriguing class of stone artifact also found at Hatun Cotuyoc is referred to as "counting stones" for lack of a better term [...] these stones may have been used for accounting purposes, particularly for keeping track of foodstuffs and goods produced in Hatun Cotuyoc." [5]
[1]: (Alan Covey 2015, personal communication)
[2]: (Lumbreras in Bergh 2012, 3)
[3]: (Schreiber in Bergh 2012, 43)
[4]: (Bergh in Bergh 2012, 189)
[5]: (Glowacki 2002, 281)
According to Alan Covey: "We should not assume that Wari used khipus, as none have been found. The “Wari” khipus that Urton reports from the AMNH are from poorly known coastal provenances, and Wari never really ruled over the coast. The Middle Horizon dates suggest that someone on the coast was using a khipu-like device, but it is a stretch to say that this was an imperial accounting device invented or used by Wari, and there is no evidence for Wari khipus in excavations of well-preserved Wari sites that have yielded abundant textile remains." [1] The Wari "employed a system of recording and accounting based on the use of khipus (fiber recording devices). [2] A device of knotted strings. Archaeological evidence exists for these "in Middle Horizon contexts." [3] [4] "An intriguing class of stone artifact also found at Hatun Cotuyoc is referred to as "counting stones" for lack of a better term [...] these stones may have been used for accounting purposes, particularly for keeping track of foodstuffs and goods produced in Hatun Cotuyoc." [5]
[1]: (Alan Covey 2015, personal communication)
[2]: (Lumbreras in Bergh 2012, 3)
[3]: (Schreiber in Bergh 2012, 43)
[4]: (Bergh in Bergh 2012, 189)
[5]: (Glowacki 2002, 281)
Spondylus shells were obtained from trade partners, but do not seem to have been used as currency within Wari society. "A similar technique was employed to obtain important ritual items, such as Spondylus shell and copper: ceramic vessels with key Wari imagery, namely supernatural creatures, seem to have been used to facilitate trade with north coast societies for Spondylus shell (see fig. 30)." [1]
[1]: (Glowacki in Bergh 2012, 156)
The Wari used precious metals but as symbols of power or for a ritual use. They had no role as a medium of exchange.
Coca: used as a medicine and in rituals, and also sometimes as a medium of exchange.
[1]
"Wari ceramics spread to many different places in the Andes during the Middle Horizon. While we do not know to what degree this spread reflects migrations, trade relations, or military conquest that forced an era of unification, all three circumstances were certainly involved. "
[2]
[1]: (Jennings and Bergh in Bergh 2012, 7)
[2]: (Knobloch in Bergh 2012, 142)
No specific stations for messengers are recorded, although the Wari built structures along the roads that could remind of the Inca tambos. "Smaller special-purpose sites may be located to control the movement of people into and out of regions. Some are located along ancient roads and may have functioned in part as way stations, places to house travelers on official state business." [1]
[1]: (Schreiber in Bergh 2012, 40)
There are no written documents about the Wari, and it is unknown whether they had full-time messengers.
"The Wari sites in Moquegua are located on the summit and slopes of Cerro Baúl and Cerro Mejía, which are adjacent mountains. The most sumptuous monumental architecture and highest status elite architecture were located on the peaks. Positioned to control the sacred pinnacles, these locales also provided a defensive location on the Wari-Tiwanaku frontier." [1]
[1]: (McEwan and Williams in Bergh 2012, 75)
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
Wari may have controlled the Quispisisa obsidian quarry. "Obsidian was one of the best materials available for making sharp knives and points for spears and arrows." [1] Representations of bows and arrows in the iconography on an urn found at Conchopata [2]
[1]: (Schreiber in Bergh 2012, 42)
[2]: (Chamussy 2009, 112)
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
Although wooden machetes were found. "Several objects recovered from Beringa were weapons, suggesting that inhabitants may have been involved in violent conflicts, some of which could have caused skeletal trauma. A couple of wood machetes, wood sticks/clubs, slings for throwing stones (hondas), and isolated sling stones were recovered from both disturbed and intact contexts." [1]
[1]: (Tung 2012, 48)
Bronze axes found in a tomb at El Castillo de Haurmey. "Intriguingly, one vessel from the mausoleum depicts coastal warriors battling axe-wielding Wari invaders." [1]
[1]: (Pringle 2013 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/06/130627-peru-archaeology-wari-south-america-human-sacrifice-royal-ancient-world/)
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
"The notion that there were mobile Wari warriors is also supported by iconographic evidence depicting warriors carrying weapons while kneeling on reed boats... a mode of transport that was common on the north coast of Peru and the Lake Titicaca Basin in the south, and apparently uncommon in the Ayacucho Basin of the Wari empire." [1]
[1]: (Tung 2007, 954 cite: Ochatoma and Cabrera 2002)
"Inferred present is apt, insofar as Wari trophy skull practices and iconography borrowed from Nasca practices, probably acquired through trade between the two cultures. In the Cusco region, there is Wari-influenced local pottery with some local distribution, and the site of Muyu Roqo indicates some Wari patronage at local ceremonies in places where there is no clear political or economic connection, suggesting a consonance of colonist and local religious practices." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
“Just like with the Inca, in the case of Wari the establishment of alliances was not based on military superiority (like that of the Macedonian phalanx or the Roman legions). With their bows and bronze weapons, the southerners certainly could be fearsome adversaries. Even so, the political strategy used was more sophisticated—and the only one possible in such difficult ecological conditions, and with such rudimentary means of transportation and communication. The big pyramid of subject-peoples was moved to submit to the conqueror when the ancestors of their curacas were included in the great imperial cult. This is why the Wari model for expansion and territorial control seems to have been very similar to that of the Incas: they introduced both peaceful policies and mediations with the local chiefs of given lands, as well as alliances and an efficient manipulation of ‘the institution of Andean reciprocity.’ When these means failed, however, they turned to military solutions. The discovery of weapons, the presence of trophy heads, the modelled ceramic depictions, and the images on metals and textiles all evince the presence of an institutionalised military force, and in turn show that Wari elites combined military and ritual power in order to establish and sustain imperial control."
[1]
“Survey data generally do not provide representative regional perspectives on religious change, but a few site-based observations hint at the existence of Wari patronage and influence in certain locations. Bauer’s (1999) test excavations at Muyu Roqo in the Paruro region suggest Wari involvement in a local festival event, although such patronage is not evident at other sacred locales. Furthermore, excavations at the local EIP/MH center at Ak’awillay reveal continuity of local ritual practices with little evidence of Wari state influence (Bélisle, 2011; Bélisle and Covey, 2010). In contrast, the burial remains recovered by Glowacki (2002) in the Huaro area provide notable examples of Wari ritual paraphernalia and iconography (cf. Zapata, 1997). Clearly, additional excavation work is needed throughout the region to gauge the nature and extent of Wari religious influence.”
[2]
[1]: (Giersz & Makowski 2014, 290) Giersz, Milosz and Krzysztof Makowski. 2014. ‘The Wari Phenomenon: In the Tracks of a Pre-Hispanic Empire’. In Castillo de Huarmey: El Mausoleo Imperial Wari. Edited by Milosz Giersz and Cecilia Pardo. Lima: MALI. Seshat URL: Zotero link: VBKPHAPI
[2]: (Covey et al. 2013, 547-548) Covey, Alan, Bauer, Brian S., Béslise, Véronique and Lia Tsesmeli. 2013. ‘Regional perspectives on Wari state influence in Cusco, Peru (c. AD 600–1000)’. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. Num 32. Pp. 538-552. Seshat URL: Zotero link: 6MQUZCBK
"Inferred present is apt, insofar as Wari trophy skull practices and iconography borrowed from Nasca practices, probably acquired through trade between the two cultures. In the Cusco region, there is Wari-influenced local pottery with some local distribution, and the site of Muyu Roqo indicates some Wari patronage at local ceremonies in places where there is no clear political or economic connection, suggesting a consonance of colonist and local religious practices."(R. A. Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"There are local imitations of Wari ceramics, which might suggest local people adding values and expressions that would be consistent with “syncretism.” At the same time, the excavation evidence and settlement patterns in Cusco don’t suggest significant changes." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"I’d be OK saying Wari religion was the most widespread, but not that its degree of prevalence was the “vast majority.” I would say that the number of Wari ritual structures and ceremonial contexts known in the Andes is pretty restricted, and largely representative of the religious life of colonists, rather than that of the local populations." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
“Much has been made of Menzel’s hypothesis which claimed that the Wari phenomenon had religious foundations and was related with the dissemination of the cult of a specific deity, which was worshipped at Tiahuanaco and was depicted on The Sun Gate. This was the starting point of Conrad and Demarest, who suggested that Huari and Tiahuanaco were comparable to Rome and Byzantium, the former as a political capital and the latter as a religious one. Several studies recently showed empirically that the dissemination of Tiwanaku iconography was not due to the imitation of the model found on The Sun Gate, which is a late monument that was never finished. Tiwanaku iconography was instead born as a textile art in the Formative Period. The decorated textiles were reproduced on the statues of kings and nobles of Tiwanaku. A large number of deities were represented in frontal position with different attributes. An even larger repertoire of supernatural beings was depicted in profile, accompanying the front-facing personages. The textiles were probably also used as a model by the potters. Patricia Knobloch and Krzysztof Makowski have shown that the iconography found at Conchopata, Huari, Robles Moqo, Pacheco, and other sites, is not an imitation of the Doorway or of any known low-relief sculpture. The artists who decorated the pottery however had an extensive knowledge of the repertoire of forms, conventions, colours and secondary designs. Only someone trained within the Tiwanaku culture could have had such knowledge. Armed with this knowledge, the craftsmen reproduced images of mortal men either seized in order to be sacrificed or in combat posture, and deities who were about to behead a human being; deities including women. In light of these studies, the argument that there was a proselytising cult of the Staff God simply fades away. Wari iconography emphasises the large number of mythical protagonists and their diversity. The results attained by these studies show that theiconography was an expression of a polytheistic and inclusive religion. The hard-to-read figurative designs evoke stories in which the fate of valiant men and bloodthirsty gods seem to be mutually conditioned. Just like the rituals in which it was used, the cult paraphernalia decorated with the iconography set the journeys and the combats that ended with the beheading of the opponents in a mythical time.”
[1]
"This is consistent with post-WWII anthropological approaches, which wanted ancient civilizations to be peaceful and religious. By the Vietnam era, people were back to warfare as the primary mode of state expansion. At any rate, there is virtually no evidence that Wari religious practices—especially those carried out in D-shaped temples—were ever spread to non-colonist populations. In Cusco, there is one site (Muyu Roqo) where an accumulation of Wari decorated pottery and camelid bones suggests a feast or ceremony in a local setting, but otherwise little reason to think that Wari religion had much of a local impact outside of colony settings." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
“The persistence of the Qotakalli style suggests that Wari iconography and identity did not supplant existing local ones. Regional data do not offer specific evidence of Wari influence in local religious life—there are no sites with a strong Wari ceremonial assemblage found in the Sacred Valley. […] At the same time, Wari may have established its colonies and spread its influence through religious patronage, a sort of “soft power” that some scholars may have overestimated by applying an Inca model to ambiguous evidence. By underwriting some ceremonies, Wari colonists and state officials could offer a more elaborate ceremonial life, but this does not appear to have affected the local subsistence economy in the Sacred Valley.”
[2]
“It is difficult at the moment to evaluate whether the Wari had a religious impact on the Xaquixaguana region. Unlike Paruro and the Sacred Valley, survey in Xaquixaguana did not identify any shrine or location where the Wari could have been involved in feasts or ceremonies. Excavation data from Ak’awillay suggest continuity of local ritual practices through time (Bélisle 2011).”
[3]
“To sum up, a political will capable of moving skilled specialists thousands of kilometres away from their homes and making them work with others of different origin, imposed itself for a hundred years or more over a very large area between Moquegua and Piura. These craftsmen were relocated—in a way that recalls the Inca institution of the mitmaquna—in order to lay the foundations for legitimacy after the conquest of new lands; this was achieved through the cult given to the ancestors, which was undertaken inside monumental buildings. Makowski believes that the success attained in the conquests was articulated through the sudden abandonment of the local Lima, Moche, Recuay and other symbols of power and religious iconography, which were replaced with new Wari symbols of southern origin: the four-cornered cap, the kero cup, the tumi knife and the unku shirt with new designs.”
[4]
[1]: (Giersz & Makowski 2014, 289-290) Giersz, Milosz and Krzysztof Makowski. 2014. ‘The Wari Phenomenon: In the Tracks of a Pre-Hispanic Empire’. In Castillo de Huarmey: El Mausoleo Imperial Wari. Edited by Milosz Giersz and Cecilia Pardo. Lima: MALI. Seshat URL: Zotero link: VBKPHAPI
[2]: (Covey 2011, 107) Covey, R. Alan. 2014. ‘Local Developments in the Sacred Valley and Responses to Wari Colonization’. In Regional Archaeology in the Inca Heartland: The Hanan Cuzco Surveys. Edited by R. Alan Covey. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology. Seshat URL: Zotero link: I5NV7MRE
[3]: (Bélisle 2014, 89) Bélisle, Véronique. 2014. ‘Early Intermediate Period and Middle Horizon Settlement Patterns in the Xaquixaguana Region’, In Regional Archaeology in the Inca Heartland: The Hanan Cuzco Surveys. Edited by R. Alan Covey. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology. Seshat URL: Zotero link: I5NV7MRE
[4]: (Giersz & Makowski 2014, 289) Giersz, Milosz and Krzysztof Makowski. 2014. ‘The Wari Phenomenon: In the Tracks of a Pre-Hispanic Empire’. In Castillo de Huarmey: El Mausoleo Imperial Wari. Edited by Milosz Giersz and Cecilia Pardo. Lima: MALI. Seshat URL: Zotero link: VBKPHAPI
"If we are talking only about Cusco, then no other religion is necessary. If we are talking about the Andes, then Tiwanaku, late Nasca, and late Moche/Early Chimú would figure into other regions." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"If we are talking only about Cusco, then no other religion is necessary. If we are talking about the Andes, then Tiwanaku, late Nasca, and late Moche/Early Chimú would figure into other regions." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"If we are talking only about Cusco, then no other religion is necessary. If we are talking about the Andes, then Tiwanaku, late Nasca, and late Moche/Early Chimú would figure into other regions." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"I agree that Wari elites practiced Wari religion in Wari colonies, but wouldn’t say that other leaders did—they certainly didn’t at the local Cusco center of Ak’awillay (see Bélisle’s work). Also, there is something missing here between “high Wari religious ideology/iconography” seen in unprovenanced artifacts, versus the distribution of D-shaped temples and their trophy skull practices. The D-shaped buildings suggest a lower-class practice at heartland sites like Conchopata, and are present in some Wari colonies, but not in the planned orthogonal compounds, where ritual practices are less discernible based on the architecture and excavations. No D-shaped structures have been found near Cusco." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
“In sum, a ceremonial function for niched halls is indicated. These structures have a broad geographic distribution throughout the Wari domain, and their interpretation as ritual/ceremonial buildings is consistent with the pattern of distribution of Wari ceremonial art as noted by Menzel (1964). That there are a large number of these structures within both Viracochapampa and Pikillacta indicates the central position of religion within the Wari social structure. Further the fact that they are found within larger, presumably administrative complexes, rather than as stand-alone ceremonial centers, is reflective of the subordination of religion for state purposes. This seems to echo the Middle Horizon secularization trend noted by Menzel (1964) and Schaedel (1966).”
[1]
[1]: (McEwan 2005, 158) McEwan, Gordon F. 2005. ’Conclusion: The Functions of Pikillacta‘. In Pikillacta: The Wari Empire in Cuzco. Edited by Gordon F. McEwan. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press. Seshat URL: Zotero link: 47H7R496
"I agree that Wari elites practiced Wari religion in Wari colonies, but wouldn’t say that other leaders did—they certainly didn’t at the local Cusco center of Ak’awillay (see Bélisle’s work). Also, there is something missing here between “high Wari religious ideology/iconography” seen in unprovenanced artifacts, versus the distribution of D-shaped temples and their trophy skull practices. The D-shaped buildings suggest a lower-class practice at heartland sites like Conchopata, and are present in some Wari colonies, but not in the planned orthogonal compounds, where ritual practices are less discernible based on the architecture and excavations. No D-shaped structures have been found near Cusco." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
“The image we currently have of Wari society is that of a rural society in which all political roles required ritual underpinnings, and where all hierarchies were supported by origin myths through a religious language and in accordance with the will of the oracles. We can assume that the ancestors of the noble lineages had a powerful voice in politics, and spoke and decided just like the other deities. There would have been a remarkable similitude in this regard between the Wari and the Inca.”
[1]
[1]: (Giersz & Makowski 2014, 288) Giersz, Milosz and Krzysztof Makowski. 2014. ‘The Wari Phenomenon: In the Tracks of a Pre-Hispanic Empire’. In Castillo de Huarmey: El Mausoleo Imperial Wari. Edited by Milosz Giersz and Cecilia Pardo. Lima: MALI. Seshat URL: Zotero link: VBKPHAPI
"There’s not a lot of evidence to go on, but in the Cusco region the local center of Ak’awillay shows almost no change in economic, cultural, and religious expressions after Wari colonists arrived in the region. In Moquegua, there is no real Wari connection to the local Huaracane people, or interactions with Tiwanaku colonists in the same valley. I think it’s fair to say that some Wari colonies set up at places already considered sacred by local people (this is true in the Cusco area at Batan Urqu), but that does not in any way constitute a government restriction on alternative public worship." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"There’s not a lot of evidence to go on, but in the Cusco region the local center of Ak’awillay shows almost no change in economic, cultural, and religious expressions after Wari colonists arrived in the region. In Moquegua, there is no real Wari connection to the local Huaracane people, or interactions with Tiwanaku colonists in the same valley. I think it’s fair to say that some Wari colonies set up at places already considered sacred by local people (this is true in the Cusco area at Batan Urqu), but that does not in any way constitute a government restriction on alternative public worship." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"There’s not a lot of evidence to go on, but in the Cusco region the local center of Ak’awillay shows almost no change in economic, cultural, and religious expressions after Wari colonists arrived in the region. In Moquegua, there is no real Wari connection to the local Huaracane people, or interactions with Tiwanaku colonists in the same valley. I think it’s fair to say that some Wari colonies set up at places already considered sacred by local people (this is true in the Cusco area at Batan Urqu), but that does not in any way constitute a government restriction on alternative public worship." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"There’s not a lot of evidence to go on, but in the Cusco region the local center of Ak’awillay shows almost no change in economic, cultural, and religious expressions after Wari colonists arrived in the region. In Moquegua, there is no real Wari connection to the local Huaracane people, or interactions with Tiwanaku colonists in the same valley. I think it’s fair to say that some Wari colonies set up at places already considered sacred by local people (this is true in the Cusco area at Batan Urqu), but that does not in any way constitute a government restriction on alternative public worship." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"There’s not a lot of evidence to go on, but in the Cusco region the local center of Ak’awillay shows almost no change in economic, cultural, and religious expressions after Wari colonists arrived in the region. In Moquegua, there is no real Wari connection to the local Huaracane people, or interactions with Tiwanaku colonists in the same valley. I think it’s fair to say that some Wari colonies set up at places already considered sacred by local people (this is true in the Cusco area at Batan Urqu), but that does not in any way constitute a government restriction on alternative public worship." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"There’s not a lot of evidence to go on, but in the Cusco region the local center of Ak’awillay shows almost no change in economic, cultural, and religious expressions after Wari colonists arrived in the region. In Moquegua, there is no real Wari connection to the local Huaracane people, or interactions with Tiwanaku colonists in the same valley. I think it’s fair to say that some Wari colonies set up at places already considered sacred by local people (this is true in the Cusco area at Batan Urqu), but that does not in any way constitute a government restriction on alternative public worship." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"There’s not a lot of evidence to go on, but in the Cusco region the local center of Ak’awillay shows almost no change in economic, cultural, and religious expressions after Wari colonists arrived in the region. In Moquegua, there is no real Wari connection to the local Huaracane people, or interactions with Tiwanaku colonists in the same valley. I think it’s fair to say that some Wari colonies set up at places already considered sacred by local people (this is true in the Cusco area at Batan Urqu), but that does not in any way constitute a government restriction on alternative public worship." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"There’s not a lot of evidence to go on, but in the Cusco region the local center of Ak’awillay shows almost no change in economic, cultural, and religious expressions after Wari colonists arrived in the region. In Moquegua, there is no real Wari connection to the local Huaracane people, or interactions with Tiwanaku colonists in the same valley. I think it’s fair to say that some Wari colonies set up at places already considered sacred by local people (this is true in the Cusco area at Batan Urqu), but that does not in any way constitute a government restriction on alternative public worship." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
“Wari presents major challenges to archaeologists and art historians because it left no written records to aid in understanding its past” [1]
[1]: (Schreiber 2012, 35) Schreiber, Katharina. 2012. ‘The rise of an Andean Empire’. In Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes. Edited by Susan E. Bergh. New York: Thames & Hudson; Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Seshat URL: Zotero link: F7EE996V
" I think there is a distinction between religious practices within Wari colonies, which might have become more important over time (Skidmore’s dissertation at Hatun Cotuyoc identified some realignment of identity within the Wari colony over time), but across the Cusco region there is no reason to infer a pressure to convert. In Moquegua, the collapse of the Tiwanaku colonies led to the settlement of some non-Wari populations around Cerro Baúl, but their material culture remained distinct (Tumilaca) from Wari populations. In fact, Nash has recently tried to reconcile the absence of Wari material culture among local populations by saying that the Wari were an empire whose pottery was so powerful that withholding it from local people made them compliant on the hopes that they might some day be invited to come to a Wari site to see it. Of course, from that interpretation, there are a lot of cultures that are absent from the Andes, and an empirical field of archaeology can’t really make any real contribution without working with patterns that are actually present." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"There’s not a lot of evidence to go on, but in the Cusco region the local center of Ak’awillay shows almost no change in economic, cultural, and religious expressions after Wari colonists arrived in the region. In Moquegua, there is no real Wari connection to the local Huaracane people, or interactions with Tiwanaku colonists in the same valley. I think it’s fair to say that some Wari colonies set up at places already considered sacred by local people (this is true in the Cusco area at Batan Urqu), but that does not in any way constitute a government restriction on alternative public worship." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)
"There’s not a lot of evidence to go on, but in the Cusco region the local center of Ak’awillay shows almost no change in economic, cultural, and religious expressions after Wari colonists arrived in the region. In Moquegua, there is no real Wari connection to the local Huaracane people, or interactions with Tiwanaku colonists in the same valley. I think it’s fair to say that some Wari colonies set up at places already considered sacred by local people (this is true in the Cusco area at Batan Urqu), but that does not in any way constitute a government restriction on alternative public worship." (R. Alan Covey, pers. comm. to R. Ainsworth, June 2023)