Understanding an Alternative Pattern of Coalescence: A Study of Architecture and Organization at a Non-fortified, Pre-Inca Town in Highland Peru

Summary

This study presents an analysis of the architecture and spatial organization at Maukallaqta de Nuñoa, a prehispanic site within the highlands of Peru dating to the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000 – 1450). Within the northern Titicaca Basin where the site is located, hillforts dominate the archaeological landscape during this time as a result of increased political fragmentation and social discontinuity. While these hillforts often display very little architectural investment other than their fortification walls, Maukallaqta boasts over 300 well-preserved house structures along with dozens of chullpa burial towers, slab-cist tombs, and other structures which are unevenly distributed throughout the site. The organization and spatial relation of these structures in addition to the site’s non-fortified nature provide immediate clues as to the exceptional use of this space during the Late Intermediate Period. Preliminary results based on site-wide architectural mapping and further GIS analysis demonstrate fundamental differences between the planning, use of space, and nature of social life at Maukallaqta and that of contemporaneous hillforts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 17205