Mortuary Assemblages from Uraca, an early Wari-era Cemetery in the Majes Valley of Arequipa, Peru

During the Andean Middle Horizon (600 - 1000 AD), the spread of the Wari Empire across the Peruvian Andes caused rapid political and economic restructuring, which in turn effected changes in diets, religious practices, and mortuary customs in many regions throughout Peru. Research so far in the south-coastal Majes Valley (Department of Arequipa) suggests that the spread of Wari influence did not change dietary practices. However, social hierarchization seems to have intensified during the Middle Horizon in the Majes Valley, and mortuary customs seem to have become more complex. Recent excavations at Uraca, a cemetery site with sectors spanning the Middle Horizon, show similarities in tomb construction, body position and treatment, and preference for certain types of textile offerings across sectors. However, the northern and southern sectors exhibit differences in ceramic types, animal offerings, textile implements, rates of cranial trauma, and styles and methods of manufacture of human trophy head offerings. The differences observed may be due to different dates of use, or due to the cemetery sectors being reserved for different social groups (i.e. commoners vs. elites; warriors or priests vs. craftsmen, etc.) during the same time period.