Ancient Cuzco

by Brian S. Bauer

  Several dates are also available for Derived Chanapata ceramics. Two are from excavations at the site of Marcavalle (Lawn 1971: 373; K. Chávez 1980: 241): 2131 ± 55 BP (calibrated 95.4% probability 390–90 BC)15 and 2096 ± 51 BP (calibrated 95.4% probability 360 BC–AD 30).16 The third date, 2073 ± 29 BP (calibrated 95.4 percent probability 180 BC–AD 10), is from Zapata’s excavations at Batan Orco.17 To these we can add two additional dates from our recent excavations (Bauer and Jones 2003) at the site of Peqokaypata toward the eastern end of the Cuzco Basin: 1881 ± 42 BP (calibrated 95.4% probability AD 20–240)18 and 1985 ± 43 BP (calibrated 95.4% probability 100 BC–AD 130).19 On the basis of these findings, it can be suggested that the production of Chanapata and related ceramics started around 500–300 BC and continued until after the turn of the first millennium AD.

  The Late Formative Phase in the Cuzco Valley

  The Late Formative Phase, Chanapata, and Derived Chanapata ceramics are among the best-described and the best-understood early ceramics of the Cuzco area (Rowe 1944, 1956; Bauer 1999, 2002). As a result, numerous Late Formative sites have been identified in the region. In a recent overview of the Cuzco Formative Period, Zapata (1998) plots the location of some forty Late Formative Phase sites spread along the Vilcanota River drainage between the site of Machu Picchu and the city of Sicunai. To this sum, we can add thirty additional Late Formative Phase sites in the Province of Paruro and those that have recently been found in the Cuzco Valley.

  The number of Formative Period sites in the Cuzco Valley is well over eighty (Map 5.1). Most of these sites date to the Late Formative Phase. Because so many Late Formative Phase sites have now been identified, and several have been sampled through test excavations, they provide us with a database to develop theories concerning the indigenous social and political organization of the valley during these times. The Cuzco Valley Formative Period sites fall within several site-size categories: hunting stations defined by Formative Period projectile points, single homesteads, hamlets, villages, and a single center. The hamlet- and village-level sites contain dense trash middens and most likely held populations from a few dozen to several hundred persons each. Many of these sites are located on hilltops, knolls, promontories, and the ends of ridges. This pattern is found elsewhere in the surrounding area, including the Province of Paruro (Bauer 1999, 2002), the Cusichaca area (Hey 1984), and the Huaro Basin (Zapata 1998).

  Among the most intriguing of the Late Formative Phase occupations of the Cuzco Valley are the two adjacent sites of Wimpillay and Muyu Orco (Photo 5.1).20 Wimpillay is located on a broad river terrace, south of the Huatanay River, a relatively short distance from Cuzco. Adjacent to Wimpillay is the steeply rounded hill of Muyu Orco.21 The hill is a prominent feature of the landscape and was considered a sacred place by the Inca (Bauer 1998: 114). Both Wimpillay and Muyu Orco have been greatly damaged in recent years by the rapid urban growth of Cuzco.

  Wimpillay and Muyu Orco have long attracted the attention of archaeologists. They were first noted as archaeological sites by Rowe (1944: 22–23), who documented Chanapata and later ceramics on them. Since that time, numerous test excavations have been conducted at these two sites by the students and faculty of the Universidad San Antonio Abad del Cuzco. Most recently, Zapata (1998: 320–328) directed excavations on the summit as well as on the northwestern slope of Muyu Orco. On the summit of the hill, he found evidence of what appears to be a Late Formative sunken court, similar to courts constructed in the Lake Titicaca region during this same period.

  During our survey, Wimpillay not only proved to be the largest Late Formative Phase site in the Cuzco and Oropesa Basins, but it also provided the finest Late Formative Phase pottery. The association of finer craft production with the largest village of a basin to serve the demands of a developing elite class is frequently observed in the archaeological record. It lends support to the unique importance that Wimpillay may have held among the Late Formative Phase sites of the basin. Based on our surface collections and the test excavations by Zapata, I currently interpret the site of Wimpillay to be the center of a valley-wide chiefdom during the Late Formative Phase. Closely associated with this center was a ritual precinct, Muyu Orco, which continued to hold special significance in the valley until the arrival of the Spaniards.

  MAP 5.1. Thirty-eight important Formative sites in the Cuzco Valley

  PHOTO 5.1. The site of Wimpillay (center left), which lies on the lower slope of the hill of Muyu Orco (center right), is now largely destroyed by urban growth.

  THE SOCAL ECONOMY OF THE LATE FORMATIVE PHASE

  Agricultural intensification continued during the Late Formative Phase, and we know that quinoa, beans, and presumably potatoes held critical roles in the local economy. It is clear, however, that maize also played a part in the Late Formative diet. Maize pollen, dating to 500 BC, has been recovered in Lake Marcacocha (Chepstow-Lusty et al. 1997: 131). Furthermore, excavations at the site of Marcavalle recovered carbonized corn in deposits dating to 200 BC (K. Chávez 1980: 243–244). The maize fields near Marcavalle and elsewhere across the lower elevations of the Cuzco Valley would have been supported by seasonal rains and perhaps by small irrigation ditches that were constructed to bring water from adjacent springs or streams.

  Camelid herds would also have been kept in the upper elevations of the valley during this era. As in earlier times, these herds met a wide variety of needs for the people, including food, wool production, and beasts of burden. Nevertheless, deer hunting still continued throughout this period as well. This is documented by numerous Late Formative projectile points found on the upper valley slopes during the survey and by the deer remains recovered in the course of excavations (Figure 5.1).

  Summary and Discussion

  The Formative Period was a critical period in the prehistory of the Cuzco Valley. A sand-tempered ceramic style found in the valley may represent the initial stages of ceramic production and may mark the transition from the Late Archaic Phase to Early Formative times. The Middle Formative Phase is represented by small independent villages. K. Chávez’s research at the site of Marcavalle exemplifies village life during this period. She writes, “The abundance and concentration of refuse at known Marcavalle sites, well documented at Marcavalle itself, appear to indicate Marcavalle settlements were sedentary villages having fairly dense populations” (1980: 257; emphasis in original).

  The Late Formative Phase is a time of special interest in the prehistory of the Cuzco Valley, since it is during this period that a clear settlement hierarchy developed. Our regional survey data document a multitiered settlement pattern for the Late Formative Phase, with numerous small sites, a variety of bigger settlements, and a single center (Map 5.2). Within the anthropological literature, such a pattern is considered a classic hallmark of early chiefdom societies (e.g., Marcus and Flannery 1996). Timothy Earle notes that a similar, although slightly later, pattern emerges in the Mantaro region: “During the Huacrapukio Period (AD 200–500), simple chiefdoms appear to have developed in the valley. The best evidence for these chiefdoms is the distinctly rank-sized distribution of settlements. Around a few larger sites cluster smaller sites, forming delimited regional groups” (1997: 55).

  An analogous, although slightly earlier, process occurred in the Lake Titicaca region (Stanish 2003). Two of the Lake Titicaca chiefdoms grew quickly, and perhaps as early as 200 BC both the site of Pucara, in the northern basin, and the site of Tiwanaku, in the southern basin, emerged as regional powers. The paramount villages of these chiefdoms grew to unparalleled sizes for the south-central Andes and held many thousands of inhabitants, including elites, attached retainers, craft specialists, and resident farmers and herders. These large chiefdoms brought adjacent polities under their direct control and cast their political, economic, and artistic influence over many others at greater distances. A diffuse form of this influence would eventually extend into the Cuzco region during the Qotakalli Period (AD 200–600).

  MAP 5.2. Hypotheti
cal area under the influence of Cuzco-based chiefdom during the Late Formative Phase

  FIGURE 5.1. Formative Period obsidian projectile points

  During the Late Formative Phase, a site hierarchy developed in the Cuzco Basin, most likely reflecting the growth of a small chiefdom society. From the village of Wimpillay, the chiefdom may have controlled the lower-level settlements throughout the valley. Broad areal excavations are needed at Wimpillay as well as at a number of other Late Formative Phase sites to gain a better understanding of the political organization that developed in the valley at this time. If this model of the Late Formative Phase is correct, excavations at Wimpillay should find evidence of sumptuary goods,22 elite burials, and gradients in household status, craft production, and additional public works projects.

  It may also be noted that there is a distinct clustering of sites in the Cachimayu area, in the northwest extreme of our survey area (Map 5.1). This cluster is made all the more notable by the fact that there are no Formative sites in the high watershed area between the Cachimayu area and the Cuzco Basin. These sites most likely represent a small village cluster that paid allegiance to the elites of Cuzco or a similar chiefly society developing in or near the Plain of Anta, farther to the west.

  Explorations and survey work across the Cuzco region provide evidence of other chiefdoms. Regional survey work south of Cuzco in the Province of Paruro suggests that there may have been important villages near the modern towns of Yaurisque and Paruro (Bauer 1999: 128; 2002).23 There is also evidence to suggest that a polity may have existed in the Cusichaca area, focused around the site of Huillca Raccay (Hey 1985). As more surveys are completed in the Cuzco region, many more centers and their affiliated villages will be documented. For example, Covey’s work to the north of Cuzco has identified a possible Late Formative Phase chiefdom in Chit’apampa and another in the Cuyo Basin (Covey 2003).

  Nor is there any doubt that a chiefdom also existed in the Lucre Basin during the Late Formative Phase. Work by Gordon F. McEwan (1987) at the site of Chokepukio has recovered substantial Late Formative remains suggesting that it represented the center of Late Formative power in the Lucre Basin. Its influence must have extended some distance toward the Cuzco Valley. Since periods of chiefdom development are frequently marked by conflict as many roughly equal polities compete for dominance, it is possible that additional research in the Cuzco region will not only help us to better define the political divisions of the area, but will also bring forth evidence of conflict and alliance formations between the many different chiefly centers.

  Chiefdoms rarely, if ever, develop in isolated settings. Rather, they are the outcome of broad processes of societal transformations—uneven processes to be sure, but ones that affect the social landscape of large regions. In our case, we can now see that much of the south-central Andes, from Cuzco to Lake Titicaca, was being transformed during the Middle to Late Formative times, and that by the end of the millennium most of the population was being incorporated into chiefly societies of varying levels of social complexity.

  CHAPTER 6

  The Qotakalli Period: Time of Regional Development (AD 200–600)

  THE QOTAKALLI PERIOD in the Cuzco region covers an era between the rise of the first chiefly societies and invasion of the area by the Wari Empire. Unfortunately, this is one of the least-understood time periods of the Cuzco region. No major projects have been dedicated to understanding this era, and the basic ceramic styles of the period are still being defined and debated. Nevertheless, from what little evidence we have, it is clear that it was an important time of regional development, population growth, and settlement shifts, as well as a time of contact and exchange with surrounding regions.

  Previous Research on the Qotakalli Period

  For about a half-century the name Huaro has appeared on ceramic sequences in association with the period before Wari influence in the Cuzco region. Chávez Ballón identified this ceramic style in 1952 during his excavations at the site of Batan Orco, located approximately 50 kilometers southeast of Cuzco in the Huaro Basin. Huaro ceramics are thought to resemble a style of ceramics called Carmenca identified by Rowe in the early 1940s at the site of Chanapata (Rowe 1944: 19–20; 1956: 142). However, the Huaro ceramic style remains virtually unknown, since no illustrations or descriptions of it have been published. In short, for decades the name Huaro has been used largely as a placeholder in the ceramic sequence, without reflecting a clear ceramic style or cultural affiliation.

  Although the specific characteristics of Huaro ceramics continue to be debated, significant progress has been made in recent years in identifying and describing several other ceramic styles of the Qotakalli Period. It is currently recognized that when the Wari began the eastward expansion of their empire from the Ayacucho region, the dominant local ceramic style of the Cuzco Valley was a cream-slip ware that we call Qotakalli (Barreda Murillo 1982; Glowacki 1996; Bauer 2002; Bauer and Jones 2003). The origins of this local style are unclear, but excavations suggest that a rapid transformation occurred in local ceramic production from the burnished earthen Chanapata and Derived Chanapata styles of the Formative Period to the distinctly different Qotakalli style some time after the beginning of the modern era. Similar shifts appear to have occurred elsewhere in the central Andes, for example, in Junín (Morales Chocano 1998) and Ayacucho (Knobloch 1983).1

  The type-site for Qotakalli ceramics, located south of the modern airport across the Huatanay River, was first excavated by Lyon and Rowe in the 1970s. Barreda Murillo published the first description of Qotakalli pottery in 1982. Since that time, Qotakalli ceramics have been found at numerous sites in the Cuzco region, although we still lack an intensive study of this important style.

  The exteriors of most currently recognized Qotakalli vessels are covered with a cream or white slip and are well burnished. The slip provides a surface on which the decorations are painted and assures relatively strong colortone contrasts. Several variations of Qotakalli ceramics have been identified (Glowacki 1996). By far the most common substyles are bichromes (black-on-cream or, more rarely, red-on-cream [Photo 6.1]) and polychromes (black-and-red-on-cream [Photo 6.2]). In general, the polychromes tend to be of a higher quality than the bichromes. The major designs of Qotakalli ceramics are usually defined in black, and the minor ones are executed in either red or black. Qotakalli ceramics have a limited variety of geometric decorations. The most common elements are straight horizontal and vertical lines, zigzagging lines, diamonds, triangles, and dots.

  PHOTO 6.1. Qotakalli black-on-cream ceramics

  Although Qotakalli ceramics have been found at numerous sites in the Cuzco region, until recently little detailed information on their production dates has been available. It is clear that Qotakalli ceramics were being produced when the Wari arrived, and that certain substyles continued to be in production for a considerable time afterward. For example, black-on-cream Qotakalli ceramics have been found in structures and middens at the Wari center of Pikillacta (Barreda Murillo 1982; McEwan 1984; Glowacki 1996) as well as in Wari Period tombs at Batan Orco (Zapata 1997).2 Evidence suggests, however, that the production of Qotakalli materials may have begun several centuries before the time of Wari expansionism. Excavations by Ann Kendall (1996: 153) at the site of Huillca Raccay in the Cusichaca Valley recovered Qotakalli-style pottery in a midden that yielded a radiocarbon date of 1580 ± 60 BP (calibrated 95.4% probability AD 340–620).3 Two other projects in the Lucre Basin, including research at the site of Chokepukio (McEwan et al. 1995) and at the site of Minaspata (E. Dwyer, personal communication, 1997), as well as work conducted in the Province of Paruro (Bauer 1999; 2002) have found Qotakalli materials directly above strata with Chanapata and Derived Chanapata ceramics.

  PHOTO 6.2. Qotakalli black-and-red-on-cream ceramics

  As part of the Cuzco Valley Archaeological Project, we conducted test excavations at a series of small- to medium-sized sites in the Cuzco Valley in 1999 and 2000 to investigate the ceramic styles of
the Qotakalli and Wari Periods (Map 1.4). These ceramic styles, especially those of the Qotakalli Period, were selected for additional research because they represented some of the least-known ceramic styles of the Cuzco Valley. We also wanted to address a series of interrelated questions concerning the Wari and pre-Wari cultures of the valley. Most importantly, we wanted to know when the Wari and Altiplano influences in the Cuzco Valley began and ended. The sites chosen for test excavations included the following:

  Pukacancha (Co. 141): A medium-sized site on the western slope of Taucaray Hill with a small cluster of Inca buildings. Numerous Inca and Arahuay ceramic fragments as well as a few Qotakalli sherds were recovered from the surface of the site. The large number of Arahuay sherds at Pukacancha suggested that its major pre-Inca occupation dated to the Wari Period. By excavating at this site, we hoped to better understand the timing of Wari influence in the Cuzco region.

  Tankarpata (Co. 195): A medium-sized site beside the village of Tankarpata with no visible architectural remains. Located one ridge to the west of the original type-site of Qotakalli, the site of Tankarpata contained numerous fragments of Qotakalli and Arahuay ceramics, as well as minor amounts of many other styles. From the surface collections retrieved there, we believed that the site was continually occupied throughout the Qotakalli and Wari Periods.