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Cultural Transformations of the Chanka Homeland (Andahuaylas, Peru) During the Late Intermediate Period (A.D. 1000–1400)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Brian S. Bauer  and
Lucas C. Kellett
Brian S. Bauer
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1007 W. Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60607-7139 ([email protected])
Lucas C. Kellett
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131 ([email protected])
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Abstract

One of the largest demographic shifts to occur in Andean prehistory took place during the Late Intermediate Period (A.D. 1000–1400). Across a large expanse of the central Andes a vast number of lower elevation settlements were abandoned and local populations were concentrated in newly constructed, defensibly positioned sites, located along high ridges. In this article we examine this dramatic settlement shift in relation to the Chanka ethnic group that occupied the Andahuaylas region (Department of Apurimac, Peru). The results indicate that the shift from valley to hilltop settlements in the Andahuaylas region occurred around A.D. 1000. We propose that the shift reflects an increased dependency on agro-pastoralism that resulted from a period of climate change. We also suggest that in this region of the Andes the shift was augmented by growing levels of political competition after the dissolution of the Wari Empire and that current models, which situate the Chanka as a uniquely powerful ethnic group at the time of the Inca expansion, need to be reexamined.

Durante el Período Intermedio Tardío (1000–1400 d.C.) ocurrió una de las más grandes transformaciones demográficas en la prehistoria Andina. A lo largo de una buena parte de los Andes centrales, un gran número de asentamientos ubicados en cotas bajas fueron abandonados, pasando las poblaciones locales a ocupar nuevos sitios, construidos en posiciones defensivas, en lo alto de los cerros. En este artículo examinamos dicha dramática transformación enfocándonos en el caso del grupo étnico Chanka, que habitara la región de Andahuaylas (Departamento de Apurímac, Perú). Los fechados radiocarbónicos que hemosa obtenido, demuestran que en la región de Andahuaylas, este radical cambio en los patrones de asentamiento ocurrió en el marco de un breve lapso de tiempo. Los asentamientos ubicados en el fondo del valle con cerámica Wari son ocupados hasta el final del primer milenio d.C., después de lo cual, hay un súbito cambio con el establecimiento de nuevos sitios en la parte alta de los cerros, ca. 1000–1200 d.C. El período en torno al 1000 d.C. se vincula estrechamente con dos fenómenos paralelos: El colapso del Imperio Wari y el inicio de una sequía macro-regional en los Andes centrales. Postulamos que el cambio en el patrón de asentamiento refleja una mayor dependencia en estrategias de subsistencia agro-pastoriles, producto de un período de severo cambio climático. También sugerimos que en esta región de los Andes, el cambio en el patrón de asentamiento fue estimulado por niveles crecientes de competición política, una vez disuelto el Imperio Wari. El patrón de asentamiento registrado en la región de Andahuaylas durante el Período Intermedio Tardío, es similar al hallado en varias otras regiones y sugiere que los Chankas, fueron una entre otras muchas entidades políticas (señoríos), relativamente pequeñas de los Andes centrales. Poderosos líderes Chankas o, alguna poca consolidada confederación de grupos étnicos, podrían haber emergido brevemente hacia el final de este período, con la legendaria guerra entre Incas y Chankas. No obstante, sus correlatos materiales serían demasiado escasos como para ser identificados.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , March 2010 , pp. 87 - 111
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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