Control, Visibility, and Storage at Monte Sierpe, a Late Horizon Site in the Pisco Valley, Peru

Summary

The Pisco Valley was an important node for the Inka empire’s control of what is now the southern coast of Peru, as evidenced by the presence of the large Inka administrative center of Tambo Colorado. This valley additionally would have been a strategic location for sociopolitical and economic exchanges between the Inka empire and the Chincha kingdom, whose capital is located just to the north in the Chincha Valley. This preliminary research utilizes survey data and GIS analyses to examine access routes, visibility, and storage distribution at the Monte Sierpe complex, located in the Pisco Valley, to better understand the relationship between the Chincha kingdom and the Inka empire during the Late Horizon. I argue that the Monte Sierpe complex – which includes the Band of Holes, located just 1km down the valley from the main site – was a Late Horizon administrative center utilized by the elites of both polities to exert control over the valley’s inhabitants. The data additionally suggest that the Inka incorporation of the Chincha kingdom into the Inka empire was not as peaceful as previously thought, as evidenced by the construction of defensive walls in various areas of the site.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20956