Home Region:  Andes (South America and Caribbean)

Cuzco - Late Intermediate II

D G SC WF HS EQ 2020  pe_cuzco_6 / PeCuzL2

Preceding:
1000 CE 1250 CE Cuzco - Late Intermediate I (pe_cuzco_5)    [continuity]

Succeeding:
1375 CE 1532 CE Inca Empire (pe_inca_emp)    [population migration]

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]
The second half of the Late Intermediate Period proved to be a gradual phase of consolidation for what would become the Inca Empire. [16] Indeed, the Killke followed a pattern of ’leapfrogging’, conquering new territories on an ad hoc basis. [17] Administrative and temple buildings at Qhapaqkancha, Markasunay and Pukara Pantillijlla probably developed during the Inca expansion into the Sacred Valley (1250‒1310 CE). [18] One suggested cause of this expansionary strategy is a period of drought between 1250 and 1310. [19]
Meanwhile, there was another phase of construction at the site of Choquepukio around 1300 CE, which may have corresponded to the arrival of a new elite group from the Titicaca cultural sphere. [2] Our evidence for this incursion comes from DNA analysis as well as from the presence of chullpas (burial towers) and ceramic styles characteristic of the Altiplano. [2] The construction of grand niched halls and the presence of luxury items made of ceramic, metal, precious stones, and bone may indicate elite-sponsored feasting. [1] [20] The paramount leader of Choquepukio may have held these feasts in order to establish his power in relation to other local elites. [21] Early Inca chronicles document these Pinagua leaders or capacs as a rival force, blocking their expansion into the Lucre Basin. [21]
Archaeological evidence of a major burning event between 1400 and 1430 CE indicates that the Choquepukio state finally succumbed to Killke expansion. [22] Choquepukio’s arts and monumental architecture profoundly influenced the material culture of the Inca Empire: [23] for example, Inca ceramics blended Lucre ceramic technology with Killke motifs. [3] With the demise of the Choquepukio polity and the expansion of Killke dominance across the valley, the conditions were in place for the rise of the Inca Empire during the 15th century, creatively building upon the legacy of its predecessors.

[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) Brian 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]: (D’Altroy 2014, 85-86) Terence N. D’Altroy. 2014. The Incas. 2nd ed. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.

[17]: (Bauer 2004, 88) Brian S. Bauer. 2004. Ancient Cuzco: Heartland of the Inca. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.

[18]: (Covey 2006, 129, 134) 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.

[19]: (Covey 2006, 117) 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.

[20]: (McEwan, Gibaja and Chatfield 2005, 258) Gordon McEwan, Arminda Gibaja and Melissa Chatfield. 2005. ’Arquitectura monumental en el Cuzco del Periodo Intermedio Tardio: Evidencias de continuidades en la reciprocidad ritual y el manejo administrativo entre los horizontes medio y tardio’. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 9: 257-80.

[21]: (McEwan, Gibaja and Chatfield 2005, 274) Gordon McEwan, Arminda Gibaja and Melissa Chatfield. 2005. ’Arquitectura monumental en el Cuzco del Periodo Intermedio Tardio: Evidencias de continuidades en la reciprocidad ritual y el manejo administrativo entre los horizontes medio y tardio’. Boletín de Arqueología PUCP 9: 257-80.

[22]: (D’Altroy 2014, 64) Terence N. D’Altroy. 2014. The Incas. 2nd ed. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.

[23]: (Moseley 2001, 248) Michael E. Moseley. 2001. The Incas and Their Ancestors: The Archaeology of Peru. Revised edition. London: Thames and Hudson.

General Variables
Identity and Location
Utm Zone:
18 L  
19 L  
Original Name:
Cuzco - Late Intermediate II  
Capital:
Cuzco  
Choquepukio  
Alternative Name:
Killke Period  
The Quechuas  
the Inkas  
Temporal Bounds
Peak Years:
1,400 CE  
Duration:
[1,250 CE ➜ 1,400 CE]  
Political and Cultural Relations
Suprapolity Relations:
alliance with [---]  
Supracultural Entity:
Lake Titicaca cultural sphere  
Succeeding Entity:
PeInca*  
Relationship to Preceding Entity:
continuity  
Preceding Entity:
Preceding:   Cuzco - Late Intermediate I (pe_cuzco_5)    [continuity]  
Succeeding: Inca Empire (pe_inca_emp)    [population migration]  
Degree of Centralization:
quasi-polity  
Language
Linguistic Family:
Aymaran  
Language Genus:
NO_VALUE_ON_WIKI  
Language:
Aymara  
Puquina  
Religion
Religious Tradition:
suspected unknown  
Religion Family:
suspected unknown  
Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Population of the Largest Settlement:
-  
Polity Territory:
[2,300 to 2,800] km2  
Polity Population:
-  
Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
4  
Religious Level:
2  
Military Level:
4  
Administrative Level:
4  
Professions
Professional Soldier:
absent 1250 CE 1350 CE
present 1350 CE 1400 CE
Professional Military Officer:
inferred present  
Bureaucracy Characteristics
Specialized Government Building:
present  
Merit Promotion:
absent  
Full Time Bureaucrat:
inferred present  
Examination System:
unknown  
Law
Professional Lawyer:
unknown  
Judge:
unknown  
Formal Legal Code:
inferred present  
Court:
unknown  
Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Market:
inferred present  
Irrigation System:
present  
Food Storage Site:
present  
Transport Infrastructure
Road:
present  
Port:
inferred absent  
Canal:
inferred present  
Special-purpose Sites
Mines or Quarry:
inferred present  
Information / Writing System
Written Record:
absent  
Script:
absent  
Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
absent  
Nonwritten Record:
unknown  
Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:
absent  
Sacred Text:
absent  
Religious Literature:
absent  
Practical Literature:
absent  
Philosophy:
absent  
Lists Tables and Classification:
absent  
History:
absent  
Fiction:
absent  
Calendar:
absent  
Information / Money
Token:
unknown  
Precious Metal:
unknown  
Paper Currency:
absent  
Indigenous Coin:
absent  
Foreign Coin:
absent  
Article:
unknown  
Information / Postal System
Postal Station:
unknown  
General Postal Service:
unknown  
Courier:
unknown  
Information / Measurement System
Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications
  Wooden Palisade:
unknown  
  Stone Walls Non Mortared:
present  
  Stone Walls Mortared:
present  
  Settlements in a Defensive Position:
present  
  Modern Fortification:
absent  
  Moat:
unknown  
  Fortified Camp:
present  
  Earth Rampart:
unknown  
  Ditch:
present  
  Complex Fortification:
present  
absent  
  Long Wall:
absent  
Military use of Metals
  Steel:
absent  
  Iron:
absent  
  Copper:
unknown  
  Bronze:
unknown  
Projectiles
  Tension Siege Engine:
absent  
  Sling Siege Engine:
absent  
  Sling:
present  
  Self Bow:
inferred present  
  Javelin:
unknown  
  Handheld Firearm:
absent  
  Gunpowder Siege Artillery:
absent  
  Crossbow:
absent  
  Composite Bow:
inferred absent  
  Atlatl:
unknown  
Handheld weapons
  War Club:
unknown  
  Sword:
unknown  
  Spear:
unknown  
  Polearm:
unknown  
  Dagger:
present  
  Battle Axe:
present  
Animals used in warfare
  Horse:
absent  
  Elephant:
absent  
  Donkey:
absent  
  Dog:
unknown  
  Camel:
absent  
Armor
  Wood Bark Etc:
unknown  
  Shield:
unknown  
  Scaled Armor:
absent  
  Plate Armor:
absent  
  Limb Protection:
unknown  
  Leather Cloth:
unknown  
  Laminar Armor:
absent  
  Helmet:
unknown  
  Chainmail:
absent  
  Breastplate:
unknown  
Naval technology
  Specialized Military Vessel:
unknown  
  Small Vessels Canoes Etc:
unknown  
  Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service:
unknown  
Religion Tolerance Nothing coded yet.
Human Sacrifice Nothing coded yet.
Crisis Consequences Nothing coded yet.
Power Transitions Nothing coded yet.

NGA Settlements:

Year Range Cuzco - Late Intermediate II (pe_cuzco_6) was in:
 (1250 CE 1399 CE)   Cuzco
Home NGA: Cuzco

General Variables
Identity and Location

Original Name:
Cuzco - Late Intermediate II

1000-1300 CE Cuzco became capital. This has been confirmed by archaeological digs under Cuzco. [1] Choquepukio "was probably the principal town of the Pinahua, referred to as ’Pinagua-Chuquimatero’ in the later documents." [2]
Language

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 119)

[2]: (Bauer 2004, 84)

Capital:
Choquepukio

1000-1300 CE Cuzco became capital. This has been confirmed by archaeological digs under Cuzco. [1] Choquepukio "was probably the principal town of the Pinahua, referred to as ’Pinagua-Chuquimatero’ in the later documents." [2]
Language

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 119)

[2]: (Bauer 2004, 84)


Alternative Name:
Killke Period

The Quechuas. [1]

[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 75-76)

Alternative Name:
The Quechuas

The Quechuas. [1]

[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 75-76)

Alternative Name:
the Inkas

The Quechuas. [1]

[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 75-76)


Temporal Bounds

Duration:
[1,250 CE ➜ 1,400 CE]

Inca expansion into the Sacred Valley occurred during a time of drought dated 1250-1310 CE. [1] Administrative and temple buildings at Qhapaqkancha, Markasunay and Pukara Pantillijlla probably developed during the Inca expansion into the Sacred Valley (1250-1310 CE). [2]
"A few centuries later, circa AD 1300, a second building phase was initiated at Choquepukio, resulting in the construction of additional niched halls." [3]
"Carbon dates suggest that the transition from the pre-Inca to Inca eras at Chokepuquio seems to have occurred 1400 - 30, which is in keeping with the idea of a late incorporation of the Lucre region." [4] "A particularly intriguing set of dates was taken recently from deposits at the site of Chokepuquio (McEwan and Gibaja O. n.d.). At this site, which was home to a major Inca foe in the Lucre basin late in the era of Inca state formation, a major burning event separated the pre-Inca from the imperial era. The reported suite of dates puts that event between 1400 and 1430 (with a 95 percent degree of confidence). If we accept the proposition that the conflagration occurred after the town fell to Inca forces, then we can infer that the Incas took control sometime early in the fifteenth century, not close to mid-century as the historical readings put it. " [5]
"Site surveys in the region lead Brian Bauer to conclude that the spread of Killke reflects early, gradual expansion of Inca hegemony that was nondisruptive. Thus, Killke Cuzco was apparently a young señorio, likely confederated with Chokepukio by about AD 1200." [6]

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 117)

[2]: (Covey 2006a, 129, 134)

[3]: (McEwan 2006b, 95)

[4]: (D’Altroy 2014, 83)

[5]: (D’Altroy 2014, 64)

[6]: (Moseley 2001, 248)


Political and Cultural Relations
Suprapolity Relations:
alliance with [---]

Some alliances maintained by the Killke. [1]
"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." [2]
"alliance and hegemonic control were extended beyond the heartland region prior to the full implementation of direct control." [2] Alliances with following groups (often preceded by warfare and ended with a marriage exchange): [3]
Anta (west)
Ayarmaca (north west)
Huayllacan (north)
The Lucre polity also had alliances:
"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." [4]
Possible alliance with other polities based at Tipón, Minaspata and Cotocotuyoc. [5]

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 137)

[2]: (Bauer 2004, 88)

[3]: (Bauer 2004, 89)

[4]: (Hiltunen and McEwan 2004, 246)

[5]: (Covey 2006a, 103)


Supracultural Entity:
Lake Titicaca cultural sphere

At least for the Lucre Basin polity. "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] The Killke polity could also be linked to Lake Titicaca, since they appear to have been linguistically and genetically related. [2]

[1]: (McEwan 2006b, 95)

[2]: (D’Altroy 2014, 85)



Relationship to Preceding Entity:
continuity

"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)


Preceding Entity:
PeCuzL1 [pe_cuzco_5] ---> Cuzco - Late Intermediate II [pe_cuzco_6]

"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)

Preceding Entity:
PeCuzL2 [pe_cuzco_6] ---> Inca Empire [pe_inca_emp]

(Relationship): Wthin the Cuzco NGA, continuity: "Continuing studies by Peruvian archaeologists have recovered Killke pottery from at least seven more locations, distributed across an area that approximates imperial-era Cuzco. Their work in and around the Qorikancha has yielded exceptionally high-quality pottery (Bauer and Covey 2004: 77-8). The planning of parts of the early town apparently foreshadowed the imperial capital’s layout. Building foundations under the present-day Hotel Libertador were found to have orientations like those of nearby imperial masonry. From that evidence, we may infer that at least part of the most prestigious imperial layout overlaid an existing design. In turn, that suggests that there was some sort of conceptual continuity from the pre-imperial to imperial eras (González Corrales 1984; Hyslop 1990: 30-4)." [1] Outside the Cuzco NGA, the Incas conquered and either assimilated these polities culturally, as with the Chimu [2] or relocated groups inside these zones, as in the case of Cerro Azul [3] . Farrington mentions the presence of Killke pottery in urban excavations in Cuzco [4] , but he explains the growth of the site in terms of a post-1438 urbanization project by Pachakutiq [5] ., Wthin the Cuzco NGA, continuity: "Continuing studies by Peruvian archaeologists have recovered Killke pottery from at least seven more locations, distributed across an area that approximates imperial-era Cuzco. Their work in and around the Qorikancha has yielded exceptionally high-quality pottery (Bauer and Covey 2004: 77-8). The planning of parts of the early town apparently foreshadowed the imperial capital’s layout. Building foundations under the present-day Hotel Libertador were found to have orientations like those of nearby imperial masonry. From that evidence, we may infer that at least part of the most prestigious imperial layout overlaid an existing design. In turn, that suggests that there was some sort of conceptual continuity from the pre-imperial to imperial eras (González Corrales 1984; Hyslop 1990: 30-4)." [1] Outside the Cuzco NGA, the Incas conquered and either assimilated these polities culturally, as with the Chimu [2] or relocated groups inside these zones, as in the case of Cerro Azul [3] . Farrington mentions the presence of Killke pottery in urban excavations in Cuzco [4] , but he explains the growth of the site in terms of a post-1438 urbanization project by Pachakutiq [5] ., Wthin the Cuzco NGA, continuity: "Continuing studies by Peruvian archaeologists have recovered Killke pottery from at least seven more locations, distributed across an area that approximates imperial-era Cuzco. Their work in and around the Qorikancha has yielded exceptionally high-quality pottery (Bauer and Covey 2004: 77-8). The planning of parts of the early town apparently foreshadowed the imperial capital’s layout. Building foundations under the present-day Hotel Libertador were found to have orientations like those of nearby imperial masonry. From that evidence, we may infer that at least part of the most prestigious imperial layout overlaid an existing design. In turn, that suggests that there was some sort of conceptual continuity from the pre-imperial to imperial eras (González Corrales 1984; Hyslop 1990: 30-4)." [1] Outside the Cuzco NGA, the Incas conquered and either assimilated these polities culturally, as with the Chimu [2] or relocated groups inside these zones, as in the case of Cerro Azul [3] . Farrington mentions the presence of Killke pottery in urban excavations in Cuzco [4] , but he explains the growth of the site in terms of a post-1438 urbanization project by Pachakutiq [5] .
(Entity): "The traces of pre-imperial Cuzco itself are unfortunately still mostly buried, a common problem in urban landscapes, but archaeological studies are incrementally fleshing out the character of the early settlement. Valcárcel (1934-5) made a major advance in understanding the early settlement through his extensive excavations in the early 1930s at that site. There, he recovered abundant ceramics, about one-quarter to one-third of which were later determined to be pre-imperial Inca (Killke style)." [1] For the regions conquered outside of the Cuzco Basin, the previous polities are Late Intermediate Period polities.

[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 80)

[2]: (D’Altroy 2014, 382)

[3]: (D’Altroy 2014, 100)

[4]: (Farrington 2013:142) Ian Farringon, 2013. Cusco: Urbanism and Archaeology in the Inka World. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

[5]: (Covey 2015, personal communication)


Degree of Centralization:
quasi-polity

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)
Incas employed both an indirect form of rule through local elites and a direct rule within provinces organized under a state administrator. [2]
"Control was not territorially continuous, nor was it stable until the imperial period." [3]

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 112)

[2]: (Covey 2006a, 112-116)

[3]: (Covey 2003, 347)


Language

Language Genus:
NO_VALUE_ON_WIKI

Language:
Aymara

"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)

Language:
Puquina

"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)


Religion
Religious Tradition:
suspected unknown

Religion Family:
suspected unknown


Social Complexity Variables
Social Scale
Population of the Largest Settlement:
-

Cuzco. Cuzco at peak 20,000. [1] Cuzco settlement over 50 ha.

[1]: (Bauer 2004, 3)


Polity Territory:
[2,300 to 2,800] km2

in squared kilometers.
Huaro also exhibits Lucre pottery after the Wari collapse [1] , 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." [1] "Before their removal by Huascar, the Pinahua controlled the area on the northern side of the Huatanay River east of the Angostura to its confluence with the Vilcanota River. There is no doubt that the Pinahua once occupied the large site of Choquepukio, since it is specifically and repeatedly mentioned as one of their former towns in the earlier documents of the suit." [2]
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]: (McEwan 2006b, 93)

[2]: (Bauer 2004, 84)


Polity Population:
-

Cuzco: 15,000?
Cuzco valley: 10,000-20,000. According to a Spanish source in mid 16th century, valley held over 20,000 [1]
"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)." [2]
The possibly allied site of Cotocotuyoc was 45 ha. [3]
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, 81-82)

[3]: (Glowacki 2002, 271)


Hierarchical Complexity
Settlement Hierarchy:
4

levels.
Four-tiered settlement hierarchy (1000-1400 CE) [1]
4. Cuzco (capital) - 50 ha
3. Administrative centre - c1300 CE onwards. Example: Pukara Pantillijlla, which was over 10ha [2]
2. Large villages - 7 ha
1. Small villages and hamlets - under 4 ha. [3]
1250-1350 CE: largest town to the north was the 10 ha Pukara Pantillijlla. [4]

[1]: (Covey 2003, 338-339)

[2]: (Covey 2003, 338)

[3]: (Covey 2003, 339)

[4]: (D’Altroy 2014, 82)


Religious Level:
2

levels.
Elite ancestor cult. Worship of Sun as state religion. akllawasi+ from Inca Roq’a* [1] +(House of the Cloistered Women) *c1350 CE
Religious hierarchy [2]
1. Priests at principal temple (Coricancha)
2. Local level state priests
The title intip churin (Son of the Sun) was added to paramount qhapaq/capac title during the imperial period. [2]
Each ayllu attended to their own mortuary shrines. [3]
Cieza de León (1985, p. 117 [c. 1550] Chapter 34) notes that Qhapaq Yupanki began to take women from conquered territories to serve a new state religion involving veneration of the Sun, and Sarmiento de Gamboa (1965, p. 223 [1572 Chapter 18]) mentions that he also delegated religious authority by naming an older brother, Kunti Mayta, as high priest of the cult. [4] : delegation of religious authority to the Inca’s relatives, and establishment of religious orders.

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 118)

[2]: (Covey 2006a, 119)

[3]: (Andrushko 2007, 12)

[4]: (Covey 2003, 352)


Military Level:
4

levels.
1. The Inca
2. The Inca’s relatives
3. Military captains
4. Individual soldiers.
Military hierarchy began to increase from these times. [1] "Cabello Valboa (1951, p. 290 [1586 Book 3, Chapter 13]) says that Qhapaq Yupanki was able to send his sons to conquer neighboring areas, while Inka Roq’a had at his disposal not only his sons, but military captains and a large number of soldiers." [2] "In other words, the delegation of military authority extended to more distant relatives as the Inka state formed and began to engage in more distant and sustained campaigns." [2]

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 112)

[2]: (Covey 2003, 347)


Administrative Level:
4

levels.
4. Paramount qhapaq/capac [1]
3.Central administrationAfter the 3rd Inca new elite terms known [2]
2.State administrator"state appointed administrators governed through local elites" [3]
1.Local elitee.g. paramount chief of ayllus (kinship unit)
"Conquered groups came to be governed by state administrators who often retained local elites to enact state policies locally." [4]

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 119)

[2]: (Covey 2003, 340)

[3]: (Covey 2003, 353)

[4]: (Covey 2006a, 137)


Professions
Professional Soldier:
absent
1250 CE 1350 CE

According to chronicles/Inca stories Inca Roq’a used mercenaries from Canas and Canche. [1]

[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 75-76)

Professional Soldier:
present
1350 CE 1400 CE

According to chronicles/Inca stories Inca Roq’a used mercenaries from Canas and Canche. [1]

[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 75-76)


Professional Military Officer:
present

"Cabello Valboa (1951, p. 290 [1586 Book 3, Chapter 13]) says that Qhapaq Yupanki was able to send his sons to conquer neighboring areas, while Inka Roq’a had at his disposal not only his sons, but military captains and a large number of soldiers." [1]

[1]: (Covey 2003, 347)


Bureaucracy Characteristics
Specialized Government Building:
present

"Qhapaqkancha has an architectural compound indicative of public or administrative functions (Fig. 10). This compound is an intrusive construction within a large Killke Period village, and comprises three rectangular structures attached to a 2700 m2 platform. The two flanking structures face the village, while the central one opens onto the platform. Based on architectural style and surface ceramics collected by the SVAP, this platform was probably built between A.D. 1200 and 1400, and it represents an open space that would have been used for public events that could have involved an entire subject polity (for the proxemics of Andean plazas, see Moore, 1996)." [1]
Location of administrative and temple buildings [2] [3]
Qhapaqkancha
Markasunay
Pukara Pantillijlla
Kaytamarka
Warq’ara
Ankasmarka

[1]: (Covey 2002, 341)

[2]: (Covey 2006a, 129)

[3]: (Covey 2003, 340)


Merit Promotion:
absent

Relatives appointed to religious, administrative and military posts. [1]

[1]: (Covey 2003, 353)


Full Time Bureaucrat:
present

"From the generation of the fifth Inka ruler until the period of imperial expansion, new elite terms appear in the chronicles of Sarmiento de Gamboa (1965 [1572 Chapters 17-29]) and Cabello Valboa (1951 [1586 Book 3, Chapters 13-14]). These include apu, thupa, and ylla. These titles appear to include bureaucratic or judicial appointments, lordship over conquered territory, and economic elite status, respectively." [1]

[1]: (Covey 2002, 349)


Examination System:
unknown

Law
Professional Lawyer:
unknown


Formal Legal Code:
present

"Garcilaso de la Vega (1965 [1609] Book 4, Chapter 19) cites the lost chronicle of Blas Valera, which credits the sixth Inka with the development of a system of laws and punishments." [1] There were legal codes covering the social and administrative [2] but there was no writing system. "For instance, they do not seem to have created a formal system of laws or a separate judiciary." [2]

[1]: (Covey 2003, 347)

[2]: (D’Altroy 2014, 358)



Specialized Buildings: polity owned
Market:
present

“We have no accounts of large marketplaces, few descriptions of independent traders except on the margins of the empire […] yet in spite of this, evidence for small marketplaces exists in the pre-Hispanic Central Andes. Local fairs flourished, and there was a brisk trade in many goods, both basic commodities and products of highly specialized labor.” [1] “The historical data are quite clear that there were few price-making markets, but substantial barter markets, in the Andes.” [2] “We contend that barter fairs were the means by which most commodities were traded in the Andes prior to and even during the Inca Empire. There was without doubt a state imperial economy that produced and moved large quantities of goods outside of any barter or other kind of market. But at the daily, domestic level, people most likely produced and traded goods, at least locally, if not regionally, outside of the state economy.” [3] This is likely to be valid for the period preceding imperial expansion.

[1]: (Stanish and Coben 2013, 419)

[2]: (Stanish and Coben 2013, 427)

[3]: (Stanish and Coben 2013, 431)


Irrigation System:
present

Huatranay River was "probably" canalised. Inca Roq’a* used labour tribute to build agricultural terraces and irrigation canals in the Cuzco Basin. He also did this at Larapa, which became his personal estate. [1] *(c1350 CE).

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 116)



Transport Infrastructure

Documented by Brian Bauer in the period described as the "Development of the Inca State" between 1000 and 1400 CE. [1]

[1]: (Bauer 2004, 82)



Canal:
present

Huatanay River was "probably" canalised. [1]

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 122)


Special-purpose Sites
Mines or Quarry:
present

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)


Information / Writing System
Written Record:
absent

"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)


"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)


Phonetic Alphabetic Writing:
absent

"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)


Nonwritten Record:
unknown

"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] However, Alan Covey, commenting on the lack of evidence for quipus among the Wari, told us that ’I would also not infer their [quipus’] use in the LIP (AD 1000-1400)’. [2] He seems to mean that we shouldn’t automatically assume the Inca were using quipus before the period of imperial expansion began in earnest.

[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 150)

[2]: Alan Covey 2015, personal communication.


Information / Kinds of Written Documents
Scientific Literature:
absent

"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)


Sacred Text:
absent

"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)


Religious Literature:
absent

"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)


Practical Literature:
absent

"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)


Philosophy:
absent

"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)


Lists Tables and Classification:
absent

"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)


History:
absent

"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)


Fiction:
absent

"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)


Calendar:
absent

"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)


Information / Money

Precious Metal:
unknown

Marriage gifts included fine textiles and other valuable items, [1] which may have included exotic bird feathers and precious metals.

[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 87)


Paper Currency:
absent

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)


Indigenous Coin:
absent

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)


Foreign Coin:
absent

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)


Article:
unknown

Marriage gifts included fine textiles and other valuable items, [1] which may have included exotic bird feathers and precious metals.

[1]: (D’Altroy 2014, 87)


Information / Postal System

General Postal Service:
unknown


Information / Measurement System

Warfare Variables (Military Technologies)
Fortifications

Stone Walls Non Mortared:
present

"Sites with defensive walls include Pungurhuaylla, Raqchi, Warq’ana, Pumamarka, Huata, Muyuch’urqu, and Tipón" [1]

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 118)


Stone Walls Mortared:
present

Killke Period wall, mud motar at Tipon. Only fortified settlement in the Cuzco Valley (except Sacsayhuaman). However, it belonged to the Lucre Basin polity. [1]

[1]: (Bauer 2004, 86)


Settlements in a Defensive Position:
present

"Within the immediate Cuzco Valley, Dwyer (1971: 24-40, 145-6) reports that most Late Intermediate Period sites (which include settlements measuring between about 12 and 60 hectares) are not found in defensive settings, but tend to occur rather closely spaced atop low ridges or on intermediate slopes at no great distacne above the valley floor." [1] Tipón is a site located in a defensive position, controlled by the Lucre Basin Polity. "Another impressive early estate was constructed at Tipón. In the Killke era, prior to the rise of the imperial Incas, the site was a fortified settlement high above the abandoned valley floor between the Cuzco and Lucre basins (Bauer and Covey 2004: 86-7). One of the very few defensively constructed late prehistoric sites in the area, it was reportedly captured by Wiraqocha Inka, who subsequently converted it into a personal holding." [2]

[1]: (Parsons and Hastings 1988, 224)

[2]: (D’Altroy 2014, 220)


Modern Fortification:
absent

This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.



Fortified Camp:
present

"As the Inca state annexed new territory outside the Cusco Basin, it appears to have developed a number of forts and fortifications". There was an early Inca fort at Raqchi (village since 1000 CE): walls protected interior architecture and a dry moat, which augmented natural fortifications, surrounded the village. Other early Inca forts at Warq’ana (walls and ditch) and Pumamarca. [1] Wat’a (Huata) had surrounding walls. [2]

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 127)

[2]: (D’Altroy 2014, 82)



"The chronicles mention repeated Inca incursions against their neighbours to the north, and many sites are found in areas with natural (cliffs) and artificial defenses (walls or ditches)." [1]

[1]: (Bauer 2004, 82)


Complex Fortification:
present

North west of Cuzco in the area of Quilliscachi there are fortified Killke era sites. Largest is Huata where there are three concentric fortification walls. Area probably not unified during the Killke Period. [1]

[1]: (Bauer 2004, 76)

Complex Fortification:
absent

North west of Cuzco in the area of Quilliscachi there are fortified Killke era sites. Largest is Huata where there are three concentric fortification walls. Area probably not unified during the Killke Period. [1]

[1]: (Bauer 2004, 76)



Military use of Metals

There was no steel/iron before the arrival of the Spanish.


There was no steel/iron before the arrival of the Spanish.


"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.


Projectiles
Tension Siege Engine:
absent

This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.


Sling Siege Engine:
absent

This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.


"A midden at Pukara Pantillijlla dated to the thirteenth century contained sling balls and two stone axes." [1]

[1]: (Covey 2006a, 95)


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.



Handheld Firearm:
absent

There was no gunpowder before the arrival of the Spanish.


Gunpowder Siege Artillery:
absent

There was no gunpowder before the arrival of the Spanish.


This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.


Composite Bow:
absent

This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.



Animals used in warfare

Not native to region.


Not native to region.


Not native to region.


Dogs existed in Peru but no evidence to say whether they were used for warfare


Not native to region.


Armor


Scaled Armor:
absent

This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.


Plate Armor:
absent

This technology is not known to have been developed anywhere in the Americas before European colonization.




Laminar Armor:
absent

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.



Naval technology
Specialized Military Vessel:
unknown

Small Vessels Canoes Etc:
unknown

Merchant Ships Pressed Into Service:
unknown


Human Sacrifice Data
Human Sacrifice is the deliberate and ritualized killing of a person to please or placate supernatural entities (including gods, spirits, and ancestors) or gain other supernatural benefits.
- Nothing coded yet.
- Nothing coded yet.
Power Transitions
- Nothing coded yet.