From Pukaras to Polities: Exploring Late Prehispanic Andean Hillforts through Large Scale Network Analysis

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Archaeological Applications of Network Analysis" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper employs network analysis to explore the sociopolitical dynamics of the late prehispanic south-central Andes through the lens of 1,400 hilltop fortifications. Hilltop fortifications in the Andean highlands, known as pukaras, are emblematic of the Late Intermediate period (1000–1450 CE) and Late Horizon (1450–1532 CE). Focusing on defensive networks reveals patterns of interdependence that provide insights into the larger framework of sociopolitical organization during the late prehispanic era. Our study investigates relationships among these hillforts by combining spatial analysis and formal network analysis. Edges between hillforts were constructed and weighted based on intervisibility and walking cost to account for the influence of the mountainous Andean landscape on interactions and mutual aid. We identify significant sociopolitical units within this regional dataset using community detection measures, validated against archaeological and ethnohistoric sources. Analysis of the resulting networks reveals important regional diversity in community structure, highlighting interactions between local landscapes, levels of conflict, and sociopolitical organization. This paper highlights the potential of interregional scale network analysis to uncover patterns in large archaeological datasets and advances our understanding of how defensive networks shaped late prehispanic Andean polities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeological Applications of Network Analysis   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40130.0