Hillforts of the ancient Andes : Colla warfare, society, and landscape

Winner of the Society for American Archaeology Book Award "Using a bold combination of surface survey, excavation, and cutting-edge GIS modeling, Arkush examines the social conditions that existed in the Andes during this period of unprecedented regional conflict and provides critical insights into the culture of war which existed at this time."--Brian S. Bauer, University of Illinois, Chicago "Arkush's architectural analysis and study of artifacts is accompanied by a new body of radiocarbon dates that turn traditional documentary interpretations of Colla social organization on their heads. This is an important advance in our understanding of late prehispanic societies in the Andean highlands."--R. Alan Covey, Southern Methodist University By AD 1000, the Colla controlled the high-altitude plains near Lake Titicaca in southern Peru. They fought over the region for many centuries before becoming a subject people of the Inca (who described them as the most formidible foes they faced) circa 1450, and then of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. Like any people at war, the Colla were not engaged in active conflict all of the time. But frequent warfare (perhaps over limited natural resources), along with drought and environmental changes, powerfully influenced the society's settlement choices and physical defenses, as well as their interaction with the landscape. By focusing on the pre-Inca society in this key region of the Andes, Elizabeth Arkush demonstrates how a thorough archaeological investigation of these hillfort towns reveals new ways to study the sociopolitical organization of pre-Columbian societies. For about a century and half, between the collapse of the highland state of Tiwanaku about 1300 and the unification of the area under the Incas about 1450, the Colla people living on the plains west of Lake Titicaca lived within walled settlements called pukaras in fear of violence. The author explored the hilltop villages over several seasons between 2000 and 2007, and here discusses the results in terms of warfare and the built environment, the Colla and their lands, studying fortifications, hierarchy and heterarchy within pukara communities, spatial and temporal dimensions, and regional histories Warfare and the built environment The Colla and their lands Studying fortifications Hierarchy and heterarchy within pukara communities Allies and enemies : pukaras in their spatial world Explaining Colla war : pukaras through time Fractured landscapes : fortification and regional histories.