Wari Empire

Wari Empire
Wari Empire
6th century–11th century
	Expansion and area of cultural influence.
Capital	Huari
Common languages	Aymara, others.
Religion	Staff God
Historical era	Middle Horizon
• Established	6th century
• Disestablished	11th century
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Wari culture
	Tiwanaku Empire
Kingdom of Cusco
Chimor
Aymara kingdoms
Today part of	Peru

The Wari Empire or Huari Empire was a political formation that emerged around 600 AD (CE) in Peru's Ayacucho Basin and grew to cover much of coastal and highland Peru.^[1] The empire lasted for about 500 years, until 1100 CE.^[2] It existed during the same era as the Tiwanaku culture, and at one time, was thought to have been derived from it.^[3] In 2008, archeologists found a precolumbian city, the Northern Wari ruins (also called Cerro Pátapo) near modern Chiclayo.^[4] The find was the first extensive settlement related to the Wari culture discovered that far north.^[5]^[6] Archaeological discoveries have continued over the past decade. In 2023, archaeologists discovered a 1200-year-old Wari ritual complex in Arequipa.^[7] While more discoveries are being made regarding the Wari Empire, archaeologists are able to draw more conclusions about the Wari Empire's culture.

Political relations

The Wari Empire was a second-generation state of the Andean region; both it and Tiwanaku had been preceded by the first-generation Moche state. When expanding to engulf new polities, the Wari Empire practiced a policy of allowing the local leaders of the newly acquired territory to retain control of their area if they agreed to join the Wari empire and obey the Wari.

The political relationship between the Wari and Tiwanaku has been compared by archaeologist Joyce Marcus to that of the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War: the two empires did not go to war with one another for fear of mutual destruction. The two empires met at Moquegua, where the Wari and Tiwanaku populations co-existed without conflicts.^[8]

Administration

While the Wari likely had significant organizational and administrative power, it remains unclear what the origins of its political and artistic forms were. Emerging evidence suggests that rather than being the result of Tiwanaku traits diffusing north, the Wari and Tiwanaku ideological formations may be traceable to previous developments at Pukara, an Early Intermediate Period culture to the north of Lake Titicaca.^[8] The polity seems to have survived until ca. AD 1100, when it collapsed, likely as a result of both environmental change and internal socio-political stresses.

The expanding state likely had a fairly symbiotic relationship with local people. The colonizers would likely trade, intermarry, feast, partake in religious rituals, or just directly coerce local residents.^[9] There was also likely a wide variety of impacts from community to community, some were largely impacted by the state and others less so, depending on location and time.^[9] Contact with the larger empire could have been beneficial for smaller communities because they were able to establish trade and obtain exotic goods not previously available to them.^[9]

One of the commodities was beer, communal consumption of beer served as a potent instrument of Wari governance.^[10] Forging hierarchical ties within, and between groups, was often a prevalent theme in Wari feasting. At Quilcapampa, guests partaking in Wari-related feasts were served alcohol infused with vilca. The vilca-infused brew fostered collective, psychotropic, experiences. The providers of the brew, Wari leaders, reinforced their elevated status within the social hierarchy. The presence of alcoholic beverages, evidenced by the abundance of maize and molle at Wari sites, indicates their widespread consumption during feasts.^[11]

The empire established long-distance exchange networks to obtain hallucinogens.^[12] To connect the highland capital and Pacific coast, the Wari constructed an imperial highway. Going through the Sondondo Valley, the highway connected three imperial sites.

With the tremendous amount of effort required to obtain the drug, it hints that vilca was an important part of the Wari political economy.

Infrastructure

Scholars, such as William Isbell, Katherine Schreiber and Luis Lumbreras consider the Wari an Empire largely due to their infrastructure. They note its construction of an extensive network of roadways linking provincial cities, as well as the construction of complex, characteristic architecture in its major centres, some of which were quite extensive. Leaders had to plan projects and organize large amounts of labor to accomplish such projects.^[13]^[14] At the Wari colony, Pikillacta, irrigation canals and terraces were built. The irrigation canals and terraces served to moved water throughout the colony, allowing the colony to utilize agriculture.^[8]

War, Conflict, and Imperialism

The Wari had an expansionist culture beginning sometime in the seventh century AD,^[15] given its military related weaponry. It is estimated that their expansionist nature led to a greater level of violence than many of the other pre-Hispanic cultures.^[16] It's speculated that the Wari relied on force to conquer and consolidate territories,^[17] utilizing of cost-effective strategies. Those may have ranged from implied force, coercive diplomacy, to co-opting local political hierarchies.^[18]

Militarism played a significant role in the Wari Empire, evident in various aspects of its structure and iconography. Subsidiary centers surrounding the capital were fortified, indicating a strategic emphasis on defense.^[19] A 2-square-kilometer walled complex at Pikillaqta potentially housed a military garrison, fortified with smaller sites and walls designed to resist military threats and control access.^[20] Wari iconography frequently depicts soldiers equipped with military weaponry suggesting readiness for violent conflict.^[21]

By building imperial-style infrastructure, the empire-controlled areas along the Pacific coast and Andean highlands. Provincial centers include Viracochapampa, Honcopampa, and Cerro Baúl, all of which share similar architectural styles and ceramic vessels.^[15] These sites were connected to the capital, Huari, by a network of imperial roads creating a unified polity.

At the World Congress on Mummy Studies, research shed light on the collapse of the Wari Empire, where Wari society transitioned from cooperation to violence. Tiffiny Tung, a bioarchaeologist of Vanderbilt University, showcased a study highlighting the connections seen between environmental stressors, political instability, and societal collapse in the empire's collapse.^[2] Following 1000 C.E. was a period marked by violence and hardship following the empire's demise. The collapse, possibly exacerbated by severe drought, unleashed centuries of violence and social breakdown, leaving a vivid record in human bones.

Through analysis of skeletal remains from Huari, violence seemed to be present even during the empire's peak, intensifying afterward, seen by a dramatic increase in fatal injuries. The collapse also affected dietary patterns, with women experiencing significant changes, possibly indicating food scarcity or dietary shifts. Moreover, post-collapse burials showed signs of desecration, suggesting a shift in traditional burial practices and social norms. Ongoing research seeks to uncover molecular indicators of stress in ancient DNA, providing further insights into the health and well-being of Wari society during this period.^[2]

Archaeological Sites

Northern Wari Ruins (Cerro Pátapo)

In 2008, a team led by archaeologist, Cesar Soriano discovered the ruins of a city near Chiclayo. The Northern Wari Ruins provide the first evidence of the Wari in Northern Peru.^[5] There are signs of human sacrifice in the site as Archaeologists have found bones at the bottom of a cliff. Along with the piles of bones, the remains of a young women were found.^[5]^[6] Evidence found by archaeologists at the site suggests a potential link between the Wari and Moche Civilization. The site has been preserved well due to the hot dry climate of Peru.^[22]

Pikillacta (Pikillaqta)

Pikillacta was a 495 acre settlement near the Cusco basin.^[8] The central part of Pikillacta was a series of multi-room buildings that Joyce Marcus compared to ice trays.^[8] The first archaeological excavation of Pikillacta was conducted in 1927 but minimal evidence was found.^[23] Through three separate excavations, Gordon McEwan made extensive discoveries at Pikillacta. Although Pikillacta is one of the largest Wari Archaeological sites that has been found, there is not a substantial amount of evidence suggesting that people actually lived there.^[20] Evidence found at the suite, such as the lack of doorways, has led archaeologists to theorize that Pikillacta could have been used as an insane asylum or prison.^[20]

Cerro Baúl

Located in south of what is now Peru, Cerro Baul was one of the most important discoveries for determining the relationship between the Tiwanaku and the Wari Empire, interpreting the duration of the empire, and the relationship between the capital Huari and other regions.^[24] It was an administrative and ceremonial center in Moquegua Valley. there were two distinct types of architecture found, public buildings associated with administrative tasks built similarly to ones in the capital Huari, and secondly small housing for the people who lived atop the mesa.^[24] There was evidence of a variety of different food sources and animals present, which shows the expansive trade network within the Empire.^[25] It is also theorized that the different food sources present we restricted based on different levels of social standing, and many of the animals present may not have been used for food but rather as sacrifices for religious rituals.^[25]

References

^ Schreiber, Katharina J. (April 1987). "Conquest and Consolidation: A Comparison of the Wari and Inka Occupations of a Highland Peruvian Valley". American Antiquity. 52 (2): 266–284. doi:10.2307/281780. ISSN 0002-7316. JSTOR 281780. S2CID 155131409.
^ ^a ^b ^c Wade, Lizzie (August 17, 2016). "The Wari's grisly end—the fall of a South American empire". Science. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
^ Williams, Patrick Ryan (2001). "Cerro Baúl: A Wari Center on the Tiwanaku Frontier". Latin American Antiquity. 12 (1): 67–83. doi:10.2307/971758. ISSN 1045-6635. JSTOR 971758.
^ "Archaeologists unearth ancient Wari city". NBC News. 2008-12-17. Archived from the original on June 8, 2023. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
^ ^a ^b ^c "'Ancient city unearthed' in Peru". BBC. 17 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
^ ^a ^b "Archeologists in Peru unearth ancient Wari city". Reuters. 16 December 2008. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
^ Reid, David (March 2023). "The role of temple institutions in Wari imperial expansion at Pakaytambo, Peru". Journal of Anthropological Archaeology. 69. doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101485. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Flannery, Kent; Marcus, Joyce (2012). The Creation of Inequality: How Our Prehistoric Ancestors Set the Stage for Monarchy, Slavery, and Empire. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-06469-0. JSTOR j.ctt2jbvjr.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bélisle, Véronique (2015). "Understanding Wari State Expansion: A "Bottom-up" Approach at the Village of Ak'awillay, Cusco, Peru". Latin American Antiquity. 26 (2): 180–199. doi:10.7183/1045-6635.26.2.180. ISSN 1045-6635. JSTOR 43460460.
^ Cook, A. G., Glowacki, M., & Bray, T. (2003). The Archaeology and Politics of Food and Feasting in Early States and Empires.
^ Biwer, Matthew E.; Álvarez, Willy Yépez; Bautista, Stefanie L.; Jennings, Justin (12 January 2022). "Hallucinogens, alcohol and shifting leadership strategies in the ancient Peruvian Andes". Cambridge Core Home. 96 (385): 142–158. doi:10.15184/aqy.2021.177. ISSN 0003-598X.
^ Wilkinson, Darryl. "The influence of Amazonia on state formation in the ancient Andes." Antiquity 92.365 (2018): 1362-1376.
^ Susan E. Bergh (2012). Wari: Lords of the Ancient Andes. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-51656-0. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
^ Isbell, William H.; Schreiber, Katharina J. (July 1978). "Was Huari a State?". American Antiquity. 43 (3): 372–389. doi:10.2307/279393. ISSN 0002-7316. JSTOR 279393. S2CID 164117358.
^ ^a ^b Marsh, Erik J; Schreiber, Katharina (21 February 2015). "Eyes of the empire: A viewshed-based exploration of Wari site-placement decisions in the Sondondo Valley, Peru". Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. 4: 54–64 – via Science Direct.
^ Tung, Tiffiny A. (July 2007). "Trauma and violence in the Wari empire of the Peruvian Andes: Warfare, raids, and ritual fights". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 133 (3). doi:10.1002/ajpa.20565. ISSN 0002-9483. PMID 17506491.
^ Arkush, Elizabeth N. "Collapse, conflict, conquest: The transformation of warfare in the late prehispanic Andean highlands." The archaeology of warfare: prehistories of raiding and conquest (2006): 286-335.
^ Sinopoli, Carla M. "The archaeology of empires." Annual review of anthropology 23.1 (1994): 159-180.
^ Pérez Calderón, I., & Cabrera, R. M. (2001). Investigations on the periphery of the Huari complex. In XII Peruvian Congress of Man and Andean Culture Luis G. Lumbreras (Vol. 2, pp. 246-270). Ayacucho, Peru: National University of San Cristóbal de Huamanga.
^ ^a ^b ^c McEwan, G. F. (1991). Investigations at the Pikillacta site: a provincial Huari center in the valley of Cuzco. Huari Administrative Structure: Prehistoric Monumental Architecture and State Government, 93119.
^ Paravicino, J. O., & Romero, M. C. (2002). Religious ideology and military organization in the iconography of a D-shaped ceremonial precinct at Conchopata. In Andean archaeology II: Art, landscape, and society (pp. 225-247). Boston, MA: Springer US.
^ "Cerro Pátapo". History Hit. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
^ Pikillacta: The Wari Empire in Cuzco. University of Iowa Press. 2005. doi:10.2307/j.ctt20krzhs. ISBN 978-0-87745-931-6. JSTOR j.ctt20krzhs.
^ ^a ^b Williams, Patrick Ryan (2001). "Cerro Baúl: A Wari Center on the Tiwanaku Frontier". Latin American Antiquity. 12 (1): 67–83. doi:10.2307/971758. ISSN 1045-6635. JSTOR 971758.
^ ^a ^b deFrance, Susan D. (2014), Arbuckle, Benjamin S.; McCarty, Sue Ann (eds.), "The Luxury of Variety: Animals and Social Distinction at the Wari site of Cerro Baúl, Southern Peru", Animals and Inequality in the Ancient World, University Press of Colorado, pp. 63–84, ISBN 978-1-60732-285-6, JSTOR j.ctt128809k.9, retrieved 2024-06-04