Dating a Wari D-Shaped Temple: New Radiocarbon Evidence from Pakaytambo, Arequipa, Peru

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2021: General Sessions" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Middle Horizon (A.D. 600-1000) was a time of profound social transformation in the Andes, distinguished in part by the expansion of Wari influence, peoples, and state institutions outside of their Ayacucho heartland. In this paper, I present findings of an architectural complex composed of Wari patio-groups, a D-shaped structure, and monumental platform construction at the site Pakaytambo in southern Peru (upper Majes Valley, Arequipa). Analysis of excavated material remains and AMS radiocarbon dates indicate that this Wari occupation occurred sometime between the late 8th and 10th centuries AD. Here I report initial findings and draw similarities to other D-shaped enclosures at Wari sites across Peru. Pakaytambo’s strategic location along the valley’s major prehistoric road and its placement between local populations in the upper drainage and middle Majes Valley would have framed interactions with local populations. Consequently, Pakaytambo provides an ideal perspective on the use of ideology as state power in a frontier context.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• SAA 2021: General Sessions

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32962