Drinking Together: The Role of Foodways in the Wari and Huaracane Colonial Encounter in the Moquegua Valley, Peru

Summary

Food is a unique form of material culture, representing a multiplicity of ethnic, gender, racial, political, and economic identities, that is consumed and reaffirmed through daily practice. In this way, food remains provide a nuanced perspective on a variety of archaeological issues. This paper focuses on Wari imperial expansion and how foodways enabled both Wari colonists and local peoples to negotiate the colonial experience during the Middle Horizon (AD 600-1000), Peru. Using paleoethnobotanical data, I present data from the Wari site of Cerro Baúl and the Huaracane site of Yahuay Alta in the Moquegua Valley, Peru. I investigate not only how Wari incursion impacted Huaracane foodways, but also how local environmental and social conditions shaped Wari food practices. A consideration of food remains will not only distinguish what can be considered uniquely Wari or Huaracane cuisine, but also how foodways may have developed on either side of the colonial encounter. More specifically, this study begins to characterize: 1) the alcoholic beverage chicha de molle as a medium of Wari culture that could be consumed by local communities; and 2) how the selective adoption and internalization of Wari chicha de molle by Huaracane communities may have shaped the colonial encounter.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

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

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20365