Wari Empire

  General Description   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.