Ancient Cuzco

by Brian S. Bauer

  The Region South of the Cuzco Valley

  Historic evidence indicates that during the Killke and Inca Periods the region immediately south of the Cuzco Valley, now called the Province of Paruro, was inhabited by at least three separate ethnic groups: the Chillque, Masca, and Tambo (Poole 1984; Bauer 1992a). Chillque settlements were clustered around the modern communities of Araypallpa and Paruro, the Masca were concentrated around the town of Yaurisque, and the Tambo were located near the community of Pacariqtambo.10

  Ethnohistoric research indicates that each of these ethnic groups was organized into a regional moiety system at the time of the Spanish Conquest (Gade and Escobar Moscoso 1982; Poole 1984; Urton 1990). Bauer’s regional survey data demonstrate that these systems of dual organization have great antiquity and date to the Killke Period, if not earlier (Bauer 1987; 1992a: 124–139). It is important to note that these ethnic groups were never organized into large polities. During the Inca Period, the smallest group, the Tambo, comprised several hundred individuals, and the larger Masca and Chillque groups each numbered only in the low thousands.11

  Wari Period populations in Paruro, which appear to have been largely unaffected by the intensive Wari occupation of the Lucre Basin to the northeast, lived primarily within maize-producing elevations (below about 3,500 masl) in a series of scattered hamlets and small villages. Except for the development of the imperial Inca site of Maukallacta (Bauer 1992b), the regional settlement pattern continued relatively unchanged from the Wari Period through the Inca Period. The distribution of Killke pottery (Figure 8.1) at sites in this area indicates that the developing Inca state dominated villages as far south as the Apurímac River, or up to 40 kilometers from Cuzco (Bauer 1992a). Furthermore, systematic surveys in this area recorded no evidence of large Killke Period defensive settlements. The regional settlement system consisted of small, widely scattered, unprotected settlements generally located adjacent to areas of agricultural land. The absence of any clear indication of Killke Period warfare and the continuous occupation of all major Killke Period sites into the Inca Period suggest that this region was absorbed relatively early into the developing Inca state and with little resistance (Bauer 1992a).

  The Region West and Northwest of the Cuzco Valley

  Several ethnic groups lived to the west and northwest of the Cuzco Valley, including the Limatambo, Quilliscachi, Mayu, Equeco, Cancu, Conchacalla, Anta, and Ayarmaca.12 Among the largest and most powerful of these were the Anta and the Ayarmaca. Killke-related pottery produced in this area has a wide distribution throughout the region, and both groups appear to have had large populations. Although there has been no systematic regional survey in this region, reconnaissance work provides some information for preliminary discussion (Rowe 1944; Rostworowski 1970; Kendall 1974, 1976, 1985; Alcina Franch et al. 1976). For example, the Anta were most likely concentrated around the modern town of Anta, which rests above a large prehispanic settlement. This site may well have been the paramount village for the Anta during the Killke Period.

  FIGURE 8.1. Distribution of Killke pottery south of Cuzco. The number of sites with Killke pottery decreases as a function of distance from Cuzco, with the presence of Killke materials identified as far as 50 km from the Inca capital.

  THE AYARMACA ETHNIC GROUP

  The Ayarmaca are better known than the Anta (Rostworowski 1970). Their territory extended from the area of Pucyura in the south (where it shared a border with the Anta) to the area of Chinchero in the north (where it shared a border with the Huayllacan). Although the region is largely unexplored archaeologically, the paramount village of the Ayarmaca most likely existed near the modern-day town of Ayarmaca, or perhaps near Chinchero.

  Oral histories of the region recorded by the Spaniards tell of long-term conflicts between the Anta, the Ayarmaca, and the Inca (Sarmiento de Gamboa 1906 [1572]; Garcilaso de la Vega 1966 [1609]; Guaman Poma de Ayala 1980 [1615]). These conflicts may finally have subsided after the unification of the groups through a series of strategic elite marriages (Table 8.1).

  Sarmiento de Gamboa (1906: 56 [1572: Ch. 24]) notes that Mama Runtucaya, the principal wife of Viracocha Inca (the eighth ruler), was from the Anta ethnic group, and descendants of her family still lived in the Anta area in colonial times (Toledo 1940: 112–118 [1571]). Similarly, the legitimate wife of Yahuar Huacac (the seventh ruler), Mama Chicya, was the daughter of an Ayarmaca lord, and the wife of Capac Yupanqui (the fifth ruler), Curi Hilpay, may have been an Ayarmaca elite as well (Sarmiento de Gamboa 1906: 48, 54 [1572: Chs. 18, 22]).13 The marriage of Yahuar Huacac to Mama Chicya is of special interest, since it appears to have involved an exchange of daughters between rival lords. Sarmiento de Gamboa (1906: 54 [1572: Ch. 22]) writes:

  Before Inca Roca died, he made friends with Tocay Capac [Lord of the Ayarmaca], by way of Mama Chicya, daughter of Tocay Capac, who married Yahuar Huacac, and Inca Roca gave a daughter of his, named Curi Ocllo, in marriage to Tocay Capac.14 (Translation by author)

  TABLE 8.1. Inca rulers and their principal wives, according to Sarmiento de Gamboa (1906 (1572])

  It was hoped that through such exchanges, regional alliances would be established that would last for generations. This, however, did not always prove to be the case.

  THE LIMATAMBO REGION

  It is clear that other ethnic groups in this region interacted differently with the emerging Inca state. For example, Kenneth Heffernan (1989) conducted reconnaissance work beyond Anta in the Limatambo area, approximately 50 kilometers west of Cuzco. His field conclusions on the Killke Period settlement patterns in this region are similar to Bauer’s for the area south of Cuzco. Heffernan finds that most Killke Period occupations are located near large cultivable areas and that few (if any) of these sites contain clear evidence of fortification. Though there may have been a small shift in population from higher to lower altitudes between the Killke and Inca Periods in the Limatambo region, the overall settlement pattern of the two periods is similar. Comparing his field observations with the information presented in the Spanish chronicles, Heffernan (1989: 413) writes, “The mythico-historic characterization of pre-Inca populations as constantly warring, in light of field evidence, is imbalanced and fails to appreciate stable elements in the socio-economic landscape of Limatambo.”

  PHOTO 8.2. The Killke Period fortress of Huata, to the northwest of Cuzco

  THE QUILLISCACHI ETHNIC GROUP

  Research in the region farther northwest of Cuzco, beyond the areas controlled by the Ayarmaca, reveals yet a different scenario. In the area of the Quilliscachi, who lived near the modern town of Huarocondo, we do find fortified Killke Period sites (Map 8.2). The largest of these is Huata, located approximately 40 aerial kilometers northwest of Cuzco on a remote mountain summit, and surrounded by three concentric fortification walls (Photo 8.2).15 Reconnaissance work conducted by Kendall (1974, 1976, 1985) in the Cusichaca River Valley between Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu identified other Killke Period sites on extremely steep ridge tops. The presence of ridge-top sites in the Cusichaca region, as well as the fortified site of Huata, indicates that this area was not politically unified during the Killke Period.

  The Region North of the Cuzco Valley

  Important ethnic groups residing in the region north of Cuzco included the Huayllacan, the Cuyo, the Tambo, the Yucay, and several other unnamed groups, such as those at Ancasmarca and in the Chit’apampa Basin. Until recently, what little we knew about these groups was based largely on the oral histories recorded by Sarmiento de Gamboa. Recent archaeological research by Covey (2003) has provided additional evidence for those of the Chit’apampa Basin as well as the Huayllacan and Cuyo, for whom the chronicle references can now be compared with archaeological data (Map 8.2).

  THE CHIT’APAMPA BASIN

  The small Chit’apampa Basin connects the Cuzco Basin and the lower Vilcanota Valley (the latter is also called the Sacred Valley and the Urubamba Valley). Wari Period settlement patterns and ceramics indicate that the Ch
it’apampa Basin had a political and cultural affiliation with the Cuzco Basin (Covey 2003). Small hamlets were dispersed around village sites located near good valley bottom lands with abundant water. Settlement in the basin was restricted to areas closest to the Cuzco Basin. Most Wari Period sites in the Chit’apampa Basin are small, but two discrete clusters of settlements were encountered near the modern communities of Huillcapata and Patabamba. Occupations in these areas displayed a two-tier settlement hierarchy that included hamlets and dispersed households. In other parts of the Sacred Valley survey region, there is no settlement hierarchy during this period, and the distribution of Wari Period pottery from the Cuzco Basin drops off dramatically at distances greater than 15–20 kilometers from Cuzco.

  MAP 8.5. Killke Period sites in the lower Vilcanota Valley. Ethnic groups to the south of the river appear to have shared close cultural ties with Cuzco and were incorporated into the developing Inca state earlier than those of thenorth side. The Inca established control over the valleys north of the river throughout this period.

  During the Killke Period, major settlement pattern changes occurred in the Chit’apampa Basin (Map 8.5). In the upper part of the basin (closest to Cuzco), a buffer zone formed as the Wari Period sites of the basin were abandoned. Populations either moved into the Cuzco Basin or moved farther down into the Chit’apampa Basin into a mosaic environment (near maize, tuber, and pasture lands) that had defensible locations for nucleated settlement. The chronicles mention repeated Inca incursions against their neighbors to the north, and many sites are found in areas with natural (cliffs) and artificial defenses (walls or ditches).

  As Cuzco gained direct control over the lower Chit’apampa Basin, parts of the buffer zone were populated with Cuzco allies or newly subjugated local groups, and some sites with almost exclusively Killke pottery were established (Covey 2003). Permanent Inca control of the Chit’apampa Basin involved the development of state infrastructure, including canal and terrace systems, roads, administrative centers, and storage facilities. Under the Inca state, settlement became more dispersed and focused on the valley bottom, particularly in lower elevations where irrigated maize agriculture was possible.

  THE HUAYLLACAN ETHNIC GROUP

  Although the ethnic identity of the inhabitants of the Chit’apampa Basin is unknown, in some cases the ethnohistory provides specific details on ethnic groups to the north of Cuzco. Chronicles locate one group, the Huayllacan, in the communities of Patahuaillacan (identified as modern Patabamba), Micocancha, Paullu, and Paullupampa (Sarmiento de Gamboa 1906: 51 [1572: Ch. 21]), all of which are located on the southern rim of the lower Vilcanota Valley, approximately 15 kilometers from Cuzco (see also Las Casas 1958 [ca. 1550]; Zuidema 1986). According to Sarmiento de Gamboa (1906: 49 [1572: Ch. 19]), Inca Roca married Mama Micay of Patahuaillacan, who was the daughter of the leader of the Huayllacan, Soma Inca, and may have been a political leader in her own right (also see Murúa 1946: 93 [1590: Bk. 1, Ch. 21]; Cabello de Valboa 1951: 293 [1586: Bk. 3, Ch. 13]; Las Casas 1958 [ca. 1550]; Cobo 1979: 124 [1653: Bk. 12, Ch. 9]; and cf. Gutiérrez de Santa Clara 1963: 81 [ca. 1600: Ch. 49]). Later, their son, Yahuar Huacac, is said to have destroyed this group after they betrayed him during a struggle over dynastic rule in Cuzco. We are told that Yahuar Huacac then took some Huayllacan lands as a personal estate, and that much later his mummy was found by Polo de Ondegardo in Paullu (Sarmiento de Gamboa 1906: 56 [1572: Ch. 23]; Acosta 1986: 421 [1590: Book 6, Ch. 20]).

  The archaeology of the Huayllacan area provides some interesting perspectives on this account. Around AD 1000, local populations moved from the Patabamba area to a large nucleated ridge-top site called Qhapaqkancha (Royal Enclosure). Located more than 4,000 masl, the site comprises over 4 hectares of densely packed semicircular stone structures, many of which have been badly damaged.16 In addition to this small center, there are about twenty other Killke Period sites nearby, ranging from isolated households to small villages, all situated on the slopes below Qhapaqkancha.

  The archaeological survey data suggest that Qhapaqkancha was already the center of a small polity during the early Killke Period. It was located in a defensible area with good views of the main valley, and several subordinate villages were situated below it, 100–200 m above the main valley floor. Additional archaeological data indicate, however, that this center came under the control of Cuzco toward the end of the Killke Period. A large rectangular platform with three early Inca buildings is located just outside the area of nucleated settlement at Qhapaqkancha. This was probably constructed as a royal estate or a small administrative complex.

  In sum, the archaeological and ethnohistoric data both suggest how the small Huayllacan polity came under Inca control. Political alliances may have been established initially through marriage exchange, and then transformed through military action, well before the period of Inca imperial expansion. It appears that direct control was established in the area over several generations, and ultimately Huayllacan resources came under the direct administration of Cuzco elites as long-standing kin ties were superseded by state administrative structures. That the Huayllacan were not made Inca of Privilege during the imperial period may be due to their repeated attempts to throw off Inca control. This certainly appears to be the case with their neighbors the Cuyo.

  THE CUYO ETHNIC GROUP

  The Cuyo ethnic group occupied the Chongo Basin (also referred to as the Cuyo Basin), located in the side valley above the Inca site of Pisaq. Like those related to the Huayllacan, Pinahua, and Mohina (see below), the oral histories of the Cuyo recorded by Spaniards describe two or more Inca conquests of the region. Several authors suggest that the first Inca territorial expansion from the Cuzco Valley, conducted during the reign of the fifth Inca, Capac Yupanqui, involved the military conquest of the Cuyo (Sarmiento de Gamboa 1906: 48 [1572: Ch. 18]; Cabello de Valboa 1951: 290 [1586: Book 3, Ch. 13]; Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamayhua 1993: 209 [f. 14]). According to Cobo (1979:122 [1653: Bk. 12, Ch. 8]), Capac Yupanqui placed Tarco Huaman, a brother and political rival, as governor over the new province. This conquest is linked in the various sources to long-distance exchange (the Inca invaded after the Cuyo ruler refused to send exotic birds from the jungle lowlands to Cuzco) and to religion (the Inca visited the principal shrine of the Cuyo and asserted the superiority of the Inca solar cult over the local deity).

  Aside from a possible reconquest of the region by Yahuar Huacac (Sarmiento de Gamboa 1906: 54–55 [1572: Ch. 23]), no mention is made of the Cuyo until the reign of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (the ninth ruler). Several authors (Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamayhua 1993: 226 [f. 22v]; Sarmiento de Gamboa 1906: 71–72 [1572: Ch. 34]) relate that after defeating the Chanka, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui held a festival at which an attempt on his life was made. The Cuyo were blamed, although Cabello de Valboa (1951: 300 [1586: Bk. 3, Ch. 14]) claims that they were falsely accused. In any case, the Inca reaction was to campaign throughout the region, destroying the Cuyo center and killing many of its inhabitants. Although some authors state that the Cuyo were completely killed off, remnants of this group are mentioned in colonial land documents (Toledo 1940 [1571]; Espinoza Soriano 1977;) and were possibly resettled in the Vilcanota Valley proper or sent to grow coca in the lowlands of Paucartambo.

  The archaeological remains from this area seem to substantiate some of the chronicle accounts (Covey 2003). Survey data indicate major population growth during the Killke Period, when the Cuyo Basin was dominated by several large nucleated villages, most of them located on ridge tops at high elevation (above 4,000 masl). Prior to the Inca conquest of the area, the largest of these was the site of Muyuch’urqu, a 6-hectare village protected by cliffs and defensive walls. Muyuch’urqu was the center of a chiefdom and was surrounded by five or six smaller villages. It was positioned to control caravan traffic between the Vilcanota Valley and the Paucartambo lowlands, and it would have commanded a mosaic economy that included agricultural production and herding. Survey work around
Muyuch’urqu recorded a ceramic style and mortuary tradition of funerary towers not found in areas to its south, and thus it appears to have been culturally distinct from groups living in the Cuzco Basin. The tradition of mortuary tower construction is absent in the Cuzco Basin, but it has been observed for areas to the north of the Vilcanota River, including Ollantaytambo, Paucartambo, and Ocongate (Franco Inojosa 1937; Isbell 1997: 174–181).

  A major settlement shift in the Cuyo Basin during the latter part of the Killke Period indicates that Cuzco was developing indirect control over what had been an independent group. The defensive location of their sites and distinctive pottery and mortuary styles suggest that for much of the Killke Period, the people of the Cuyo Basin did not maintain peaceful contact with the developing Inca state. The largest Killke Period settlement in Cuyo territory is Pukara Pantillijlla, a site located at about 3,950 masl on a ridge across the basin from Muyuch’urqu. At more than 10 hectares, this site is substantially larger than Muyuch’urqu, and it appears to have administered a greater area as well. Pukara Pantillijlla has a mix of semicircular and rectangular stone structures (Dwyer 1971a; Kendall 1976; Covey 2003). As at Qhapaqkancha, the slopes around the site are heavily terraced and were used for additional settlement and agriculture. Local Killke Period wares and a substantial amount of Killke pottery dominate the dense ceramic scatters that cover the surface of the site. Covey’s excavations at Pukara Pantillijlla in 2000 demonstrate that the occupation area expanded between AD 1250 and 1350, when many of the rectangular buildings were constructed (cf. Dwyer 1971a). Inca imperial pottery constitutes a small component of the excavated assemblage at Pukara Pantillijlla, and the abandonment of many of the site’s residential structures between AD 1300 and 1500 indicates that the main occupation of the site ended before the florescence of the Inca Period. The archaeological data do not indicate the destruction and complete abandonment of the site around 1450, as described in the chronicles, but rather a steady decline over several generations.