Jennings and Craig_Politywide Analysis and Imperial Political Economy. the Relationship

8/2/2019 Jennings and Craig_Politywide Analysis and Imperial Political Economy. the Relationship.....

1/24

INTRODUCTION

Empires are massive, complex, political

entities that present formidable challenges

to traditional scales of archaeological analy-

sis. Since empires extend across political

boundaries, exchange systems, and envi-

ronmental zones, the organization of pop u-

lations before they fall und er imp erial con-

trol will undoubtedly vary from place to

place. Relying on different strategies to take

advantage of these local cond itions, an em-

pire will tend to form a mosaic of control

(Schreiber 1992:69). In this mosaic, imp erial

actions taken in one region may often differ

radically from those taken in an another.

These actions, however, are usually part of

a grand strategy of wealth extraction

(after Luttwark 1976). The traditional field

archaeology methods of settlement survey

and site excavation are alone insufficient

for understanding this grand strategya

site or region cannot serve as an imperial

microcosm. Politywide analysis that sys-

tematically synthesizes the results of these

smaller scale analyses is also necessary.

This article seeks to demonstrate the value

of such an analysis.

In this article, we present a mod el for the

political economy of the Wari Empire (AD

6001000) of Peru. This model argues that

Wari, outside of its imperial core, strove to

extract prestige goods. Based on this model,

we suggest that there is a strong relation-

ship between where the empire chose to lo-

cate its peripheral centers and the p olitical

organization of the local population in

which the center was placed. Sites located

near the geographic center of a population

are argued to function as local administra-

tive centers geared tow ard the organization

and exploitation of the areas wealth poten-

tial. These sites shou ld be found in areas of

low political organization. We argue that

sites located on the margins of a popula-

tion, on the other hand , functioned as gate-

Politywide Analysis and Imperial Political Economy: The Relationship

between Valley Political Complexity and Administrative Centers in the

Wari Empire of the Central AndesJustin Jennings and Nathan Craig

Department of An thropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106

E-mail: [email protected]

Received August 25, 2000; revision received January 17, 2001; accepted February 15, 2001;

pu blished on line October 26, 2001

This article tests a mod el for the p olitical economy of the Wari Empire (AD 6001000) of Peru. Thismod el divides the emp ire into core and periph ery zones. In the core, Wari political economy w as or-

ganized to extract surplus agricultural prod uction to feed the capital. In the p eriphery, the Wari strove

to extract prestige goods. We suggest that there is a strong relationship between where the empire

chose to locate its centers in the periphery and the political complexity of the local population in

wh ich the center w as placed. We argue that in areas of low p olitical organization sites should be lo-

cated near the geographic center of a popu lation. These sites will tend to function as local adm inistra-

tive centers geared tow ard the organization an d exploitation of the areas wealth p otential. In areas

with more complex political organization sites should be located on the margins of a population.

These sites should h ave functioned as gateway centers controlling, or at least p rofiting from, interre-

gional exchange. Our model was systematically tested through the use of Geographic Information

Systems (GIS). The results suggest that mu ch of the variability found in Wari site placemen t in the pe-riphery can be explained by d ifferences in local sociopolitical complexity. 2001 Academic Press

479

Journal of Anth ropological Archaeology 20, 479502 (2001)

doi:10.1006/ jaar.2001.0385, available online a t h ttp :// www.idealibrary.com on

0278-4165/ 01 $35.00

Copy right 2001 by Academic PressAll rights of reprodu ction in any form reserved.


2/24

way centers controlling, or at least p rofiting

from, interregional exchange. These types

of sites would tend to be located in areas

with m ore complex political organization.

Archaeological data on the Wari Empire

remain sparse. A small fraction of the capi-tal city has been studied and the size and

the structure of the site are still not w ell un-

derstood. Only a hand ful of extensive stud-

ies of provincial Wari sites are available.

Our understanding of ancient travel corri-

dors and the location of many important

raw materials remains poor or, occasionally,

nonexistent. We feel, however, that suffi-

cient data exist to begin to understand thedynamics of Wari political economy. As the

old saying goes, it is better to light a cand le

than to cur se the darkn ess. A bit of light can

be shed on the emp ire by offering tentative

economic models and devising empirical

means of testing them on a politywide

level. In so doing, we hope, Wari studies

can provide insight into the political econ-

omy of other ancient empires.

A MOD EL OF WARI POLITICAL

ECONOMY

An empire can be defined as an expan-

sionist state that assumes effective control

over other polities of varying scope and

complexity (DAltroy 1992:9). The political

economy of an empire is shaped by howit produces, distributes, and exchanges

wealth (Stanish 1992:11). Although empires

vary tremendously in the ways that they

extract wealth (Claessen and Skalnik

1978; Sinopoli 1994a:165166), the imperial

strategies employed are usually used to

meet two essential needs. The first is the

subsistence demands of the urbanized cen-

ter of the empire (Johnson and Earle1987:247). In most cases, a capital develops

to such a degree that it is unable to easily

provide for the su bsistence needs of the res-

idents without help from outside producers

(e.g., Schwartz and Falconer 1994:3). Since

some agricultural products spoil quickly

and most are bulky to transport, the area

aroun d a capital often serves as the primary

bread basket. This is clearly seen in the agri-

cultural core of such empires as the Aztec

(Hassig 1985:133) and Vijayanagara (Sinop-

oli 1994b:226).

We suggest that the Wari Empire alsocontained an agricultural core that fed the

capitals burgeoning, increasingly special-

ized popu lation. By the midd le of the Mid-

dle Horizon, the population of the capital

city had risen to at least 10,000 people (pop-

ulation estimates for the city vary between

10,000 and 70,000; see Isbell 1997a:186).

Areas of craft specialization (Gonzalez

Carre 1981:94; Spickard 1983:153154; vonHagen and Morris 1998:130) and elite resi-

dences (Isbell 1997a:206) in the city suggest

that at least some of the residents w ere not

full-time farm ers. The cap ital lies in a valley

whose agricultural productivity, already

massively terraced and irrigated by the

smaller population of the previous period

(Lumbreras 1974b; Isbell 1988:7475), may

not have been able to sustain a large urbancenter (Lumbreras 1974a:163, Gonzalez

Carre 1981:88). It seems likely that agricul-

tural products must have been brought

from outside the valley. Research in areas

surrounding the valley supports this idea

by demonstrating a Wari focus on the inten-

sification of agricultural exploitation in

these localities (Raymond and Isbell 1969;

Isbell 1977; Vivanco and Valdez 1990; Ray-mond 1992; Browman 1999). We believe

that this region, the area of Ayacuchoan in-

fluence before imperial expansion (Lumbr-

eras 1981:23), prov ided the surp lus needed

to maintain the city.

The second basic need of an emp ire is the

support and legitimization of the imperial

hierarchy (Brumfiel and Earle 1987:3; Earle

and DAltroy 1989:187; Brumfiel 1994:1).This need can be met by a number of means,

several of which are often found operating

within the same society (Blanton

1998:141148). One of the most prevalent

ways is through the extraction of prestige

items or the conversion of staple goods into

wealth. Since surp lus produ ction in the core

480 JENN INGS AND CRAIG


3/24

of the empire is often primarily geared to-

ward sustaining the urban center, these

goods must be largely collected in the pe-

riphery. As a heuristic, imperial extraction

strategies can be divided into wealth and

staple finance systems (DAltroy and Earle

1985). Staple finance involves obligatory

payments in kind to the state of subsistence

goods such as grains, livestock, or clothing(DAltroy and Earle 1985:188). In a staple fi-

nance system, the bulk and potential

spoilage of staple goods (DAltroy and Earle

1985:188) necessitates a substantial invest-

ment in storage facilities in peripheral ex-

traction centers (e.g., LeVine 1992). Despite

earlier convictions (Rowe 1963:14), scholars

have yet to find comp elling evidence for the

use of massive storage facilities in the WariEmpire.1,* Although it is possible that Wari

storage systems have yet to be identified,

present evidence suggests that the empire

did not use a staple finance system.

Wealth finance, on the other hand, in-

volves the manufacture and procurement

of special products (valuables, primitive

money, and currency) (DAltroy and Earle

1985:188). An empire will generally benefitby adop ting a wealth finance system for sup-

porting the imperial hierarchy. This switch

typically allows for a reduction in transporta-

tion and storage costs since wealth goods

are often less bulky and more durable than

staple goods. (DAltroy and Earle 1985:

193194). Exchange of metals, obsidian, dec-

orated ceramics, textiles, turquoise, and spe-

cific marine shell (spond ylus and strombus)

increase during the Middle Horizon (Burger

and Asaro 1977; Lechtman 1980; Shady Sols

1988). These items, found both in ritual con-

text in Wari administrative centers (Cook

1985, Cook 1992:359; Williams et al. 2000:73)and at the site of Wari itself (Cabera Romero

1996:8891, Prez Caldern 1995: 8586,

Gonzalez Carre et al. 1996: 100102;

Isbell 1985:70), were prestige items for at

least 2 millennia in the Andes. The

increased exchange of these goods, com-

bined with an absence of evidence for state

storage system of staple surplus, suggests

that the Wari organized its peripheral politi-cal economy around the production and ex-

change of prestige objects.

The means by which the empire ex-

tracted goods from the core and periphery

were undoubtedly variable. As Schreiber

has noted (1992:267), the empire adapted its

strategies to local cond itions. A regions dis-

tance from the core, political organization,

wealth potential, and tolerance to outsiderule largely determined the amount of in-

vestment that the empire would make in

the area. In m any regions, the emp ire chose

to construct imperial sites.

Over 30 sites have been found that con-

tain buildings that follow a rigid architec-

tural canon (Schreiber 1978; Spickard 1983;

POLITYWIDE AN ALYSIS OF WARI POLITICAL ECONOMY 481

FIG. 1. Wari ad ministrative architecture from the site of Jincamocco From Wari Imperialism in Mid-

dle Horizon Peru (p. 174), by K. Schreiber, 1992, Ann Arbor, Univ. of Michigan. University of Michi-

gan. Adapted with p ermission.

*See Notes section at end of article for all footnotes.


4/24

Isbell 1991b). Aspects shared by these cen-

ters (see Fig. 1) includ e (a) a high, rectangu -

lar enclosure wall; (b) limited accessusu-

ally only one or two entrances were made

into the site; (c) interior d ivided into rectan-

gular cells that are composed of an opencourtyard flanked by corridors on at least

two sides; and (d) restricted access through

the stru cture and between cells. The centers

are imp osing structures that m ay have been

designed to appear invincible and bureau-

cratically efficient (Spickard 1983:141). The

centers, however, were not military gar-

risons. They were neither bu ilt in d efensive

locations nor built or organized to defendany kind of attack. Instead, excavations at

the centers ind icate that the centers hou sed

a group of elites whose tastes ran more for

feasting and ritual than for battle (Schreiber

1992, McEwan 1998).

A HYPOTHESIS FOR THE WARI

PERIPHERY

This article tests if the locations chosen

for administrative centers fits with the ex-

pectations of our model. According to our

model of Wari political economy, the impe-

rial strategy in the periphery w as to extract

prestige good s. This strategy w ill cause ad-

ministrative sites, if they are established at

all, to be located in significantly different

geographic locations in regard to the localpopulations that these sites are situated to

control.

The degree of comp lexity will largely de-

termine what strategy the empire must pur-

sue when entering a valley. We argue that

Wari sites built in valleys of low political

complexity will be found near the geo-

graphic center of the valleys pop ulation. In

independent villages dominated by a kin-based mode of production, village leaders

will tend to have difficulty coercing surp lus

production on a regular basis (Cobb

1996:254). Another level of political hierar-

chy would therefore be needed to extract

wealth from the region (Schreiber 1992:24).

One of the strategies used to build a politi-

cal organization is to construct a regional

administrative center (Schreiber 1992:24).

According to central-place theory, the posi-

tion of service centers, even in nonmarket

based societies, will tend to be located cen-trally to the people that use them (Smith

1976:7). Since an administrative center of a

valley functions to exercise political and

econom ic control over th e people of the val-

ley, the op timal location of this site is where

the costs of maintaining control would be

the lowest. The administrative site will

therefore tend to be located near the center

of the valleys population.Another imperial control strategy is to

place sites on th e margins of valley as gate-

way ad ministration centers. Sites located at

strategic locations on the edges of regions

are ideally suited to the control of interre-

gional exchange (Hirth 1978:37). An admin-

istrative center in this location would tend

to focus more on controlling a valleys ex-

ternal exchange than the p olitical control ofthe valley itself. These gateway centers

(after Hirth 1978) should be found in val-

leys of high political complexity. In more

complex societies, elites often actively par-

ticipate in the long distance exchange of

prestige goods (Cobb 1996:258). These

goods are often the major means by which

elite power is maintained (Cobb 1996; Earle

1997:7; Baines and Yoffe 1998:253). In con-trolling the exchange routes of these goods,

an empire can siphon off a portion of these

resources to feed the appetite of the core. By

adopting these strategies, Wari could

cheaply and effectively control the areas of

high political complexity under its influ-

ence. Administrative centers in areas of

high political complexity therefore will

tend to be found near the margins of valleyas gateway centers controlling long-dis-

tance exchange.

In archaeology, we rarely have the luxury

of studying variables in the way that we

would like. In this case, directly analyzing

the relationship between site location and



5/24

local political organization p roved to be im-

possible. We would ideally measure the

distance of each Wari site from the center of

a valleys population. Unfortunately, we sim-

ply do not know where populations were

dur ing this period for most of the valleys inwhich Wari centers are found. Valleys in the

Andes, however, are sharply bound oases

of arable land and p ermanent settlement in-

terspersed within high puna, mountains,

and desert. Although these nonvalley areas,

especially the high pu na, were core comp o-

nents of the Andean economy, population

size was very small in these regions and

usually directly associated with valley set-tlements. The geographic boundaries of these

valleys were therefore used as proxy mea-

surements for the extent of local popula-

tions in our analysis.

In this article, we test the relationship be-

tween administrative site location and local

political organization. In valleys of simple

political complexity, Wari administrative

sites should tend be placed near the centerof the valley. In valleys occupied by more

complex polities, administrative sites

should tend to be located toward the mar-

gins of the valleyfurther from the valleys

center. The remainder of this article demon-

strates how th is relationship was tested and

what the results of this test were.

DATA: VALLEY POLITICALORGANIZATION AND

ADMINISTRATIVE CENTERS

At least, 20 Wari peripheral administra-

tive centers are found in 11 valleys across

mu ch of modern-day Peru2 (Fig. 2). To pro-

vide an ad equate sample to test our site lo-

cation model, all centers, even those that

are disputed, are included in this analysis.Those centers, however, conclusively

shown to be non-Wari design, such as

Pampa de las Llamas (Pozorski and Po-

zorski 1987:32), El Purgatorio (Pozorski and

Pozorski 1987:38; T. Pozoski personal com-

munication and 1999), and Chimu Capac

(Valkenier 1995:279), were not included.

Further, numerous sites attributed to the

emp ire, such as San N icols in the valley of

Supe (Lumbreras 1974b:155), Yanahuanca

in the Pasco valley (Isbell 1988:186), and

Wisajirca (MacNeish, Patterson, and Brow-man 1975:60) in Huanaco, could not be in-

cluded in this analysis because insufficient

data exist to consider the nature of these

sites.

Data on pre-Wari political organization

were also compiled for each of the valleys

in which administrative centers have been

found. Archaeological literature pertaining

to each valley was examined for this pre-ceding period, the Early Intermediate Pe-

riod (AD 0700), and the valleys political

organization was ranked as either simple or

complex. For our purposes, if a valleys in-

habitants w ere organized in a political hier-

archy above the village level, the valley was

labeled complex. If the inhabitants lived as

in independent villages and / or as scattered

agropastoralists, the valley was labeled assimp le. The list below p rovides a valley-by-

valley account of the data used to assess

valley political organization and identify

Wari administrative centers. The data, in

par t, are summarized in Table 1.

CajamarcaHuamacucho Valley

Early Intermediate Organization. Duringthe Early Intermediate period, this large

valley was divided into two polities that

were probably organized as paramount

chiefdoms with wide-ranging trade rela-

tions (Ravines 1985:15). The first polity in

the north was centered on the site of Coyor

(Julien 1988:240). The second polity, in the

south, was centered on the site of Marc-

ahuamacucho (Thatcher 1975; Topic andTopic 1984, 1987).

Huacaloma de Sulluscocha (Julien 1988:265).

A 2.45-hectare site, Huacaloma consists of a

50 25 m rectangular enclosure sur-

rounded by local architecture. In his settle-

ment survey, Julien associates the structure



6/24


FIG. 2. Loca tor Map of the study area showing the 20 Wari admin istr ative sit es included in th is analysis.

The site of Wari is shown with a pentagon, while Wari Adminis trat ive s ites are shown as white t riangles. TheGTOPO30 digital elevation model is shown with analytical hillshading to illustrate topography. These data are

Lambert-Equal Azimuth Projected with a longitude of origin at 60 and a latitude of or igin a t 15.

with Wari by its architecture. The surrou nd -

ing settlement may p ostdate the enclosure.

El Palacio (Julien 1988:262). A 0.3-hectare

site, El Palacio consists of a large rectangu-lar compound measuring 70 50 m. The

structure, based on its architectural ele-

ments, is Wari.

Ichabamba (Williams and Pineda 1985:59). A

0.9-hectare site, Ichabamba is a 120 70 m

rectangular enclosure that is identified as

Wari by its architecture. The identification

of the site is based solely on air p hotos.

Santa Delia (Julien 1988:270). The largest

site found in Juliens survey, Santa Deliacovers some 75 hectares. Within the site,

several medium - to large-sized rectangu lar

enclosures are found that, based on their ar-

chitectural elements, are Wari. Julien does

not specify the number or exact size of

these enclosures.


7/24

Viracochapampa (M cCown 1945; Topic andTopic 1987; Topic 1991). A massive rectan-

gular enclosure, Viracochapampa coversan area of 32 hectares. The site, however,

may never have been completed or occu-

pied. Ceramic sherds associated withtemp orary labor camps d ate the constru c-

tion of Viracochapampa to Middle Hori-

zon 2A.

Pampa de Yamobamba (Williams and Pineda1985:59; Julien 1988:292). A 1.3-hectare site,

Yamobamba is a rectangu lar comp ound

measuring 130 210 m. The sites architec-

ture is Wari.

Callejon de Huaylas Valley

Early Intermediate Organization. In the

1960s, Gary Vescelius conducted an exten-sive project of survey and excavation in the

region. The notes for the project are fa-

mously lost and only brief summaries re-

garding this work exist (Lanning 1965:140;

Buse 1965:317333). These summaries sug-

gest that stratified societies populated the

region and the presence of monumentaltombs (Isbell 1997b:195205), both rich and

poor burials (Larco Hoyle 1966:106; Gried er

1978:45) and large sites with monumental

architecture (Greider 1978; Bennet 1944)

support these claims. Current research in

the region (George Lau, personal comm un i-

cation and 2000) demonstrates that chief-

dom level societies existed in at least some

areas of the valley.Honcopampa (Isbell 1989, 1991a). A

densely occupied 3-hectare site is mad e upprimarily of individual patio groups (at

least 18) and two D-shaped enclosures.The site is clearly Wari bu t its architecture

is more reminiscent of that seen in the

Capital City than the rectangular enclo-sures typical of domestic architecture. Pot-

tery from the site appears to date to Mid-d le Horizon 2A.

Pariamarca (Williams and Pineda 1985:60).

This 0.96-hectare site is made up of a 120

80 m rectangular enclosure. The architec-

ture has been identified as Wari by air pho-

tographs.


TABLE 1

Pre-Wari Valley Political Organization and Our Predictions for Wari Site Placement

Site Name Valley Name Valley Organization Wari Site Placement

Acachiwa Colca Simple Valley center

Cerro Baul Upper Moquequa Simple Valley centerCerro Mejia Upper Moquequa Simple Valley center

Collota Cotahuasi Simple Valley center

El Palacio Cajamarca-Huamacucho Complex Valley edge

Honcopampa Callejon de Huallyas Complex Valley edge

Huacaloma Cajamarca-Huamacucho Complex Valley edge

Huaro Cuzco Simple Valley center

Ichabamba Cajamarca-Huamacucho Complex Valley edge

Jincamocco Carhuarazo Simple Valley center

Numero 8 Chuquibamba Simple Valley center

Pariamarca Callejon de Huallyas Complex Valley edge

Pataraya Nasca Complex Valley edgePikillacta Cuzco Simple Valley center

Santa Delia Cajamarca-Huamacucho Complex Valley edge

Sonay Camana Simple Valley center

Tocroc Callejon de Huallyas Complex Valley edge

Viracochapampa Cajamarca-Huamacucho Complex Valley edge

Yamobamba Cajamarca-Huamacucho Complex Valley edge

Socos Chillon Complex Valley edge


8/24

Tocroc (Williams and Pineda 1985:60). This

0.96-hectare site is made up of a 120 80 m

rectangular enclosure. The architecture has

been identified as Wari by air ph otographs.

Carhuarazo Valley

Early Intermediate Organization. Before the

Midd le Horizon, settlers in the valley lived

in 7 small villages and 17 seasonally occu-

pied hamlets (Schreiber 1987:95). With

Wari, the valley became centrally organized

and agriculture was intensified (Schreiber

1987, 1992:143144). The valley was not po-

litically centralized and no status differenti-ation within or between villages appears to

have existed (Schreiber 1992:144).

Jincamocco. A 15-hectare rectangu lar en-

closure, this site dates from the MH 1B to 2A

(Schreiber 1992). The valley also contains

three smaller sites from the Midd le Horizon

that probably assisted imperial actions.

Cuzco Valley

Early Intermediate Organization. Survey in

the va lley dates all major sites to the Middle

Horizon or later (McEwan 1987). The

tremendous rate of natural erosion in the

valley may have buried some early sites

(McEwan 1987:7), and Early Intermediate

Period ceramics have been found in the

soundings and surface collections (McE-wan 1984:12). No evidence for comp lex so-

cial organization h as yet been found for the

region.

Huaro (Glowacki and Z apata 1998). In 1995,

Julinho Zapata found wh at app ears to be a

massive Wari complex scattered over ap-

proximately 150 hectares. Evidence from

preliminary excavations suggest that a few

of the buildings contain aspects of adminis-trative architecture. Ceramics date from

Midd le Horizon 1B to 2A.

Pikillacta (McEwan 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996,

1998). A massive 47-hectare rectangular en-

closure measuring 630 745 m, Pikillacta

was never completed. Unlike Viracocha-

pampa, a portion of the site was occupied.

Ceramics found at the site date from the Mid-

dle Horizon 1B to 2A (Glowacki 1996:479).

Chillon Valley

Early Intermediate Organization. During

much of the Early Intermediate Period, the

valley was made up of politically indepen-

dent villages that participated in interre-

gional trade (Gonzales Carbajal 1998:56) By

the end of the period, how ever, the Chillon

valley became part of the Lima polity

(Shady Sols 1982:18). Differences in settle-ment size and monumental architecture

suggest that the political complexity of th is

polity was at least two-tiered (Arguto

Calvo 1984:84; Shady Sols 1989:6; Bruhns

1994:199).

Socos (Isla and Guerrero 1987). The site

contains a number of different structures

over an area of at least 13 hectares. The

largest building appears to be a rectangu larenclosure measuring 180 86 m. Other

buildings also exhibit Wari-derived archi-

tectural traits. The enclosure d ates to Mid-

dle Horizon 2B. It is possible that the bulk

of the site postdates the enclosure.

Nasca Valley

Early Intermediate Organization. Surveywork in the Nasca valley suggests that the

valley was organized into a series of small

polities by the end of the Early Intermedi-

ate Period (Schreiber 1999:168). Although

not a centralized state, political organiza-

tion in N asca w as clearly above the village

level (Schreiber 1999).

Pataraya (Schreiber 1999:169). A 0.2-

hectare site, Pataraya is a rectangu lar enclo-sure measuring 40 50 m. Ceramics associ-

ated w ith the site date to Midd le Horizon 2.

A small area of domestic architecture lies

immediately adjacent to the enclosure and

may be part of the site.



9/24

Camana Valley

Early Intermediate Organization. Although

the area has not been intensively surveyed,

archeological work in the valley suggests

that it was occup ied by the Early Interm edi-ate Period (Manriqu e and Cornejo 1990). As

far as current research indicates, however,

there is nothing to suggest anything bu t vil-

lage-level political organization in the re-

gion during this period (Malpass personal

communication, 1999).

Sonay (M alpass et al. 1997). This 0.45-

hectare site is mad e up of a rectangu lar en-

closure measuring 90 50 m. Excavationsat the site uncovered Wari derived sherds

that have not yet been fully analyzed.

Cotahuasi Valley

Early Intermediate Organization. Accord-

ing to su rvey w ork on the valley, the valley

was organized into a number of small vil-

lages by the beginning of the Midd le Hori-zon (Chvez Chvez and Salas Hinijoza

1990:18, Trawick 1994:71, and Jennings in

preparation). No site size hierarchy is ap-

parent in the valley and no evidence for so-

cial stratification is known.

Collota (Chvez Chvez 1982:8689; Traw-

ick 1994:72). The site is made up of two

rectangular enclosures covering approxi-

mately 0.75 hectares. The first enclosu remeasuring 90 50 m and the second 30

20 m. An associated Wari site con tains ce-

ramics from MH 2 and 2A (Jennings, in

preparation.).

Colca Valley

Early Intermediate Organization. The ar-

chaeological work done in the valley sug-gests that the Early Intermediate occupa-

tion in the valley w as most likely confined

to pastoralists and small, independent vil-

lages (de la Vera Cruz 1987:115, de la Vera

Cruz 1988:121122, Brooks 1998:299).

Acachiwa (de la Vera Cruz 1987:9798).

This 35-hectare site is made up of a rectan-

gular enclosure m easuring 500 700 m. Al-

though the internal subd ivisions are poorly

preserved, the ceramics are derived Middle

Horizon 2. Some scholars (Schreiber1992:104), however, dispute the authentic-

ity of the site.

Chuquibamba Valley

Early Intermediate Organization. Survey in

the valley suggests low population densi-

ties before the Middle Horizon (Sciscento

1989, Cardones Rosas 1993). No site size hi-erarchy is apparent in the sites that may

date to directly before the introduction of

Wari occupation in the valley (Sciscento

1989:275) and no indication for social strati-

fication has yet been found. The existing ev-

idence suggests that political organization

in the valley before the Middle Horizon

was simp le.

Numero 8: (Sciscento 1989). This 6.5-hectare site is one of the largest in the valley

and dates from the Middle Horizon

through the Inka period (Sciscento

1989:206). Among the sites local architec-

ture, a 40 50 rectangu lar enclosure stands

out. Although the investigator felt it p rema-

ture to classify this enclosure as a Wari cen-

ter (Sciscento 1989:266), architectural de-

tails of the structure are sufficient enough toinclude the site in our analysis.

Upper Moquequa Valley

Early Intermediate Organization. Research

in the valley ind icates that population den-

sities were low un til the advent of the Mid-

dle Horizon (Rice and Wantanabe 1990:26).

During this period, a colony of the Ti-wanaku State moved in the area to central-

ize the midd le portion of the valley and sys-

tematize agriculture (Goldstein 1990:36).

The Wari Empire also established a site in

the upper portion of the valley and sub-



10/24

stantially modified the landscape. Al-

though the relative timing of each politys

intrusion into the valley d uring the Midd le

Horizon and their extent of interaction is

still unclear (Williams 1999), political com-

plexity of the region dur ing the Early Inter-med iate Period d id not appear to rise above

the village level.

Cerro Baul (Moseley et al. 1991; Williams

1997). On the sum mit of an imp osing m esa,

this 5-hectare site dates from the MH1B-

MH2A. The sites architecture consists of

rectilinear structures with corridors and pa-

tios and occasionally structures of circular

or D-shaped form.Cerro Mejia (Moseley et al. 1991; Williams

1997). Situated on a hill adjacent to Cerro

Baul, this 7 hectare site also dates from the

MH1B-2A. The architecture on the site is

sparser and more poorly preserved that

that on Cerro Baul. Surface remains suggest

that some of the buildings on the site were

rectangular compounds in the Wari style

(Moseley et al. 1991:135).

DATABASE CONSTRUCTION

The imp osition and maintenance of im-

perial control, be it by Wari or by any

other polity, is an explicitly spatial prob-

lem. Descriptions and explanations of

whole systems, like polities, should at-

tempt to take into account th e activities ofeach of the systems component parts

(Mayr 1984). Politywide analysis mu st in-

tegrate both local and regional scales of

analysis from data collected by multiple

researchers working on different projects.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

provides an information infrastructure

permitting organization of data collected

by independent research efforts and al-lows systematic analysis at varying spa-

tial scales (Zubrow 1990; Crumley and

Marquard t 1990:7374). GIS w as therefore

used to test the relationship between site

location and valley comp lexity in ou r d ata

set.

The data on administrative centers and

valley political complexity was integrated

into an ArcView 3.0a GIS database. The fol-

low in g step s w ere taken to con stru ct th e

database used to test our ideas about Wari

site p lacement. First, an elevation modelwas obtained and cropped to the study

area. Second, site locations were obtained

and represen ted in the computer database

as a set of p oin ts. Th ird , valleys w ere d e-

fined and modeled as polygons. Fourth , a

method of determin ing valley cen ter w as

chosen and ap plied to each valley. Last,

varyin g m easu rem en ts of d istan ce from

center to site w ere d eterm ined and com -pared. Each of these steps is covered in turn.

Map Database

An empire, like Wari, covers an enor-

mou s spatial extent. A mod el of the earth,

covering the entire extent of the p olity in a

common resolution and projection, was

needed for this analysis. Fine-resolutiontopographic maps covering this expansive

region h ave not yet been d igitized and or-

ganized into a single coregistered database.

Coarse resolution digital elevation data,

however, do exist for the entire Earth and

are available for free over the World Wide

Web [from Earth Resources Observation

System Data Center (EDC) Distributed Ac-

tive Archive Center (DAAC) (http :/ /edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/ landd aac/ glcc/ glcc.

html)]. These 1-km, or 30 arc sec, data are

part of the GTOPO30 global digital eleva-

tion m odel. Using a cropp ed p ortion of the

GTOPO30 data set fulfills the basic need of

having a consistent Earth m odel into which

sites can be placed for executing spatial

analysis. The GTOPO30 data have been

widely used for a variety of modelingpurposes including hydrologic analysis

and d rainage basin delineation (http:/ /

edcsnw3.cr.usgs.gov/ topo/ hydro/ apps.ht

ml). While the data are not at an optimal

resolution (Kvam me 1990:112), they d o p ro-

vide the basis for p roceeding w ith a polity-



11/24

wide analysis of Wari administrative center

site selection until finer resolution data can

be constructed.

Wari Site Location

Accurate site location information was

crucial for this analysis. In most cases, site

coordinates w ere obtained directly from re-

searchers who visited or worked at these

sites. When this was not possible, coordi-

nates have been taken from published

maps onto which site locations have been

plotted. Once values for site locations were

obtained these were entered into the GISand represented as a layer, or theme, of

points. Additional attributes abou t each site

(size, type, previous occup ation, and infor-

mation references) were added to the

themes attribute table prior to analysis.

Wari peripheral administrative centers that

are included in the analysis are reported in

Table 1.

Defining Valleys

Examining possible variation in how

Wari invested in the construction and

maintenan ce of control in d ifferent valley

systems forms a core question of this re-

search. In ord er to pur sue the p roblem, it

was necessary to define the spatial extent

of each valley system in which we exam-ine Wari administrative site selection. A

variety of objective methods for defining

valley limits were considered. However,

objective valley definition was quite diffi-

cult given the broad spatial setting and

the features we wished to model.3 Valley

extents were determined by examining

the p hysical structure of each valley repre-

sented in the Earth model. An isoplethmap of elevation was constructed such

that isobars representing contour lines

were drawn for the entire region (John-

ston 1998:80; DeMers 1997:258). Contour

lines, or isobars, were then displayed on

top of the Digital Elevation Mod el. Inspec-

tion of the contour lines p rovided a good

way of representing where valley edges

met with flatter intervalley puna high-

lands.

On an isopleth m ap, the flatter h ighlands

are represented by isobars that are furtherapart due to the fact that there is less

change across distance (DeMers 1997:260).

Likewise isopleth mapping of steep valley

edges produces closely spaced isobars due

to greater slope. Know ing these facts of iso-

pleth mapping, it was possible to identify

individu al contours where the slope within

a polygon was high wh ile the slope outside

of the polygon w as much lower. For each ofthe valleys, higher resolution topographic

and land cover maps were examined. On

the coast these higher resolution map s were

particularly important sources of informa-

tion on valley extents, since valleys tend not

to produce the deep d rainage channels seen

in the highlands. The extent of arable land

as represented on these maps became an

important source of information for defin-ing coastal valley limits.

Transitional isolines and additional infor-

mation abou t valley structure were used for

defining valley system bound aries on a val-

ley by valley basis (Fig. 3). This subjective

method of feature definition has precedents

in geography (Clarke personal comm un ica-

tion and 1999). In order to proceed with

analysis it was necessary to make a deci-sion, and occasionally those decisions must

be arbitrary. We hope to have m ade our val-

ley definition decision rules explicit, and

we encourage researchers to comment on

how valley extents were defined . If it is pos-

sible to improve the model by modifying

the shape and extent of a particular valley

we are interested in incorporating those

changes.

Defining Valley Center

Once valley systems were defined and

modeled as polygons, it was necessary to

develop a spatial point of reference that



12/24


FIG. 3. (a) The top ography of the Cotahu asi Valley and the Wari adm inistrative site of Collota. Con-

tour interval of the isolines is 100 m. (b) The boundary defined for the Cotahuasi Valley. The valleys

centroid is indicated by the circle with a cross. The Wari adm inistrative site of Collota is represented as

a triangle. (c) Dotted contour lines represent d istance from the centroid of the Cotahu asi Valley. The

un its are in hours w alking and the contour interval is 1h. The valleys centroid is ind icated by the cir-

cle with a cross. The Wari adm inistrative center of Collota is represented as a tr iangle.

could be used to test theoretical predictions

about where Wari sites are located with re-

spect to the center of each of those systems.

Defining the center of a polygon is a com-

plex geographic problem, and there are avariety of solutions to the question of

where is the center of this polygon. For

this analysis, we comp uted a p olygons cen-

troid using the trapezoid rule with a

weighted mean center (DeMers 1997:195;

Clarke 1995). Using this method it is possi-

ble to have a centroid that is outside of its re-

spective polygon. Since we wanted to

model centrality within valley systems, cen-

troids were forced to occur within polygons.

Distance from Center

Since our theoretical expectations relate

to the distance Wari sites are predicted to

fall from a valleys center, we computed

two kinds of distance from layers that

cover the stud y area u sing the GTOPO30 el-

evation data. First, we computed a raster


13/24

theme such that each cell contains a value

representing the isotropic Euclidean dis-

tance from each valleys centroid in units of

meters. Second, applying Toblers hiking

function (Tobler 1993; Kantner 1997) we

computed a cost surface that representsspace nonisotropically in terms of walking

time.

Aldenderfer (1998:12) has tested Toblers

h iking function by comparing compu ter

generated travel times to actual walking

trip s in the And ean high-sierra and p una

rim region of the Ro Osmore d rainage.

Aldenderfers test walkers included both

ind igenou s Aym ara sp eakers and N orthAmerican researchers. Ten trips were timed

and com pared to the sam e trip s m od eled

on the computer using Torlber s (1993) hik-

ing function . Walking trips ranged in d is-

tance from about a half a kilometer to 16

km. Results of Aldenderfers tests showed

that the m od el slightly u nd erestim ates

travel times, but that it appears to be a

reasonably good estimator of travel timesin mountainous terrain (Ald end erfer

1998:15).

For execution in the Arc/ Info GIS pack-

age, Toblers transformation can be ex-

pressed using the following formula pro-

vided by Kantner (1997):

TD/ (6 exp (3.5 * abs(S .6))),

where T traveltime across a given demcell,D euclidean distance across a given

dem cell, and S slope of a given cell.

This non isotropic friction su rface was ap-

plied in computing a cost distance grid

theme using each valleys centroid as the

source cells. This resulted in a grid such

that cell values represented distances from

valley centers in units of hours walking.

AN ALYTICAL METHODS

After constructing the database, we

needed to develop a statistic that wouldallow us to test our expectations about the

relationships between early Intermediate

Period political complexity and the place-

ment of Wari adm inistrative centers dur ingthe Midd le Horizon. Recall that when Wari

expanded into politically complex valleys,

we expect sites to be located in places thatfacilitate the movement of goods back to

the core since the emp ire is co-opting exist-ing prestige good exchange networks.

When this is the case, on average we expect

sites to be located further away from thevalleys center. Likewise, we expect Wari

would have had to develop an administra-

tive infrastructure in those valleys wherethe preexisting political complexity was

low. In these cases, we expect Wari sites to

be closer to the center of the valley sincethere is a need to establish political and eco-

nomic control over unorganized settle-ments w ithin the valley.

The metr ic we developed treats each ad-

ministrative center as an independent caseand relies on d ifferences betw een ob-

served and expected values in Euclideand istances from the cen troid . For each val-

ley, we randomly generated a 20% sampleof poin ts (R) such that no two poin ts cou ldbe closer than a kilometer. We forced

points to be further than 1 km apart so

th at no grid cell w ithin the valley w ill besampled more than once. These randomly

generated poin ts represen t expected sitelocation s if n o factors w ere in flu en cin g

Wari site selection.

The random points layer for each valleywas used to query the Euclidean distance

grid theme. The mean values returned

from each (R) set of points was calculated

independently on a valley-by-valley basis.

This produced an isotropic, Euclidean, av-

erage expected d istance from the center for

each valley (mR). The points representing

Wari sites were also used to query the Eu-

clidean grid theme returning an isotropicmeasure of observed d istance from the cen-

troid for each site (W). Each Wari site is

treated as an independent case regardless

of whether or not it was the on ly site in the

valley. Once isotropic observed and ex-

pected values were computed we sub-

tracted observed Wari distances from cen-



14/24

ter from the expected distance from center

(mR W), producing a residual. This resid-

ual, in units of meters, describes how aver-

age expected distances from the centroid

differ from an observed distance from the

centroid within each valley. Positive residu-als ind icate sites that a re closerto the center

than expected , wh ile negative residu als rep-

resent sites that are furtherfrom the center

than the mean of our 20% rand om sample.

In order to place all of the sites, dispersed

between 12 different valleys of varying

size, on a comparable axis we divided the

residu al (mR W) by the square root of val-

ley area (A ), which was measured in unitsof square meters. Division by the square

root of a va lleys area cancels ou t any u nits

leaving a unitless numerical descriptor

(Fig. 4).

Tw o key d ata con strain ts n eed ed to be

taken in to accoun t w hen develop ing th is

spatia l metr ic. First , valley definit ion was

judgmen tal and su bject to revision. How-

ever, the metric should be rela tively resis-tan t to m ost ch an ges in valley sh ap e. It is

clear that if cor rections need to be made to

a valleys boundar ies then location of the

polygons cen troid w ill move. Th is is po-

ten tially sign ifican t since th e cen troid

which is a higher order feature forms a

referen ce p oin t for an alysis. H ow ever,

changing the shape of a valley system will

also modify where the randomly selectedpoints can be placed . The d istance of

every p oin t to th e cen ter w ill ch an ge, bu t

w here a particu lar War i site falls w ith re-

spect to the fu ll range of possibilities

sh ou ld rem ain resistan t to all excep t the

most drast ic changes in valley shape. Sec-

ond , valley area is not constan t some val-

leys are very large and others are quite

sm all. An y d istance m etric u sed to com -p are valleys of d iffering sizes m ust ac-

cou nt for th e fact th at there is great vari-

ab ility in the spatial exten t of the valleys.

While large valleys will have a much

greater average distance from the center,

d ivid in g by valley area stan d ard izes th e

metr ic controlling for th is source of var i-ability.

It is not logical to app ly the d istance met-

ric to the nonisotropic cost surface pro-

duced using Toblers (1993) hiking function

because it does not make sense to divide

units of hours by square meters. Therefore

we did not attempt to control for valley

area with the nonisotropic measure of dis-

tance. Differences in walking times couldbe influenced by valley area, but expressing

distances in units of hours walking should

provide a useful basis for comparing sites

distances from center in different valleys.

RESULTS AN D DISCUSSION

Results from all d istance measu res show

a trend for Wari administrative sites in po-litically complex valleys to be further from

the center than one wou ld expect on aver-

age. Likewise, Wari administrative sites

placed in politically simple valleys tend to

be closer to the center than the mean of our

20% samp le. A rank order plot of our d is-

tance metric, whose computation is de-

scribed above, illustrates these trends (Fig.

6a). The cost distance from a Wari site to th egeographic center of a valley further sup-

ports our predictions (Fig. 6b). Application

of Toblers hiking algorithm show s that ad -

ministrative sites in politically complex val-

leys are a greater walking time away from

the center than all bu t one of the sites found


FIG. 4. The distance statistic formula is shown on

the left and a schematic example of a valley is show non the right. In the diagram on the right the valley

centroid is represented by a cross, rand omly sampled

points are shown as dots, and the location of a Wari

site in th is hypothetical case is shown as a triangle.D

distance from center statistic; R distance from

center for a %20 random sample based on area; W

distance of a Wari site;A valley area.


15/24

in valleys exhibiting simple Early Interme-

diate Period political complexity.

Differences between Wari sites found in

politically simple and complex valleys is

significant in th ree measures of d istance: (1)

raw untransformed Euclidean distance issignificant at t 5.77, p 0.0001, while (2)

our distance (D) metric is also significant

(t 3.21, p 0.0048.), and (3) Toblers

costdistance function is significant at t

5.35,p 0.0001. All three measu res ind icate

that there is a significant separability in the

distance from center between politically

comp lex and simple valleys.

These results are promising, but wewould expect valley size to exert influence

on m easures of d istance. In th is popu lation,

four of five politically complex valleys have

larger areas than simple ones (Fig. 5), and

we would expect area to correlate with

measures of distance. We attemp ted to deal

with the p roblem of valley size in the d evel-

opment of our distance (D) metric dis-

cussed above, and regression analysisshows that valley area is not the sole source

of variability (Table 2). Hold ing area as the

independent measure it accounts for about

half of the variability of raw un transformed

Euclidean distance from center (R2 0.52).

Our distance metric (D) factors area out

(Fig. 4), and as we would expect regression

demonstrates that valley area accounts for a

very small fraction of variability when

using this d istance statistic (R2 0.06). Area

app ears to accoun t for a good portion of To-blers costdistance formula (R2 0.59),

but the measure has the significant ad van-

tage of being in easily interpretable units.

Area and complexity are directionally cor-

related as are distance from center and

complexity. Simple valleys are small and

sites in complex valleys should be further

from the center. Our distance (D) metric,

which stand ardizes valley area yet discrim-inates cases well, shows that the greater

distances from center seen in large and

complex valley systems have more to do

with placement of administrative centers

within the valley rather than by the effects

of a valleys size alone.

Four of the 20 sites do not follow trends

that w e would expect. Two sites in comp lex

valleys are closer to the center than anisotropically measured 20% random sam-

ple, and two sites located in politically sim-

ple valley systems are further from the cen-

ter than the 20% sample. Sonay, located in

the coastal valley of Camana, and Jin-


FIG. 5. Rank order plot of valley area. The units for the y axis are squ are kilometers. Valleys with

complex pre-Wari political organization are represented by horizontal lines while valleys with simple

pre-Wari political organization are show n with d iagonal hatching.


16/24

camocco, located in the highland valley of

Carhuarazo, are both further from the cen-

ter than the mean for a 20% random sam-

ple. However, both are about a days walk

from the center. Pariamarca and Honco-

pampa are closer to the center than the

mean for a 20% random sample for the

Callejon de Huaylas, where they are lo-

cated. However, they appear to have travelcosts to the center that are similar to other

Administrative sites located in complex

valley systems. It is interesting to note that

the relative positions of Honcopampa and

Pariamarca do not necessarily run counter

to the proposed model. Both sites are lo-

cated along the boundary of the long nar-

row ellip tically shap ed Callejon d e Hu aylas

valley. These sites are located in a positionwhere travel time from the center, up the

steep flanks of the valley, is high while Eu-

clidean distance from center is low. It is sig-

nificant to note that both H oncopam pa and

Pariamarca are located on the eastern flanks

of the valley, closer to the Wari core. More

extensive research in these two regions is

needed to determine w hat other local con-

ditions imp acted site placement.

Desp ite the fou r excep tions described

above, results strongly matched our predic-

tions. The technique allowed us to test pre-

d ictions in 12 local systems that varygreatly in size over a vast horizontal extent.

Valley area ranges from less than 200 km2 to

over 2500 km2, an d th e n orth ern m ost val-

ley is abou t 1380 km aw ay from the sou th -

ern most valley. Early Intermediate Political

com p lexity ten ds to h ave occu rred m ore

often in larger valley system s. t- Tests

showed significant differences in Wari Ad-

minist ra tive site placement depending onw heth er th ey w ere located in valleys ex-

hibit ing simple or complex Early Interme-

d iate Period social complexity. Area and

complexity are correlated, and so it is diffi-

cult to tell from the distance measures alone

w hether Early In termed iate Period com-

plexity or valley area is a better predictor for

Wari Adm inistrative site placement. Regres-

sion shows that our distance metr ic was notcorrelated with valley area. The combination

of significant differences in Wari site place-

ment between simple and complex valleys

and the lack of correlation between valley

area and our distance metr ic indicates that

Early Intermediate Period political complex-

ity is the likely source of variation in Wari

site placement with respect to the centrality

of site location in a valley system.From a methodological and analytical

perspective these GIS based techniques of

spatial analysis have the advantage that

they perm it additional analysis of and com-

parisons between the survey results from

numerous independent research efforts.

This permits examination and mod eling of

systems that are mu ch larger than any one

person could collect the data to test. Thesesame techniques should be applicable to

other archaeological contexts.

CONCLUSIONS

Imperial conquest and consolidation is a

complex process that is strongly shaped by


TABLE 2

Results of Regression Analys is Holding Area as the

Independent Variable

Linear Fit Euclidean d istance by

valley area

Euclidean distance Valley area

Sum mary of fit

R2 0.52

R2 adj. 0.49

RMS error 12822.51

(D) Statistic by valley area

(D) statistic Valley area

Sum mary of fit

R2 0.06

R2 adj. 0.008

RMS error 431.15

Linear fit Cost distance by valley area

Cost distance Valley area

Sum mary of fit

R2 0.59

R2 adj. 0.56

RMS error 3.32


17/24


FIG. 6. (a) Isotropic distance measure in a rank order p lot where they axis is prod uced by ap plying

the distance metric described in the analytical methods section. In this figure sites that are located in

complex valleys have horizontal hatching while sites located in simple valleys have diagonal hatch

marks. (b) Nonisotropic costdistances in a rank order plot. They axis is in u nits of hours walking time

established u sing Tobler s (1993) hiking function w ith the GTOPO30 data set. Sites located in comp lex

valleys have horizontal hatching w hile sites located in simple valleys have d iagonal hatch marks.


18/24

the local conditions that are encountered

during expansion. Scholars stud ying partic-

ular sites and areas can only hope to eluci-

date the imp act of these local cond itions on

their study area. The overall importance of

these conditions in imperial strategies,however, must be left to conjecture. We sug-

gest that politywide analysis can build on

these local analyses to measure the impact

varying local cond itions th roughou t an em-

pire.

In this case, we considered the effect of

an areas political organization on Waris

imperial strategies. We suggest that the em-

pire developed a w ealth finance system an-chored by a nu mber of administrative cen-

ters. At the time of Wari expansion, a

number of complex societies flourished in

the northern Highlands and coastal Peru.

The long distance exchange of prestige

goods app ears to have formed a fund amen-

tal aspect of the p olitical economies of these

polities (Shady Sols 1978:27, Topic and

Topic 1983; Arguto Calvo 1984:8487). In-stead of destroying these exchange relation-

ships, the empire co-opted them. Wari ad-

ministrative centers were placed at the

margins of these polities to control their ex-

change netw orks. The end result was an in-

crease in both the scale of trade and re-

gional economic prosperity that may have

benefited local groups as well (Shady Sols

1982, 1988). Outside of these areas of highpolitical complexity, the empire encoun-

tered areas settled by independ ent villagers

and, more rarely, pastoralists. In these

cases, Wari control focused on the develop-

ment and then control of these areas and

their local wealth potential (de la Vera Cruz

1996:150151). Administrative centers for

these areas tend ed to be located tow ard the

center of the population in order to orga-

nize these populations cheaply and effec-

tively.

Over the past 2 decades, research into an-

cient empires has underscored the incredi-

ble variety of imperial practices. Under-

neath and running though these practices,

we sincerely hope, lie patterns. Tantalizing

parallels to the processes described in this

model may exist, for example, in Egyptian

imperial practices in Nubia (Smith

1998:8081); Assyrian strategies on theirnorthern frontiers (Parker 1998:379381);

and the mixed economy of trade and trib-

ute of the Turks, Tibetans, and Uighurs of

Central Asia (Di Cosmo 1999:3032). With-

out systematic spatial analysis at a polity-

wide level, however, the applicability of

this model to the understanding of other

emp ires can on ly be tentative. We hop e that

this article has demonstrated the value ofsuch a level of analysis in the study of an-

cient empires and other macroregional

processes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank David Browman, Michael Malpass, Gor-

don McEwan, William Isbell, J. Scott Raymond , Katha-

rina Schreiber, John Topic, Teresa Topic, and Ryan

Williams for their assistance in the identification and

location of man y of the Wari sites d iscussed in the text.

We also than k Keith Clarke for his feedback on the d e-

velopment of our distance metric. This article bene-

fited enormously from the editorial advice of Mark

Aldend erfer, Karen And erson, Christina Conlee, John

OShea, Stuart Smith, Kevin Vaugh n, and four anony-

mou s reviewers. We than k Katharina Schreiber for al-

lowing u s to revise a figure from the site of Jincamocco.

NOTES

1 Eviden ce for storage capacity above th e basic sub-

sistence needs of a peripheral center was long though t

to come from the enclosures of Viracochapampa and

Pikillacta. In these centers, there are massive blocks of

small rooms w ith raised d oorways that h ave been in-

terpreted as storage facilities (Menzel 1964). The prin-

cipal investigators of these sites, however, now sug-

gest that these facilities never operated as such in any

significant way. Viracochapampa was abandoned be-

fore it was finished and put to use (Topic 1991:151),

while only a portion of Pikillactas room blocks were

in use during the sites occupation (McEwan 1991,

1996). Even the rooms put into use at Pikillacta were

used for a variety of fun ctions and only occasionally, if

at a ll, used for storage (McEwan 1996:183). While it is

possible that storage facilities of the empire remain



19/24

un identified in the record, we suggest that the massive

storage and control of perishable, nonprecious goods

may not have served an important aspect in the Wari

political economy.2 In this article, admin istrative centers are differenti-

ated from offering dep osits and temple centers. A com-

mon practice in Wari studies (Isbell and Schreiber1977, Schreiber 1992, Cook 1985), this distinction is

based on the d ifferent functions of the three site types.

The offering deposits, consisting of intentionally

smashed decorative wares, are thought to have had a

ritual function. Temple centers, such as Pachacamac

and Wari Willka, most likely functioned as pilgrimage

centers and d id not, strictly speaking, have an ad min-

istrative use.

All sites included in the analysis are treated

equally regardless of variations in site size. In 1978,

William Isbell and Katharina Schreiber suggestedthat the Wari emp ire was arranged into a three level

administrative hierarchy with the site Wari the first

ord er site, Viracochap amp a and Pikkillacta as second

order centers, and the other enclosures as third order

sites (379). Recent work however suggests that Vira-

cochap amp a was still und er construction when it was

aband oned an d contains only limited occup ation d e-

bris (Topic 1991:152). Pikillacta was also under con-

struction at the time of abandonment and only a

small por tion of the site was ever occup ied (McEwan

1996:181). We believe that it is likely that these cen-ters never rose to become true second-order sites in

the Wari adm inistrative hierarchy.3We struggled for several months in an attempt to

find more object ive means to determine valley bound-

ar ies. A more objective definition does not seem to be

possible for several reasons. First, the vertical extent of

vegetation zones is not consistent through out the study

area.In general, the northern portion ofthe study area is

wet ter while the southern extent tents to be more arid.

Furthermore, valleys included in analysis are found on

the coast, the highlands, and the eastern flanks of the

Andes. Each radically different environmental zones.

Therefore, horizontal variation in the nature of vertical

ecology would not permit uniform objective valley defi-

nition based on a consistent upper elevation threshold.

Secon d, anoth er com mon ap proach is to d elin eate

drainage basins through down slope accumulation in

order to define valleys (Johnston 1998:91). Drainage

basin delineation has been explored to some extent with

this earth model. However, given the entities we want to

examine, downslope accumulation modeling is not ap-propriate. Application of the technique produces polyg-

onal objects that define the limits of basin catchments

rather than valley extents (Johnston 1998:95). For exam-

ple, when the method was applied to our data set catch-

ment basins often included large sections of puna high-

lands. However, we wish to define valleys based on the

limits of arable agricultural land and habitable space.

REFERENCES CITED

Aldenderfer, Mark

1998 Montane Foragers: Asana and the south-central

Andean Archaic. Univ. of Iowa Press, Iow a City.

Agurto Calvo, Santiago

1984 Lima Prehispnica. Municipalidad de Lima,

Lima.

Baines, John , and Norman Yofee

1998 Order, Legitimacy, and Wealth in Ancient

Egypt and Mesopotamia. In Archaic states,

edited by Gary Feinman and Joyce Marcus,

pp. 199260. School of American Research

Press, Sante Fe, NM.

Bennett, Wendell

1944 The north highlands of Peru: Excavations in the

Callejon de Huaylas and at Chavin de Huantar,

Vol. 39, Part 1. Anthropological papers of the

American Museum of Natural History, New

York.

Blanton, Richard

1998 Beyond centralization: Steps toward s a theory

of egalitarian behav ior in archaic states. In Ar-

chaic states, edited by Gary Feinman and Joyce

Marcus, pp. 135172. School of American Re-

search Press, Sante Fe, NM.

Bradley, James Parker

1998 The mechanics of empire: The northern frontier of

Assyria as a case study in imperial dynamics. Un-

published Ph.D. dissertation, University of

California, Los Angeles.

Brooks, Sarah Osgood

1998 Prehistoric agricultural terraces in the Rio Japo

Basin, Colca Valley, Peru. Unpublished Ph.D.

dissertation, University of Wisconsin.

Browm an, David

1999 Wari impact on the Upper Mantaro Basin. Paper

presented at the 64th an nu al meeting of the So-

ciety for American Archaeology.

Bruhns, Karen

1994 Ancient South America. Cambridge Un iv. Press,

New York.

Brumfiel, Elizabeth

1994 The Economic anthrop ology of the state: An

introdu ction. In The economic anthropology of the

state, edited by Elizabeth Brumfiel, pp. 112.

Univ. Press of America, Lanham .

Brumfiel, Elizabeth, and Timothy Earle

1987 Specialization, exchange, and complex soci-

eties: An introduction. In Specialization, ex-

change, and complex societies, edited by Eliza-

beth Brumfiel and Timothy Earle, pp. 19.

Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK.



20/24

Burger, Richard , and Frank Asaro

1977 Trace element analysis of obsidian artifacts from

the A ndes. Department of Anthropology,

Berkeley.

Buse, Herm an

1965 Introduccin al Per. Lima, Per.

Cabera Romero, Martha

1996 Unidades habitacionales, iconografa, y rituales en

un poblado rural de la poca Huari. Unpublished

thesis presented for the license of archaeology

to the Univerdidad Nacional de San Critobal

de Hu amanga, Ayacucho.

Cardon a Rosas, Augusto

1993 Caractersticas geogficas del Patrn de asem-

tamiento para el valle de Chuquibamba-Arequipa

durante el Perodo Comprendido entre el HorizanteMedio, y el Horizonte Tardio. Unp ublished thesis

presented for the license of archeology. Uni-

versd id Catlica Santa Maria, Arequip a.

Chvez Chvez, Jos

1982 Evidencias arqueolgicas en las cuencas de los Rios

Cotahuasi y Ocoa. Unpublished thesis pre-

sented for the license of archaeology. Universi-

dad Catlica Santa Maria, Arequipa.

Chvez Chvez, Jos, and Ruth Salas H inijoza

1990 Catastro arqueolgico d e la cuenca d elro Ocona. Gaceta Arqueolgica Andina

V(18/19):1520.

Claessen, Henri, and Peter Skalnik

1978 The early state. Mouton , The Hague.

Clarke, Keith

1995 Analyt ical and computer cartography. Prentice

Hall, Englew ood Cliffs, NJ.

Cook, Anita

1985 The politico-religious imp lications of the

Hauri offering traditions. Dialogo Andino4:203222.

1992 The stone ancestors: Idioms of imperial attire

and rank among Huari figurines.Latin Ameri-

can A ntiquity 3(4):341364.

Cobb, Charles

1996 Specialization, exchange, and p ower in small-

scale societies and chiefdom s.Research in Eco-

nomic Anthropology 17:251294.

Crum ley, Carol, and Marqu ardt, William

1990 Landscape: A unifying concept in regionalanalysis. InInterpreting space: GIS and A rchaeol-

ogy, edited by Kathleen Allen, Stanton Green,

and Ezra Zu brow, pp . 7379. Taylor & Fran cis,

London.

DAltroy, Terence N.

1992 Provincial power in the Inka empire. Smithsonian

Institution Press, Washington, DC.

DAltroy, Terence, and Timothy Earle

1985 Staple finance, wealth finance, and storage in

the Inka political economy Current Anthropol-

ogy 26(2):187206.

De la Vera Cru z, Pablo

1987 Cambio en los patrones de asen tamien to y el

u so y aband ono d e los and enes en Cabana-conde, Valle del Colca , Per. In Pre-Hispanic

agricultural fields in the Andean region, ed it ed

by William Denevan , Ken t Mathewson , and

Gregory Kn ap p. BAR In tern ation al Series

398(1), BAR Publications, Oxford, UK.

1988 Estudio A rqueolgico en el Valle de Cabanaconde,

Arequipa. Unpu blished thesis for the license in

archaeology, Universidad Catlica Santa

Maria, Arequipa.

1996 El pap el de la subregin n orte de los valles oc-cidentales en la articulacin entre los Andes

centrales y los Andes centro sur. In La In-

egracin Surandina: Cinco siglos despus, com-

plied by Xavier Alb et al, pp. 135156. Estu-

dios y Debates Regionales And inos 91, Centro

de Estudios Regionales Andinos Bartolom

de Las Casas, Lima.

DeMers, Michael

1997 Fundamentals of geographic information systems.

Wiley, New York .

Di Cosmo, Nicola

1999 State formation and periodization in Inner

Asia History. Journal of World History

10(1):140.

Drennan , Robert

1996 Statistics for archaeologists: A commonsense ap-

proach. P lenum, New York.

Earle, Timothy

1997 How chiefs come to power: The political economy

of prehistory. Stan ford Univ. Press, Stan ford ,CA.

Earle, Timothy, and Terrence DAltroy

1989 Political econom y of the Inka em pire: The ar-

chaeology of pow er and finance. InArchaeolog-

ical thought in America, edited by C. C. Lam-

berg-Karlovsky, pp . 183204. Cambridge Univ.

Press, Cambridge, UK.

Goldstein, Pau l

1990 La cultura Tiwan aku y las relaciones de sus

fases cermicas en Moquequa. In Trabajos A r-queolgicos en Moquequa, compiled by Luis

Wantanabe, Michael Moseley, and Fernando

Cabieses, Vol. 2, pp. 3158. Southern Peru

Copper Company, Peru.

Gonzales Carbajal, Gabriela

1998 Lima Prehispnica. Universidad Nacional

Mayor d e San Marcos, Lima.



21/24

Gonzalez Carre, Enr ique et al.

1981 La Antigua Ciud ad de Wari en Ayacucho.Bo-

letin de Lima 16/17/18:8397.

1996 El Templo Mayor en la Ciudad de Wari: Estudios

arqueolgicos en Vegachayoq Moqo-Ayacucho.

Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad

Nacional de San Cristobal de H uam anga.

Glowacki, Mary

1996 The Wari occupation of the southern highlands of

Peru: A ceramic perspective from the site of Pikil-

lacta. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Bran-

deis University.

Glowacki, Mary, and Julinho Zapata

1998 The Wari occupation of Cuzco: Recent discoveries

from the Huaro Valley. Paper presented at the

38th an nu al meeting of the Institute of Andean

Studies, Berkeley, California.

Grieder, Terrence

1978 The art and archaeology of Pashash. Univ. of

Texas Press, Austin.

Hassig, Ross

1985 Trade, tribute, and transportation: The sixteenth-

century political economy of the Valley of Mexico.

Univ. of Oklahoma Press, Norm an.

Hirth, Kenneth

1978 Interregional trade and the formation of pre-

historic gateway communities. American An-

tiquity 43(1):3545.

Isbell, William H.

1977 The rural foundations of urbanism. Illinois Stud -

ies in Anthropology 10, University of Illinois,

Chicago.

1985 El Origen d el Estado en el Valle d e Ayacucho.

Revista Andina 3(1):57106.

1988 City and state in Midd le Horizon Wari. In Pe-

ruvian prehistory, edited by Richard W. Keat-

ings, pp. 164189. Cambridge Univ. Press,

Cambrid ge, UK.

1989 Honcopamp a: Was it a Huari adm inistrative

center? In The nature of Wari, edited by R. M.

Czwarn o, F. M. Medd ens, and A. Morgan, pp .

98114. BAR International Series 525, Oxford,

UK.

1991a Honcopamp a: Monum ental ruins in Perus

North Highlands. Expedition: The Un iversity

Museum Magazine of Archaeology and Anthro-

pology 33(3):2735.1991b Hu ari Adm inistration and the Orthogonal

Cellular Architecture Horizon. In Huari ad-

ministrative structures, edited by William Is-

bell and Gordon McEwan, pp. 293316.

Dum barton Oaks, Washington, DC.

1997a Reconstructing Hu ari: A cultural chronology

for the Capital City. In Emergence and change

in early urban societies, edited by Linda Man-

zanilla. Plenum , New York, p p. 181227.

1997b Mummies and mortuary monuments: A post-

processual prehistroy of Cent ral Andean social or-

ganization. Univ. of Texas Press, Austin.

Isbell, William H., and Katharina J. Schreiber

1978 Was Huari a state? American Ant iquity

43(3):372389.

Isla, Elizabeth , and Daniel Guerrero

1987 Socos: Un sitio Wari en el valle de Chilln. Gac-

eta Arqueolgica Andina 14(4):2328.

John son, Allen, and Timothy Earle

1987 The evolution of human societies: From foraging

group to agrarian state. Stanford Univ. Press,

Stanford , CA.

Johnston, Carol

1998 Geographic information systems in ecology. Black-

well Science, Singapore.

Julien, Daniel

1988 Ancient Cuismancu: Sett lement and cultu ral dy-

namics in the Cajamarca region of the North High-

lands of Peru, 200 B.C.A .D. 1532. Unpublished

Ph.D. d issertation, Univ. of Texas at Austin.

Kantner, John

1997 Ancient roads, modern map ping: Evaluating

Chaco Anasazi roadways using GIS technol-ogy.Expedition 39(3):4962.

Kvamme, Kenneth

1990 GIS algorithims and their effects on regional

archaeological analysis. In Interpreting space:

GIS and archaeology, edited by Kathleen Allen,

Stanton Green, and Ezra Zubrow, pp . 112126.

Taylor & Francis, Lond on.

Lanning, Edw ard P.

1965 Highland South America. American Ant iquity

31(1):139140.Larco Hoyle, Rafael

1966 Peru, translated from the French by James

Hogarth . World , New York.

LeVine, Terry (Ed.)

1992 Inka storage systems. Univ. of Oklahoma Press,

Norman.

Lechtman, H eather

1980 The central And es: Metallurgy without iron. In

The coming of the age of iron, ed ited by Theodore

A. Wertime and James D. Muhly, pp. 267334.Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT.

Lumbreras, Luis

1974a The peoples and cultu res of South A merica, trans-

lated by Meggers, Betty. Smithsonian Institu-

tion, Washing ton, DC.

1974b Las Fundaciones de Huamanga. Club Hua-

manga, Lima.



22/24

1981 Wari. InHistoria Del Per. Editorial Juan Mejia

Baca, Vol. 2, p p. 1191.

Luttwak, Edw ard

1976 The grand strategy of the Roman Empire from the

first century A.D. to the third. John Hopkins

Univ. Press, Baltimore, MD.

MacNeish, Richard, Thomas Patterson, and David

Browman

1975 The central Peruvian prehistoric interaction

sphere. Robert S. Peabody Foundation for Ar-

chaeology Papers, Andover.

Manr ique, Julio, and Manu el Cornejo

1990 Visin sobre la arqueologa del valle

de Camana. Gaceta Arqueolgica Andina

V(1819):2124.

Malpass, Michael, Anthony Puglisi, and Jason Ker-schner

1997 Wari on the Far South Coast of Peru: The site of

Sonay in the Camana Valley. Paper presented at

the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Society for

American Archaeology.

Mayr, Ernst

1982 The growth of biological thought. The Belknap

Press of Harvard Univ. Press, London.

McCown, Theodore

1945 Pre-Incaic Huamachuco: Survey and excava-tions in the region of Huamachuco and

Cajabamba. California University Publications

in A merican A rchaeology and Ethnology

39:223400.

McEwan, Gordon

1984 Investigaciones en la cuenca del Lucre, Cuzco.

Gaceta Arqueolgica Andina 3(9):1214.

1987 The Middle Horizon in the Valley of Cuzco, Peru:

The impact of the Wari occupation of Pikillacta in

the Lucre Basin. Bar International Series 372,BAR, Oxford, UK.

1989 The Wari empire in the southern Peruv ian

highlands: A view from th e provinces. In The

Nature of Wari, edited by R. M. Czwarno , F. M.

Meddens, and A. Morgan, pp. 5371. BAR In-

ternational Series 525, Oxford, UK.

1991 Investigations at the Pikillacta site: A provin-

cial H uari center in the valley of Cu zco. In

Huari administrative structures, ed ited by

William Isbell and Gordon McEw an, pp.93120. Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, DC.

1996 Archaeological investigations at Pikillacta, a

Wari site in Peru. Journal of Field Archaeology

(23)2:169186.

1998 The function of niched halls in Wari architec-

ture.Latin A merican A nt iquity 9(1):6886.

Menzel, Dorothy

1964 Style and time in the Middle Horizon.Nawpa

Pacha 2:1106.

Moseley, Michael, Robert Feldman, Paul Goldstein,

and Luis Watanabe

1991 Colonies and conquest: Tihuanaco and H uari

in Moquequa. In Huari administrative struc-

tures, edited by William Isbell and Gordon

McEwan. Dum barton Oaks, Washington , DC.

Brad ley, Jam es Parker

1998 The mechanics of empire: The northern frontier of

Assyria as a case study in imperial dynamics. Un-

published Ph.D. dissertation, University of

California, Los Angeles.

Prez Caldern, Ismael

1995 Excavaciones de salvataje y propuesta sobre conser-

vacin de estructuras descubiertas, area museo desitio en Wari. Convenio Instituto Nacional de

CulturaUniversidad Nacional San Cristobal

de Huamanga.

Pozorski, Shiela, and Thomas Pozorski

1987 Early settlement and subsistence in the Casma

Valley, Peru. Univ. of Iowa Press, Iowa City.

Ravines, Rogger

1985 Cajamarca Prehispnica: Inventario de Monumen-

tos Arqueolgicos. Instituto N acional de Cu ltura

de Cajamarca.Raymond , J. Scott

1992 Highland colonization of the Peruvian mon-

tana in relation to the p olitical economy of the

Huari empire Journal of the Steward Anthropo-

logical Society 20(1-2):1736.

Raymond , J. Scott, and William H . Isbell

1969 Cultural remains in the Pampas River Valley,

Peru. Paper presented at the 34th Annual

Meet ing of the Society for Amer ican Archae-

ology.Rice, Prudence, and Luis Wantan abe

1990 La arqueologa de Moquequa: Un resum en. In

Trabajos Arqueologicos en M oquequa, compiled

by Luis Wantanabe, Michael Moseley, and Fer-

nando Cabieses, Vol. 1, pp. 2335. Southern

Peru Copp er Compan y, Peru.

Rowe, John

1963 Urban settlement in ancient Peru.Nawpa Pacha

1:127.

Schreiber, Katharina1978 Planned architecture of Middle Horizon Peru:

Implications for social and political organization.

Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, SUNY-Bing-

hamton.

1987 From State to Empire: The expan sion of Wari

outside of the Ayacucho Basin. In Origins and



23/24

development of the Andean State, edited by J.

Haas, S. Pozorski, and T. Pozorski, pp. 9196.

Cambridge University Press, New York.

1992 Wari imperialism in Middle Horizon Peru . An-

thropological Papers 87, Univ. of Michigan,

Ann Arbor.

1999 Regional approaches to the study ofp rehistoricempires: examples from Ayacucho and Nasca,

Peru. In Settlement pattern studies in the Ameri-

cas: Fifty years since Viru, edited by Brian Bill-

man and Gary Feinman, pp. 160171. Smith-

sonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.

Schwartz, Glenn, and Steven Falconer

1994 Rural app roaches to social comp lexity. In Ar-

chaeological views from the countryside, edited by

Glenn Schwartz and Steven Falconer, pp. 19.

Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Sciscento, Margaret

1989 Inka and Wari mastery of Chuquibamba. Unpub-

lished Ph .D. dissertation, Univ. of California at

Santa Barbara.

Shad y Sols, Ruth

1978 Enterramientos en chullpas de Chota. Museo Na-

cional d e Anthrop ologa y Arqu eologa, Inves-

tigaciones de Cam po 1.

1982 Cultura Nieveria y la interaccin social en el

mundo andino en la poca Huari. Arqueologi-cas 1:5108.

1988 Epoca Hu ari como interaccin de las so-

ciedades regionales.Revista Andina 6(1):6799.

1989 Cambios significativos ocurridos en el mund o

And ino du rante al Horizante Medio. In The na-

ture of Wari: A reappraisal of the Middle Horizon

Period in Peru, edited by R.M. Czwarno, F.M.

Meddens, and A. Morgan, pp. 315. BAR In-

ternational Series 525, Oxford , UK.

Sinopoli, Carla

1994a Archaeology of empires.Annual Review of An-

thropology 23:159180.

1994b Political choices and econom ic strategies in

the Vijayanagara empire. In The economic an-

thropology of the state edited by Elizabeth M.

Brumfiel. Univ. Press of America, Lanh am.

Smith , Carol

1976 Regional economic systems: Linking geo-

graphical models and socioeconomic prob-

lems. In Regional analysis, edited by Carol

Smith, Vol .1, pp. 363. Academic Press, NewYork.

Documents

Jennings and Craig_Politywide Analysis and Imperial Political Economy. the Relationship