Wari, a flash of empire

Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory - Anthro 490.3: Class 16

The Middle Horizon: Wari, a flash of empire

ã Copyright Bruce Owen 2003

Ayacucho basin setting

north (and west) of the Titicaca altiplano area
moderately high intermontaine valleys
steep, scrubby land that needs terracing, plus canal irrigation in some places for consistent yields

Origins in Huarpa culture

an Early Intermediate Period culture, about 300 - 650 cal AD
pottery style shows strong similarities to Nasca

presumably some interaction, exchange, or other connection
the highland culture (Huarpa and the Wari that followed) seems to have adopted some of the impressive Nasca pottery motifs and technology
maybe these were useful to an emerging elite that needed to differentiate itself from common folks and legitimate its special status

significant corporate (?) effort used to build terrace systems

up to 100 terraces high
with spring-fed and river-fed canals, small reservoirs, etc.
canals up to several km long

some relatively well built, with clay linings (?) and up to 1.6 m wide

mostly relatively small villages
plus Nawimpukyo, a larger town

on a hilltop
fancier "H" style fieldstone (not cut) masonry
focussed on "several platforms" with some presumably administrative buildings, open courts, and high-status residences
has its own small spring-fed canal system
presumably the seat of a complex chiefdom that incorporated the immediate valley region

Beginning of the Middle Horizon, traditionally dated 600 - 1000 cal AD

Moseley emphasizes a long, severe drought shown in ice cores from 562-594 AD

estimates precipitation down about 30%
dust in cores suggests significant erosion
presumed decline in agricultural productivity, maybe by a third

Moseley describes the decline of Moche as a result

we won't pursue that further here, for lack of time, but the reading is good

Moseley's story for the origins of Wari

Huarpa began to use high springs and river water sources, canals, and terraced mountain slope fields
these were mostly unused at the time
picking water out of sources high up gives you first claim over those using them downstream
also increases total usable amount of water, due to less travel and loss by seepage and evaporation
so Huarpa weathered the drought better than valley-bottom or coastal irrigating groups
perhaps a related argument could be made for Tiwanaku's rise to prominence at the same time
Huarpa developed into Wari, and the Wari "package" of ideology, technology, social organization for labor mobilization, iconography, etc. spread

Dates are still being debated (is this sounding familiar?)

Chronology based on ceramics

many were exceptionally fine, borrowing from Nasca traditions
Middle Horizon Epoch 1: thought to be a first large wave of expansion

best estimate: 650-750 cal AD
elaborate Wari pottery was used in many parts of the Andes of what is now Peru, alongside the local ceramics of each place

Middle Horizon Epoch 2: a second wave of expansion

best estimate: 750-950 cal AD
somewhat different Wari pottery was widespread in mostly the same area
maybe associated with rebuilding of some provincial sites

Epoch 3: collapse

best estimate: 950-1100 cal AD
fancy Wari pottery changed somewhat, and less of it is found

Epoch 4: decline, mostly in heartland
the real patterns may not have been this clear-cut...

Wari's chronological relationship to Tiwanaku

contemporary, maybe starting a bit later

but that depends on what you consider "starting" to be
early sunken rectangular court at Wari, with cut stone walls
reminiscent of Tiwanaku courts
dates 560 ą60 to 720 ą60 AD
refloored numerous times
then ritually buried and built over
Moseley takes this and the iconographic similarities as suggesting Wari "borrowed" ideology and iconography from Tiwanaku

both appear to have declined at around the same time, roughly 1000 cal AD

The capital at Huari

Another odd spelling convention

"Huari" is used for the capital site and things relating specifically to it
"Wari" is used for the culture, state, pottery style, etc.
not everyone sticks to this convention, though

Huari was a big, urban center

3-4 square km
estimated 20,000 - 30,000 population
on a big flattish area well above the valley floor

this area was originally farmed, later covered by urban sprawl

with very high, long walls dividing the city into sectors
and large, multistory rectangular buildings

some clean, suggesting administrative or other special uses
some contain domestic debris, suggesting occupation
construction was mostly uncut fieldstone

rows of projecting stones to hold up floors
bottom floor often elevated several feet above, making a low cellar or crawl space under the first floor... why?

some special buildings had cut stone walls and/or floors, but not as massive nor as widespread as at Tiwanaku
plans tend to involve long, narrow buildings along one or more sides of a roughly square, walled courtyard
roofs probably peaked and made of thatch

as suggested by a ceramic model of a multistory building with its square, walled courtyard

some building compounds were apparently used for specialized craft production

ceramics
beads
lithic points

another had lots of decorated service and drinking vessels

suggesting ritual feasting and drinking
as known from the Inka

Moseley suggests an overall pattern of segregation

implying lots of class, rank, kin, and occupational differentiation

some ritual sectors

unlike Tiwanaku

no elevated mound
little use of sunken rectangular courts except for one early one that might indicate that Tiwanaku had a role in the early development of Huari
no carved monoliths
little or no emphasis on huge cut stonework

instead, D-shaped rooms or temples

door in the flat side
flat prepared floor
surrounded by rooms and walls, usually some running right up to the outer walls of the D-shaped temple

so the D-shaped rooms were apparently not meant to be particularly impressive from the outside
but rather, the inside was the point

the biggest one at Huari: Vegachayoc Moqo

in a complex with walls that had big niches
which contained upright seated human burials: originally mummy bundles, like the Inka venerated?

looks like a pretty different set of ritual facilities from Tiwanaku, presumably quite different religious ideas
yet both depicted very similar Staff God figures

Tiwanaku on the Gateway of the Sun, on the surface of many of the monoliths, on portable objects
Wari mostly painted on pottery

Multi-story underground burial structures with massive cut stone construction

apparently intended to be revisited, albeit not easily

to add more burials?
to leave offerings?
to consult the dead?

apparently contained very high-status burials
but mostly badly looted
example: Cheqo Wasi sector at Huari

exotic imports

Spondylus from Ecuador
other shells from the (distant) coast
green stones from unknown sources
lapis from Chile
copper, silver, gold from unknown sources

Conchopata, a major Wari site near Huari

recent large-scale excavations have uncovered a dense complex of walls, rooms, plazas, and corridors
also several D-shaped "temples"
possibly enclosed by straight perimeter walls
clearly very high-status residences

William Isbell identifies this as one or more "palaces"

D-shaped "temple"

flat, prepared clay floor
with an upright stone that might have served to cast a shadow (assuming the room was unroofed) like a sundial
several heaps of sherds from broken, large, fine ceramic vessels laying directly on the floor

part of the regular use of the structure?
"closing" offerings?
destruction?

lots of evidence of fine ceramic manufacturing

molds
plates on which the ceramic stood and was turned during manufacture
scrapers made from sherds
a probable firing area (not really a full-fledged kiln)

The valleys around Huari and Conchopata contain many more Wari sites

some with planned architecture and cut stone
many just rural villages

presumably the people who supported the urban sites
using both plainer pottery and a subset of the fancy Wari ceramics, but they did have some of the nice stuff

Wari pottery destruction

tradition of smashing large, very fine pots
and burying the pieces in specially-prepared stone-lined pits, or spreading the pieces around on the floor of a room that was then abandoned or had a new floor laid over the offering, etc.
the smashed vessels usually are similar in form, size, finish, etc., as though they were made to be used (and destroyed?) together
specific types of pots seem to have been smashed and disposed of in specific ways, suggesting that this was a ritual process, not just wanton destruction
in some cases, the pattern of breakage suggests that a blow was struck right on the face of the Staff God painted on the vessel

what sort of ritual was this??

Pottery decorations may tell us about Wari society

Urn with pictures of multi-story buildings in walled compounds
ceramic house model mentioned earlier
Conchopata vessels that show warriors in elaborate clothes and face paint (?) with shields, axes, bows and arrows kneeling on what are probably reed boats

a campaign on Lake Titicaca?

Elaborate textiles

mostly known from coastal sites where preservation is better
tapestry shirts with complex geometric and figural designs
some look like the secondary figures around the Staff God on Tiwanaku's Gateway of the Sun, often with some parts compressed and other parts stretched out... what does this mean?
4-pointed hats similar to the Tiwanaku ones
but both the tunics and hats differ consistently in technical and stylistic details

they can be told apart in almost every case

Wari people used quipus

were they the first to do so?
did Tiwanaku people also used them? (no indication of that yet)

Wari peripheral centers and settlement pattern

compared to Tiwanaku, Wari had outposts in many more places, scattered over a much larger region
these tend to be very far apart and isolated from each other

plunked down in the middle of whatever local society was already there

usually located on big, flattish, open areas

not particularly defensible spots

big, planned complexes

up to 800 m on a side!
areas with vast numbers of repetitive small rooms in orderly arrays

some may have been for storage
some were lived in

barracks or worker housing?
if so, mit'a labor?

open plazas
long, narrow rooms, some multistory, probably thatched peaked roofs
high, blank enclosing walls with few entrances

was this for defense?
to control traffic, access to the interior, goods?

irregular architecture in higher-status areas
most have no D-shaped rooms (Cerro Baúl is an exception)
often have stone-lined underground canals, probably to handle drainage
unfinished; some areas were laid out with rows of stone but the walls were never built
in many areas, few artifacts

Examples of planned Wari centers

Pikillaqta

near Cuzco
the largest, southernmost, most famous Wari highland center

Azángaro

near Huari itself
many features similar to Pikillaqta

Viracochapampa

way up in northern highlands
has the rectangular courts and long rooms, but lacks the repetitive tiny rooms
has big niched halls... maybe for storing and venerating mummy bundles?
right near Marcahuamachuco, a very impressive site of a local northern highlands culture

which used similar architecture
maybe even was the inspiration for Wari architecture
what was the relationship between these two cultures?

and numerous others, smaller but similar in concept and plan

such as Wariwillka

what were these peripheral centers for?

usually had little impact on surrounding areas

little exchange (few Wari goods found in nearby local sites)

generally not in defensible locations

although the high walls might have allowed for defense
but they lack baffled entryways, concentric perimeter walls, bastions, and other features usually associated with fortresses

if they were for ritual purposes, why do they generally lack D-shaped rooms and megalithic burial structures?
Schreiber sees them as administrative centers of an empire established by military force

many people agree
but this is by no means proven yet

Carahuarazo valley study (now called Sondondo valley)

in this case, a big impact
looks like "normal" state or imperial expansion into a region that was already populated by farmers who were organized as small-scale chiefdoms
the Wari came in and built roads, administrative centers, terraced fields
presumably they had to coerce the local people to do this

as the ceramic illustrations of warriors suggest they could do by force

apparently oriented towards getting the locals to produce maize and maybe other crops that were presumably partially collected as taxes or tribute for use by the Wari state
later, when the Inka conquered the same region, they simply reused the infrastructure that the Wari had set up

both the physical infrastructure of terraces, canals, etc.
and the social infrastructure that remained after Wari withdrew

that is, a tradition of corporate work, administration, authoritative leaders, etc.

But the pattern is different in different places

Carahuarazo (Sondondo) valley: Inka-like empire?
Viracochapampa: some sort of relationship among equals?
central and north coast: pilgrimage, trade, or diplomacy?

no big, planned centers as in the highlands
high-status Wari burials at some sites that had become ritually important before the Middle Horizon
like Pachacamac and the Early Horizon center of Chimu Capac
and fancy Wari goods in local high-status burials

south coast, Nazca drainage: smaller, partially ritual centers?

the site of Pacheco had numerous stone-lined pits full of smashed elaborate, sometimes giant-sized Wari ceramics
probably also had a complex of many rooms
unfortunately, it has recently been destroyed, so we will probably never really know what was there
one rural Wari settlement in the upper neck of the valley

maybe a modest agricultural colony?
maybe some sort of administrative center??

yet another different pattern emerging from recent work in the Majes valley (coast south of Nazca)

I have been involved in some of this
a south coast valley with plenty of water and reasonably large valley bottom that can be farmed
there are several planned Wari-style sites in the coastal portion of the valley

relatively small (compared to major Wari centers -- by any other standard, they are still impressive sites), but they have the typical rectangular patios, long rooms, raised floors, etc.
although the do not seem to have high perimeter walls, so they are even less defensible than other Wari centers
odd that there should be several, rather than one big one
and apparently none in the upper part of the valley

in both the upper and lower portions of the valley, a rural version of Wari pottery is widespread at many small village sites

which do not have much or any of the typical Wari architecture
this looks to me very much like the rural area surrounding Huari itself

one site differs from the others

it looks like a temporary camp used by many different groups of people with Wari pottery, and is located where a major travel route comes into the valley
a llama caravan resting point?

if the Majes valley was a Wari agricultural colony, it was nothing like the Carahuarazo (Sondondo) valley, where the Wari exploited a local population

the state did not invest in infrastructure (that we can see) nor in much administration, nor in crop storage, nor in control of access routes...
either the state must have moved in nearly the entire valley's population from some area full of ethnically Wari farmers
or they must have been essentially Wari already for some other reason...?

Cerro Baúl: A special case?

located well south of the area where Wari pottery is generally found

within the area where Tiwanaku-influenced pottery is found

A vertical-sided, flat-topped mountain upriver from the main Tiwanaku sites in the Osmore drainage near Moquegua

visible from the Tiwanaku temple at Omo

the Wari also settled on two other adjacent hilltops and several smaller sites, all within a small area just a few kilometers across
Cerro Baúl is extremely defensible naturally, but not clear that the Wari added defensive walls

but they did build sizable defensive walls at the neighboring site of Cerro Mejía
suggests that keeping people out may have been important at both places
Cerro Mejía seems to have been occupied by fewer people and/or for a shorter time
Baúl and Mejía are horrendous places to live

water, food, fuel, everyting has to be hauled up by hand

in the case of Baúl, by a narrow, dangerous path

they are exposed to blasting winds
people must have had some strong incentive to pick these particular places to settle

The top of Cerro Baúl has some typical Wari rectangular courts, long buildings with raised first floors, at least one probably two stories high, flagstone floors, etc.

but not a large, rectangular overall plan like the other major sites
none of the repetitive small room complexes as at some other sites
no niched halls recognized yet (as at Viracochapampa)
it has one (or several?) D-shaped "temples", unlike the other major sites

as in other regions, there was almost no detectable exchange of goods between Wari people and the others in the valley

particularly the Tiwanaku farming colonists we saw earlier
maybe a little with the local population of indigenous farmers, who I believe were still living in the valley at this time

not everyone buys that, though
a few Wari sherds have been found on the surface of some of these local sites

what was going on here?

a military outpost to block further Tiwanaku expansion towards Wari's territory?

given our current understanding of Tiwanaku's limited ability to expand, it does not seem like Wari should have had to worry about Tiwanaku much

trade?

if so, how come virtually no Wari pottery, obsidian, or other goods turns up in non-Wari sites, and vice-versa?

My theory: competition over a huaca

remember that there was a second Tiwanaku temple located right at the food of Cerro Baúl, well away from the main area of Tiwanaku settlement

again, this is from my own work
the larger temple at Omo was located in one of the few places in the lower valley where you can see Cerro Baúl

I think these facts suggest that Cerro Baúl was important to the Tiwanaku colonists: a huaca, maybe the seat of an apu

even today, people come from as far as Puno, on the shore of Lake Titicaca, to make offerings on top of Cerro Baúl

it looks like the Tiwanaku colonists were probably in the Moquegua area before the Wari settlers, although that is not absolutely certain

so we can imagine the Tiwanaku people setting up one or both temples at least in part to respect an apu at Cerro Baúl
then the Wari came in and, maybe by force, took control of the region right around Cerro Baúl
they built a Wari outpost right on top of the huaca
with ritual features like the D-shaped rooms that are not part of the usual Wari outpost plan

we can also imagine a scenario in which Wari arrives first, builds on Cerro Baúl, and then the Tiwanaku come in and place their temple at the foot of the mountain
why would Wari build a major site on this miserable rock outcrop?

to express domination over the Tiwanaku and/or local people?
to actually control them by controlling access to or threatening their huaca?
or for ritual reasons, wanting to revere or propitate the huaca in its own right?

is it likely that both Wari and Tiwanaku would have cared about the same mountaintop?

yes - first, it is particularly impressive, and still has spiritual meaning for people today
and consider how similar other aspects of their ideology were, like their very similar depictions of the Staff God

Wari's domination of the huaca could certainly have been combined with or served some other economic, political, or military purpose

Wari and Tiwanaku

were contemporary
were in contact at least in Moquegua
came from very different ecological regions

and so emphasized different agricultural technologies, especially in their heartland areas

had similar (but distinct) iconographies on pottery and textiles

presumably shared some religious ideas

but differed in ritual architecture, use (or not) of carved monoliths, and practices of smashing sets of large, probably specially-made pots

so they presumably also differed a lot in religious practices and probably ideas

their secular architecture differed in layout and technology

probably indicating different social organization and state activities

at least some of their expansion into peripheral regions seems quite different

big, planned centers vs. rural farming colonies
a few limited places, vs. many and over a much broader area

Explaining the origins and relationship of Wari and Tiwanaku

shared common cultural "ancestor", like Pukara?
one inspired the other?

maybe suggested by the early sunken rectangular court at Huari?

intense interaction between the two?

virtually no evidence of it

there is a lot to still be worked out here...
In any case, between Tiwanaku and Wari, the Middle Horizon was the time of real growth of large, regional states

only the Moche might have developed to a comparable scale and complexity

how would you compare these societies?

Wari, especially, laid the social and to some extent physical foundations for the Inka

next time, we will look at the downfall of the two Middle Horizon states