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Understanding Wari State Expansion: A “Bottom-Up” Approach at the Village of Ak'Awillay, Cusco, Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Véronique Bélisle
Véronique Bélisle*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Millsaps College, Jackson, MS 39210, (belisv@millsaps.edu)
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Abstract

This paper documents how ancient state expansion affected local communities. Many scholars have argued that the Wari state of Middle Horizon (A.D. 600-1000) Peru established direct imperial control over several provinces. Archaeologists have studied large Wari sites using a “top-down” approach, but rarely have they studied local settlements to see how and if local populations were affected by the expansion of the Wari into their regions. My research takes a complementary “bottom-up” approach and examines the impact of Wari state expansion on the village of Ak'awillay in the Cusco region. I report on the excavation of contexts dating to the Middle Horizon and earlier periods at the site. These provide a unique perspective for evaluating change through time and assessing local responses to Wari expansion. Results suggest that most of the changes seen at Ak'awillay occurred before the arrival of Wari colonists in Cusco. Their presence had minimal impact on the daily lives of the villagers of Ak'awillay, although it provided new exchange opportunities that local leaders mayhave used for their benefit. Like other early states elsewhere, the Wari state may have controlled a small area around its colony but had a limited impact on more distant communities.

Resumen

Resumen

En este artículo se documenta el impacto de la expansión de los estados antiguos sobre las poblaciones locales. Muchos arqueólogos nan propuesto que el estado wari estableció un control imperial directo sobre varias provincias del Perú durante el Horizonte Medio (600-1000 d.C). La capital wari y los grandes sitios waris afuera de Ayacucho han sido investigados, pero raras veces se estudiaron los sitios locales para entender cómo las poblaciones fueron afectadas por la expansión del estado wari en su región. La investigación presentada aquí utiliza una perspectiva complementaria y examina el impacto de la expansión wari sobre el pueblo antiguo de Ak'awillay en la región del Cusco. Los contextos excavados en el sitio pertenecen no sólo al Horizonte Medio sino también a los periodos anteriores. La comparación de estos contextos proporciona una perspectiva única para evaluar los cambios a través del tiempo y entender las reacciones locales frente a la intrusión wari. Los resultados sugieren que la mayoria de los cambios en Ak'awillay ocurrio antes de la llegada de los Waris en el Cusco. Durante el Horizonte Medio la presencia wari tuvo un impacto mínimo en la vida diaria de la mayoría de los comuneros de Ak ‘awillay, pero proporcionó nuevas oportunidades de intercambio que las élites locales podrían haber utilizado para su propia ventaja. Como los estados antiguos en otras partes del mundo, el estado wari pudo haber controlado un área pequeña alrededor de su colonia en Cusco, en tanto que dejó pocas huellas sobre las comunidades locales que vivían a cierta distancia de las instalaciones coloniales.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 180 - 199
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2015

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