Constructing Difference: Defense, Sensory Experience, and Social Difference at a Late Prehispanic Hillfort (Arequipa, Peru)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Beyond the Round House: Spatial Logic and Settlement Organization across the Late Andean Highlands" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The fortified settlement of Auquimarka was one of many hilltop fortifications built during the Late Intermediate Period (1000 – 1450 CE) in the Colca Valley of the southern Peruvian highlands. While most fortifications fell into disuse following Inka expansion into the region, Auquimarka continued to grow and became a modest administrative center. The hilltop promontory location and numerous defensive walls are among the most striking features of the settlement. While crucial for defense, these features were also important in ordering the construction of homes and public spaces and in shaping the sensory experiences of residents as they moved through the settlement. Survey and excavations at the site indicate growing social differentiation between residents over time; differences that were often structured in relation to the settlement’s defensive features. Capitalizing on the excellent architectural preservation at the settlement and a high-resolution digital terrain model captured from UAV imagery, this paper examines how social differences were mediated through experiences of visibility and mobility. The long history of occupation at Auquimarka offers insights into how social and political changes brought about by Inka rule were enacted in relation to earlier Late Intermediate Period experiences of war and settlement nucleation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Beyond the Round House: Spatial Logic and Settlement Organization across the Late Andean Highlands   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25826