The Incas in Nasca: A Review of Data from the Northern Drainage

Summary

Little research has been conducted in the Nasca region to explicitly improve our understanding of the nature of Inca occupation in the region. A while back, Menzel (1959) noted the lack of local monumental architecture associated to Inca sites in Nasca. In contrast to the Ica valley, surface data from sites in the Nasca area suggest that local populations lacked socio-political complexity and were organized at the level of simple chiefdom structures. Later on Schreiber (1992) suggested that the integration of the territory was achieved by adding an administrative tier to the local settlement pattern. However, there is no known local settlements which are spatially associated to Inca buildings. Schreiber suggests the Incas’ interest in Nasca was due to its strategic location at the junction of the highland with the coastal Inca road. In this paper, I use data from excavations at Huayuri in the Santa Cruz Valley in the Nasca drainage to explore the nature of interactions between local households and the Inca state. I will focus on the analysis of ceramic material to delineate possible cultural and economic interactions. Also, I will draw on surface data from three other sites to further understand this relationship.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21337