New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon

Part of: Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Cusco has become synonymous with Tawantinsuyu’s political core and place of origin. But the Inkas’ occupation of this region was only one development in a long history of sociopolitical change situated locally in the broader Cusco region. The cumulative impact of research projects executed through international collaboration has facilitated unprecedented understanding of this topic. Over a century of multidisciplinary archaeology has allowed us to transcend the narrow purview of historical chronicles. Now, we can continue expanding our scope to understand how people made their own histories during more than two millennia across the Cusco region.

This session brings together new research from across the Cusco region, using diverse theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches. Participants will present novel insights on the coalescence of the earliest communities; local responses to Wari imperialism; the sociopolitical arena in which Inka state formation occurred; and Inka efforts to establish hegemony in the Cusco region. More than a decade since the last SAA session on archaeology in the Cusco region, we will take account of dissonances and patterns to generate fresh ideas on what the big questions are for archaeologists moving forward.

Other Keywords
Trade and exchange • Social and Political Organization • Identity/Ethnicity • South America: Andes

Resources Inside This Collection (Viewing 1-14 of 14)

  • Documents (14)
Documents
  • Andesite Exchange Networks from the Formative to Middle Horizon in Cusco (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Matthew Brown.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Rumiqolqa quarry is well known as the main source of stone for some of the most impressive Inka constructions, however the quarry's use prior to the Late Horizon is less understood. During her excavations at the Formative site of Marcavalle, Mohr-Chavez hypothesized that the andesite used to make flaked tools...

  • Análisis comparativo de Machuqolqa y Yunkaray en el periodo pre-inca y inca temprano del Cusco (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Kylie Quave.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Presentamos una comparación de dos sitios de la región al noroeste de Cusco, capital eventual del imperio Inca. El sitio de Yunkaray por la pampa de Maras y el sitio de Machuqolqa cerca a Chinchero fueron ocupados durante los siglos XIV a XV durante el supuesto periodo de desarrollo imperial de los Incas en la...

  • Análisis de la cerámica del Periodo Intermedio Tardío del sitio Isqomoqo (Yanahuara, Urubamba) (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only E. Williams Franco Chávez.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Presentamos los resultados de los trabajos de prospección y análisis de cerámica del Periodo Intermedio Tardío, desarrollados en el sitio Isqomoqo, ubicado en la parte oeste del Valle Sagrado. Este periodo es asociado al estilo decorativo Killke y a menudo los investigadores han identificado este estilo en...

  • Aportes del estilo cerámico de Matagua-Wanakauri: Una lectura de la cerámica del origen de los incas (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Yanet Villacorta Oviedo.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Las sociedades anteriores a los incas tuvieron conocimiento en la producción cerámica, cada cual con un estilo particular, siendo el caso del estilo cerámico de Matagua. Arqueológicamente se tiene la presencia de los estilos Killke, Lucre, Colcha. Los rasgos de diseño y morfología son similares y varían en...

  • Assessing Ceramic Occupations Within the Historic Sanctuary of Machupicchu: Application of a Multi-Proxy Approach to Understand the Technological Practices at the Archaeological Site of Isla Chico (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Nino Vadick Del Solar Velarde.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. In this research, a highly representative sample of ceramics (n=80) from the archaeological site of Isla Chico at the Historic Sanctuary of Machupicchu (corresponding to pre-Hispanic pottery from the Formative, Early Intermediate, Middle Horizon, Late Intermediate and Late Horizon periods) has been characterized...

  • Embodied Identity in the Inka Heartland: A Comparative Bioarchaeological Perspective (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Bethany Turner.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The bioarchaeology of the Central Andes has expanded dramatically since the 1990s, providing nuanced framings of identity, health, labor, conflict, and consumption across ten millennia. Bioarchaeological research in the Cusco region is less prolific compared to others such as the north coast and Titicaca basin,...

  • First and Last: Stone Quarrying at the Start and End of the Inka Empire (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Bill Sillar.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Qeuña Sondor andesite outcrop is 16 km to the north of Cusco at 4300 m. Stone from here was first used to construct the Inka royal estate of Caquia Xaquixahuana (JuchuyQosqo), associated with Viracocha Inka. Small blocks from here were also used in some of the earliest Inka andesite constructions in Cuzco...

  • Identity and Territory in the Sacred Valley During Inka State Formation (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Julia Earle.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Late Intermediate Period (LIP, ca. 1000–1400 CE) was a time of accelerated sociopolitical change. In the Cusco region, culturally diverse populations engaged in dynamic interaction networks and were implicated in macro-level processes of political centralization. Over recent decades, scholars have reframed...

  • La cerámica del Periodo Intermedio Tardío de los sitios ubicados en las Pampas de Anta y Chinchero, Cusco (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Miriam Aráoz.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Los trabajos de investigación arqueológica del Periodo Intermedio Tardío en las pampas de Anta y Chinchero, Cusco, se llevaron a cabo desde hace varias décadas atrás, sobre patrones de asentamiento, jerarquización de sitios, distribución y densidad de materiales arqueológicos, así como excavaciones en algunos...

  • The Process of Inka Megalithic Wall Construction at Sacsayhuaman (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Dennis Ogburn.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Although scholars know the technology the Inka used to quarry, transport, and shape the stones that were used in their high-quality structures, the exact process of how they maneuvered and fit the building blocks of their megalithic walls has long been elusive. Proposed solutions involving a repeated process of...

  • Qotakalli: La escondida urbe en el Valle del Cusco Perú (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Amelia Perez Trujillo.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Qotakalli es un poblado de la época Inka planificado, a partir de una calle principal que también forma parte de un camino secundario que conduce a Wanacaure, Qotakalli se encuentra conformado por estructuras rectangulares divididas por una calle principal, 3 secundarias, 27 pasajes transversales y una plaza de...

  • Reconstrucción virtual de un segmento del conjunto ceremonial en Cruzmoqo, Sacsayhuaman (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Felipe Barrantes-Reynolds.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. El objetivo de esta presentación es aplicar herramientas de arquitectura y construcción a sitios arqueológicos, desarrollando metodologías rigurosas y no invasivas para la reconstrucción virtual de edificaciones antiguas a partir de ruinas. El lugar de estudio es Cruz Moqo, ubicado en el complejo arqueológico de...

  • Wari Monumental Architecture: New State Canons of Power in Kaninkunka, Huaro, Cusco. (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Hubert Quispe-Bustamante.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the Middle Horizon, two expansionist states dominated the Andes: the Wari and the Tiwanaku. So far, only Moquegua has evidence of direct interaction betweensettlers from those two states. In the Cusco region, the presence of large Wari installations have been interpreted as evidence of strong Wari...

  • Wari Soft Power in Middle Horizon Cusco: A Bottom-Up View (2025)
    DOCUMENT Citation Only Veronique Belisle.

    This is an abstract from the "New Advances in Cusco Archaeology: From the Formative to the Late Horizon" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Many scholars have suggested that Wari architecture outside the Ayacucho heartland was a sign of direct imperial administration. This view assumes deep political impact on local populations, with shifting allegiances, a profound reorganization of how groups interacted with one another, and changing values about...