Beyond Wari Walls : Regional Perspectives on Middle Horizon Peru

During the Middle Horizon (600-1000), the Wari civilization swept across the central Andes. The nature and importance of this civilization has long been debated by archaeologists. For many, Wari was an empire governed by people living at the site of Huari in the central highlands of Peru. Some scholars, however, have long argued that the spread of Wari artifacts, architecture, and influence can be explained by other kinds of interregional interactions. The scholars whose work is assembled here attempt to better understand the nature of Wari by examining its impact beyond Wari walls. By studying Wari from a village in Cuzco, a water shrine in Huamachuco, or a compound on the Central Coast, these authors provide us with information that cannot be gleaned from either digs around the city of Huari or work at the major Wari installations in the periphery. This book provides no definitive answers to the Wari phenomena, but it contributes to broader debates about interregional influences and interaction during the emergence of early cities and states throughout the world. The contributors include Ulrike Matthies Green and Paul Goldstein (UC San Diego), Bruce Owen (Sonoma State University), Veronique Belisle (University of Michigan), R. Alan Covey (Southern Methodist University), Christina Conlee (Texas State University), Giancarlo Marcone (University of Pittsburgh), Rafael Segura Llanos and Izumi Shimada (Southern Illinois University), Frank Meddens (University of London), Nicholas Branch (University of Reading), Kit Nelson (Tulane University), Nathan Craig (Pennsylvania State University), Manuel Perales (Proyecto Arqueologico Norte Chico), Theresa Lange Topic (Brescia University College), John Topic (Trent University), Claude Chapdelaine (Universite de Montreal), William Isbell (SUNY Binghamton), and the editor. Beyond Wari walls / Justin Jennings The nature of Wari presence in the mid-Moquegua Valley : investigating contact at Cerro Trapiche / Ulrike Matthies Green and Paul S. Goldstein Becoming Wari : globalization and the role of the Wari state in the Cotahuasi Valley of southern Peru / Justin Jennings Wari in the Majes-Camaná Valley : a different kind of horizon / Bruce Owen Local settlement continuity and Wari impact in Middle Horizon Cusco / Véronique Bélisle and R. Alan Covey Nasca and Wari : local opportunism and colonial ties during the Middle Horizon / Christina A. Conlee The Wari footprint on the central coast : a view from Cajamarquilla and Pachacamac / Rafael Segura Llanos and Izumi Shimada What role did Wari play in the Lima political economy? : the Peruvian central coast at the beginning of the Middle Horizon / Giancarlo Marcone F. The Wari state, its use of ancestors, rural hinterland, and agricultural infrastructure / Frank Meddens and Nicholas Branch Piecing together the middle : the Middle Horizon in the Norte Chico / Kit Nelson, Nathan Craig, and Manuel Perales Contextualizing the Wari-Huamachuco relationship / Theresa Lange Topic and John R. Topic Moche and Wari during the Middle Horizon on the north coast of Peru / Claude Chapdelaine Agency, identity, and control : understanding Wari space and power / William H. Isbell. "Beyond Wari Walls broadens our understanding of Wari by viewing the Wari phenomenon from a variety of different regional perspectives. As more archaeological research is being conducted in Peru, a more complex picture of the Middle Horizon is emerging. The pioneers of Peruvian archaeology were right in identifying the period as a turning point in the country's prehistory. The rapid urbanization of Huari forever changed the cultural landscape of the Andes. Yet, the relationship between the city and the widespread interactions that it helped generate is not as straightforward as these archaeologists first thought. To understand what happened in Peru during the Middle Horizon, we need to continue to research the connections between the local, regional, and interregional changes that occurred during this period. This work needs to be done at Huari and the various Wari settlements found throughout Peru, but it also needs to be done beyond Wari walls."--Contraportada "Beyond Wari Walls broadens our understanding of Wari by viewing the Wari phenomenon from a variety of different regional perspectives. As more archaeological research is being conducted in Peru, a more complex picture of the Middle Horizon is emerging. The pioneers of Peruvian archaeology were right in identifying the period as a turning point in the country's prehistory. The rapid urbanization of Huari forever changed the cultural landscape of the Andes. Yet, the relationship between the city and the widespread interactions that it helped generate is not as straightforward as these archaeologists first thought. To understand what happened in Peru during the Middle Horizon, we need to continue to research the connections between the local, regional, and interregional changes that occurred during this period. This work needs to be done at Huari and the various Wari settlements found throughout Peru, but it also needs to be done beyond Wari walls." --Book Jacket During the Middle Horizon (600-1000), the Wari civilization swept across the central Andes. The nature and importance of this civilization has long been debated by archaeologists. This title assembles the work of the scholars who attempt to understand the nature of Wari by examining its impact beyond Wari walls.