After the collapse of the Wari empire, the Cuzco valley once more underwent a phase of regionalization, known as the Late Intermediate Period (1000‒1476 CE).
[1]
In other valleys of Peru, this period saw the emergence of complex kingdoms such as the Chimu, the Chincha, the Ischma and the Chanchay.
In the Cuzco Valley, this period lasted from the early 11th century to the early 15th century and was characterized by incipient state formation in two areas. To the west, the Killke or K’illke may have been the successors to the local Qotakalli chiefdoms of the Early Intermediate period and Middle Horizon.
[2]
[3]
Centred around the location of modern Cuzco, where Killke material has been excavated,
[4]
their sphere of influence extended south of Cuzco for around 20 kilometres.
[5]
Smaller undefended polities to the west of modern Cuzco may have been under Killke domination, while it is likely that the developing political units to the north were independent.
[5]
In the Lucre Basin to the east, another powerful cluster emerged, referred to as ’Pinagua’ or ’Pinagua-Moyna’ by ethnohistorians. These polities developed around the sites of Choquepukio, Cotocotuyoc and Minaspata.
[6]
They may have upheld the cultural legacy of Wari colonizers from the Middle Horizon,
[7]
[8]
as their ceramics and architecture show profound Wari influence.
[3]
Choquepukio in particular exhibits significant continuity with the Wari through its monumental architecture.
[7]
Even further to the east, another small state may have existed around the settlements of Andahuaylillas, Huaro and Urcos. It has been suggested that the Pinagua cluster and these polities together prevented the eastern expansion of the Killke until the late 14th century.
[7]
Between these two extremities of the Cuzco Valley, the Oropesa Basin acted as a buffer zone.
[9]
[10]
The Killke, centred in the Cuzco region, appear to have been the most influential and expansionary of these cultures during the Late Intermediate Period: their ceramics were widely used, in contrast to the limited spread of Lucre Basin styles.
[11]
Population and political organization
The Cuzco Basin and the Sacred Valley experienced significant population growth after 1000 CE,
[12]
although population estimates are extremely difficult to produce.
[13]
The Lucre Basin cluster comprised at least 4 settlements extending over 10 hectares (e.g. Minaspata and Coto-coto), and Choquepukio covered 60 ha. These settlements may have housed several thousand people each.
[14]
The capital of the Killke polity, now buried beneath modern Cuzco, may have covered 50 ha.
[15]
Little is known about political organization at the beginning of the Late Intermediate period, but archaeological work has revealed that the Killke polity had a four-tiered settlement hierarchy
[16]
The second half of the Late Intermediate Period would lead to the consolidation of the Killke polity, to the detriment of the Lucre Basin.
[17]
Eventually, the Killke elites laid the foundations of what would become the Inca empire.
[1]: (Andrushko, Torres Pino and Bellifemine 2006, 66) Valerie A. Andrushko, Elva C. Torres Pino and Viviana Bellifemine. 2006. ’The Burials at Sacsahuaman and Chokepukio: a Bioarchaeological Case Study of Imperialism from the Capital of the Inca Empire’. Ñawpa Pacha 28: 63-92.
[2]: (McEwan 2006, 95) 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 G. M. Schwartz and J. J. Nichols, 85-98. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
[3]: (McEwan, Chatfield and Gibaja 2002, 295) Gordon F. McEwan, Melissa Chatfield and Arminda Gibaja. 2002. ’The Archaeology of Inca Origins: Excavations at Choquepukio, Cuzco, Peru’, in Andean Archaeology I: Variations in Sociopolitical Organization, edited by W. H. Ibsell and H. Silverman, 287-301. New York: Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers.
[4]: (Farrington 2013, 142) Ian Farrington. 2013. Cusco: Urbanism and Archaeology in the Inka World. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
[5]: (Covey 2006, 105) R. Alan 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.
[6]: (Covey 2006, 103) R. Alan Covey. 2006. ’Intermediate Elites in the Inka Heartland, AD 1000-1500’, in Intermediate Elites in Pre-Columbian States and Empires, edited by Christina M. Elson and R. Alan Covey, 112-35. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
[7]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 246) Juha Hiltunen and Gordon F. McEwan. 2004. ’Knowing the Inca Past’, in Andean Archaeology, edited by H. Silverman, 237-54. New York: Blackwell.
[8]: (McEwan 2006, 93) 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 G. M. Schwartz and J. J. Nichols, 85-98. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
[9]: (Bauer 2004, 86) B. S. Bauer. 2004. Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
[10]: (Covey 2006, 117) R. Alan Covey. 2006. ’Intermediate Elites in the Inka Heartland, AD 1000-1500’, in Intermediate Elites in Pre-Columbian States and Empires, edited by Christina M. Elson and R. Alan Covey, 112-35. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
[11]: (Covey 2006, 103) R. Alan 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.
[12]: (Covey 2006, 89) R. Alan 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.
[13]: Alan Covey 2015, personal communication.
[14]: (D’Altroy 2014, 81-82) Terence N. D’Altroy. 2014. The Incas. 2nd ed. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.
[15]: (Covey 2003, 339) Alan R. Covey. 2003. ’A Processual Study of Inka Formation’. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology (22): 333-57.
[16]: (Covey 2003, 338-39) Alan R. Covey. 2003. ’A Processual Study of Inka Formation’. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology (22): 333-57.
[17]: (D’Altroy 2014, 85-86) Terence N. D’Altroy. 2014. The Incas. 2nd ed. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.
18 L | |
19 L |
Cuzco - Late Intermediate I |
Choquepukio | |
Cuzco |
Killke Period | |
Inca | |
Inka | |
Pinagua | |
Pinahua | |
Pinagua-Muyna |
alliance with [---] |
Wari cultural sphere |
PeCuzL2 |
population migration | |
continuity |
Succeeding: Cuzco - Late Intermediate II (pe_cuzco_6) [continuity] | |
Preceding: Wari Empire (pe_wari_emp) [continuity] |
quasi-polity |
Year Range | Cuzco - Late Intermediate I (pe_cuzco_5) was in: |
---|---|
(1000 CE 1249 CE) | Cuzco |
1000-1300 CE Cuzco became capital of the Killke polity. This has been confirmed by archaeological digs under Cuzco.
[1]
Choquepukio was the capital of the Lucre Basin (Pinagua) polity. "Choquepukio was the most important settlement in the valley (McEwan 2006). Occupied by the Pinahua, it was quite an impressive town and may have even approached Killke-era Cuzco in scale and grandeur. Its ruins cover 60 ha on a low ridge and boast architecture bordering on the monumental - large stone enclosures and multi-storey buildings."
[2]
Language
[1]: (Covey 2006, 119)
[2]: (D’Altroy 2014, 81-82)
1000-1300 CE Cuzco became capital of the Killke polity. This has been confirmed by archaeological digs under Cuzco.
[1]
Choquepukio was the capital of the Lucre Basin (Pinagua) polity. "Choquepukio was the most important settlement in the valley (McEwan 2006). Occupied by the Pinahua, it was quite an impressive town and may have even approached Killke-era Cuzco in scale and grandeur. Its ruins cover 60 ha on a low ridge and boast architecture bordering on the monumental - large stone enclosures and multi-storey buildings."
[2]
Language
[1]: (Covey 2006, 119)
[2]: (D’Altroy 2014, 81-82)
Killke state formation begun around 1000 CE. 1000-1200 period had small, competing polities.
[1]
"After AD 1000, the population of the Cusco Basin and Sacred Valley grew substantially, and the site of Cusco itself increased in size and population density."
[2]
The 1000-1250 CE period is before the Inca expansion into the Sacred Valley, which occurred during a time of drought dated 1250-1310 CE.
[3]
Administrative and temple buildings at Qhapaqkancha, Markasunay and Pukara Pantillijlla probably developed during the Inca expansion into the Sacred Valley (1250-1310 CE).
[4]
Another polity present in the Cuzco Valley during the Late Intermediate Period was the Pinagua polity based at Choquepukio in the Lucre Basin: "A few centuries later, circa AD 1300, a second building phase was initiated at Choquepukio, resulting in the construction of additional niched halls."
[5]
[1]: (Covey 2003, 352)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 89)
[3]: (Covey 2006, 117)
[4]: (Covey 2006, 129, 134)
[5]: (McEwan 2006b, 95)
"The developing Inca polity is likely to have had direct control over, or close alliances with, some groups outside the Cuzco Valley even before it was completely consolidated."
[1]
"Inca alliances with a limited number of neighboring groups depended on the personal interactions of elite individuals who acted on behalf of small groups like the people of Huaro, as well as larger ethnic confederations like the Ayarmacas."
[2]
"The Pinagua-Moyna polity seems to have been the most powerful in the region before the reign of Inca Viracocha. These two groups jointly occupied the Lucre Basin and were likely the two moieties of a combined political unit. [...] Together with the Pinagua-Moyna alliance, the important settlements of Andahuaylillas, Huaro, and Urcos probably formed a powerful confederate mini-state, which was long able to prevent the Inca extension toward the east and Collao (Titicaca) region. It is noteworthy that these sites all contain the archaeological remains of major Wari occupations. This mini-state is very likely a fragment of the old Wari imperial structure."
[3]
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 88)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 110)
[3]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 246)
The polity in the Lucre Basin (Pinagua) seems to have been in the Wari cultural sphere: "A few centuries later, circa AD 1300, a second building phase was initiated at Choquepukio, resulting in the construction of additional niched halls. Up to this point, the predominant postcollapse cultural influence had been derived from the Wari. The second building phase seems to represent the arrival of an elite group from the old Tiwanaku sphere of influence." [1]
[1]: (McEwan 2006b, 95)
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.
[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)
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.
[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)
"If we turn to the Cuzco region itself, the written and archaeological sources paint a fairly coherent picture of long-term development for the pre-imperial Incas, despite some important divergences. Both sources are compatible with the idea that, sometime after ad 1000, the Incas experienced 300 - 400 years of slow development from an incipiently hierarchical society into a nascent state." [1]
[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 85-86)
(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)
Two main polities are known for this period; the Killke (Inca) and Pinagua of the Lucre Basin.
For the Incas, chroniclers say earliest rulers had a small territory and lacked control over neighbouring groups. Mayta Capac* consolidated Inca control over the Cusco Basin. Military hierarchy increased from these times.
[1]
*(c1290 CE)
Cuzco/Killke polity in the 1000-1200 CE period
[2]
influenced the Masca and Tambo regions
had sustained interaction with the Chillque
Paruro were possibly under Cusco domination
[3]
[1]: (Covey 2006, 112)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 135)
[3]: (Covey 2006, 105)
"Linguists have recently arrived at the view that the Incas may have adopted Quechua for imperial rule precisely because it was already widespread. Before then, the Incas spoke one or two other languages, most likely Aymara and possibly Puquina." [1] This refers to the pre-imperial Inca or Killke. The language used in other polities, such as the Pinagua of the Lucre Basin, seems to be undocumented.
[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 58)
"Linguists have recently arrived at the view that the Incas may have adopted Quechua for imperial rule precisely because it was already widespread. Before then, the Incas spoke one or two other languages, most likely Aymara and possibly Puquina." [1] This refers to the pre-imperial Inca or Killke. The language used in other polities, such as the Pinagua of the Lucre Basin, seems to be undocumented.
[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 58)
in squared kilometers.
Map 1000-1200 CE "Territory of Cuzco Basin polity."
[1]
About 30km by 20km.
South and west: taken early. North and east: more war, polities retained independence from the Incas longer (until about 1400 CE).
[2]
Vilcanota river formed the northern boundary.
[3]
"distribution of local Qotakalli and Araway styles drops off markedly beyond about 20 km of the Cuzco Basin."
[4]
For the Lucre Basin polity: Huaro also exhibits Lucre pottery after the Wari collapse
[5]
, may be in Choquepukio sphere of control?"The primary distribution of this style essentially encompasses the eastern end of the valley of Cuzco where Choquepukio and Pikillacta are located, extending to the southeast to include the modern towns of Andahuayllas, Huaro, and Urcos."
[5]
Using Google maps area calculator, and mapping the location of Tipón (known fortress against the Killke), Urcos (furthest point where Lucre ceramic appears), and Choquepukio itself, a conservative estimate would be 70 squared kilometers. However there is no reference to the polity territory in the literature and a settlement survey is lacking to ascertain the extent of the Lucre polity.
[1]: (Covey 2006, 108)
[2]: (D’Altroy 2014, 81)
[3]: (D’Altroy 2014, 82)
[4]: (Covey 2003, 338-339)
[5]: (McEwan 2006b, 93)
Cuzco: 15,000?
Cuzco valley: 5,000-10,000. According to a Spaniard in mid 16th century, valley held over 20,000.
[1]
However, in the 1000-1250 CE period irrigation and terracing works had not all been completed, so maybe a bit less.
Cuzco valley population "grew markedly after about AD 1000"
[2]
"There were many other settlements in the Lucre area; some of them, such as Minaspata and Coto-coto, were almost as large as Choquepukio (Dwyer 1971: 41; Glowacki 2002: 271). Since those towns likely housed several thousand people each, the populace collectively posed an ongoing challenge to Inca hegemony. Sarmiento’s (2007: 87, 96, 99) informants said that four successive Inca rulers - from Inka Roca to Pachakuti - all took up arms against them, but only the last was able to finally subjugate and then disperse them. Because of the extended animosities, it is no surprise that the Oropesa area that lay between them was an unoccupied buffer zone for much of the early era (Bauer and Covey 2004: 84-7)."
[3]
The possibly allied site of Cotocotuyoc was 45 ha.
[4]
If the three main towns had several thousand inhabitants each, we can infer that the Lucre confederation had at least 10,000 inhabitants.
[1]: (Bauer 2004, 189, 227)
[2]: (D’Altroy 2014, 79)
[3]: (D’Altroy 2014, 81-82)
[4]: (Glowacki 2002, 271)
levels.
The four-tiered settlement hierarchy (1000-1400 CE) minus the administrative centre level which was 1300 CE onwards.
[1]
1. Cuzco (capital)2. Large villages3. Small villages and hamlets
Tiers suggested by d’Altroy from Bauer and Covey 2004
[2]
:
2. Cuzco (center) - 50ha2. Town. About ten. Towns over 10 ha seem to be in the Lucre political sphere
[3]
3. Smaller villages. About twenty. 1.00-7.00 ha on Covey’s map
[3]
4. Hamlets and other small sites. Over a hundred. 0.25-1.00 ha on Covey’s map
[3]
Cuzco Basin had large, undefended villages located near the valley floor.
[4]
In Vilcanota Valley two higher orders of settlement were added after 1000 CE.
[5]
The map produced by Covey
[3]
shows four settlements over 10ha in the Lucre Basin. From this we can infer:
1. Choquepukio (60 ha)
2. Other big settlements (over 10ha), possibly principal towns of other quasi polities. Huaro could be one of them.
3. Villages.
4. Hamlets.
[1]: (Covey 2003, 339-339)
[2]: (D’Altroy 2014, 79)
[3]: (Covey 2006, 108)
[4]: (Covey 2006, 95)
[5]: (Covey 2003, 338-339)
In the Lucre Basin: "La ubicación de Chokepukio es un indicativo tanto del poder político como del religioso, los cuales, como en el caso de los incas, eran inseparables." [1] The location of Choquepukio is indicative of both religious and political power, which, as in the case of the Incas, were inseparable.There is no evidence to suggest that the elites at Choquepukio specialised in bureaucracy or religion, it seems that they governed most matters in an unspecialised manner.
[1]: (McEwan et al 2005, 276)
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)
Irrigation canals constructed. [1] "It is likely that the Lucre Basin polities continued to use irrigation canals and improved lands developed by Wari colonists, although this inference remains speculative in the absence of systematic survey data." [2] Canals are documented amongst other hydraulic works (fountains) in the architecture at Choquepukio. "Por último, varios de ellos presentan obras hidráulicas elaboradas que consisten en canales y fuentes, en algunos casos con agua que es canalizada sobre afloramientos rocosos que, probablemente, eran piedras-huaca." [3]
[1]: (Covey 2006, 91)
[2]: (Covey 2006b, 118)
[3]: (McEwan et al 2005, 263)
"In general terms, however, these settlements tend to approximate those we have already described for the Late Intermediate in some parts of the Central Sierra: communities of modest size, comprised of nucleated clusters of predominantly round buildings, often containing precincts of small rectangular buildings which seem to be storage facilities." [1]
[1]: (Parsons and Hastings 1988, 224)
Roads were present from Wari times, but it is unknown whether the Late Intermediate polities maintained and used them. According to Alan Covey, this was not the case, and he questions the emphasis put on Wari roads by archaeologists: "Not in Cuzco, and despite the assertions that the Incas used Wari infrastructure to conquer the highlands—which is really an argument for how the Incas could build an empire so quickly, one that is no longer needed with the preponderance of archaeological evidence—the regional archaeology along the route of the Inca road to Chinchaysuyu (which passed through Ayacucho) shows no Wari settlement along it (Belisle and Covey 2010; Belisle 2014). The chronicles state that the route was established in Inca times, when the ninth ruler built the bridge across the Apurimac, but that is also an assertion that requires due scepticism." [1]
[1]: (Alan Covey 2015, personal communication)
According to Alan Covey: "See Dennis Ogburn and Ian Farrington’s work. There are local diorite and limestone quarries near Cuzco, as well as the Huaccoto andesite quarry. Keep in mind that we still don’t know a lot about pre-imperial architecture in Cuzco." [1]
[1]: (Alan Covey 2015, personal communication)
"The khipu is most often associated with Inca accounting, but it was borrowed from Andean traditions that were developed at least a thousand years before the Incas. Some scholars think that the earliest systematic use of the khipu as a recording tool occurred in Wari or other expansionist states. It may owe its genesis to institutional demands, such as keeping track of supplies (Quilter and Urton 2002; Brokaw 2010). If they are right, then the Incas elaborated a package of administrative techniques developed by their imperial predecessors. It is certainly the case that the tool was well established across the Andes before the Inca empire came along, as different societies reportedly used a variety of knot-tying conventions. The chronicler Murua wrote that, “each province, as it had its own language, also had a different form and logic [razón] of quipo” (translation from Platt 2002: 229). In short, the Incas’ challenge most likely lay in systematizing recording for state institutions and in bringing many thousands of knot-masters up to speed in the preferred format, not in developing a specific inscription technique for state interests from scratch." [1] 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. I would also not infer their use in the LIP (AD 1000-1400)" [2]
[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 150)
[2]: (Alan Covey 2015, personal communication)
"The khipu is most often associated with Inca accounting, but it was borrowed from Andean traditions that were developed at least a thousand years before the Incas. Some scholars think that the earliest systematic use of the khipu as a recording tool occurred in Wari or other expansionist states. It may owe its genesis to institutional demands, such as keeping track of supplies (Quilter and Urton 2002; Brokaw 2010). If they are right, then the Incas elaborated a package of administrative techniques developed by their imperial predecessors. It is certainly the case that the tool was well established across the Andes before the Inca empire came along, as different societies reportedly used a variety of knot-tying conventions. The chronicler Murua wrote that, “each province, as it had its own language, also had a different form and logic [razón] of quipo” (translation from Platt 2002: 229). In short, the Incas’ challenge most likely lay in systematizing recording for state institutions and in bringing many thousands of knot-masters up to speed in the preferred format, not in developing a specific inscription technique for state interests from scratch." [1] 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. I would also not infer their use in the LIP (AD 1000-1400)" [2]
[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 150)
[2]: (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)
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)
Tipón "This Late Intermediate Period settlement and its agricultural lands and water sources were surrounded by an enormous defensive wall, constructed of rough field stones and mud mortar, approximately five meters in height. In other sections, areas of sheer cliff blocked access to the site. These defensive features of the site run for several kilometers." [1]
[1]: (Bauer and Covey 2002, 858)
"Those settlements were generally unfortified and lay in open positions, a pattern at variance with the defensive planning of most highland settlements of the time, even places nearby." [1] "Several sites in remote parts of the southern Cuzco Basin were established on high ridges after AD 1000. Some of these settlements were located far from permanent water sources, and many were in areas with natural defenses. At least one of these, Pungurhuaylla, was walled (fig.5.12). These sites were established after the decline of the Wari and had little or no Inca pottery present, perhaps indicating a temporary - and unsuccessful - attempt by some groups in more distant and difficult-to-reach locations to remain independent of the Cusco Basin polity." [2] Settlements in a defensive position are recorded in the Vilcanota valley, not in the Killke polity itself but a group of quasi-polities nearby. [3] "Except for Tipón - a fortified site located in a depopulated buffer zone between the Inka and Pinaw-Muyna polities- these sites are large villages or towns located close to the valley bottom, with no apparent defensive works." [4]
[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 79)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 106)
[3]: (Covey 2006b, 115)
[4]: (Covey 2006b, 117)
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
Tipón "This Late Intermediate Period settlement and its agricultural lands and water sources were surrounded by an enormous defensive wall, constructed of rough field stones and mud mortar, approximately five meters in height. In other sections, areas of sheer cliff blocked access to the site. These defensive features of the site run for several kilometers." [1] Many forts and fortifications developed when the Inca state annexed new territory outside the Cuzco Basin during the Inca state period. [2] Within this period ? walls were constructed at Muyuch’urqu, and there were defenses at Raqchi. [3] However it is not clear from text whether construction is before 1250 CE and whether they were built by the Incas. Early Inca architecture at Markasunay in the Sacred Valley [3] but if the Incas did not expand into the Sacred Valley until 1250-1310 CE period by "early" author must mean not as early as 1000-1200, the date in the title of the chapter. According to D’Altroy, Cuzco valley settlements (initially?) were unfortified, open positions in contrast to those of the neighbouring highland settlements. [4]
[1]: (Bauer and Covey 2002, 858)
[2]: (Covey 2006, 127)
[3]: (Covey 2006, 91)
[4]: (D’Altroy 2014, 79)
This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.
"Copper-tin bronze alloys were developed by metalworkers in the cassiterite-rich southern Andean highlands of Bolivia, Peru, and northwest Argentina. Both bronze alloys were in use by about 850 A.D." [1]
[1]: (Holder and Streeser-Pean 1992: 1215) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CTK5MTBV.
"Copper-tin bronze alloys were developed by metalworkers in the cassiterite-rich southern Andean highlands of Bolivia, Peru, and northwest Argentina. Both bronze alloys were in use by about 850 A.D." [1]
[1]: (Holder and Streeser-Pean 1992: 1215) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/CTK5MTBV.
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.
No archaeological reference, but this can be inferred from the ubiquitous presence of bows and arrows in Wari and Inca times, and the presence of conflicts in the Late Intermediate Period.
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.
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.