War, Chronology, and Causality in the Titicaca Basin

Abstract

In the Late Intermediate Period (ca. A.D. 1000-1450), people in many parts of the Andean highlands moved away from rich agricultural lands to settle in defensive sites high on hills and ridges, frequently building hilltop forts known as pukaras in Quechua and Aymara. This settlement shift indicates a concern with warfare not equaled at any other time in the archaeological sequence. While the traditional assumption is that warfare in the Late Intermediate Period resulted directly from the collapse of the Middle Horizon polities of Wari and Tiwanaku around A.D. 1000, radiocarbon dates presented here from occupation and wall-building events at pukaras in the northern Titicaca Basin indicate these hillforts did not become common until late in the Late Intermediate Period, after approximately A.D. 1300. Alternative explanations for this late escalation of warfare are evaluated, especially climate change. On a local scale, the shifting nature of pukara occupation indicates cycles of defense, abandonment, reoccupation, and wall building within a broader context of elevated hostilities that lasted for the rest of the Late Intermediate Period and beyond.

Integrating Identities: An Innovative Bioarchaeological and Biogeochemical Approach to Analyzing the Multiplicity of Identities in the Mortuary Record

“…However, a growing body of research demonstrates that the Late Intermediate Period was much more complex, with considerable political and environmental changes throughout the Andes, including changes to settlement patterns, trade and exchange relationships, and political organization (Arkush 2008;Arkush and Tung 2013;Conlee et al 2004;Covey 2008;Kurin et al 2016). During the Late Intermediate Period in San Pedro de Atacama, formerly disparate populations consolidated into neighboring river valleys and canyons, perhaps seeking defensive positioning and safety.…”

Managing the risk of climatic variability in late prehistoric northern Chile

“…Ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and archaeological case studies demonstrate that raiding to obtain stored goods and/or livestock, violent displacement of neighbors, and territorial conquest and subsequent resource extraction are all strategies employed to cope with extended periods of drought (Arkush, 2006(Arkush, , 2008(Arkush, , 2011Billman et al, 2000;Ember and Ember, 1992;Endfield et al, 2004;Field, 2004;Keeley, 1996;Kennett and Kennett, 2000;Lambert and Walker, 1991;Lape and Chin-Yung, 2008;LeBlanc, 1999;Nel and Righarts, 2008;Raleigh, 2010;Rappaport, 1967;Seltzer and Hastorf, 1990). In such cases, the risk-reduction strategies of one group increases the hazards-both in terms of inter-community and intra-community conflict-encountered by others in the surrounding region (see below).…”

Putting the rise of the Inca Empire within a climatic and land management context

“…This dramatic settlement shift is generally thought to reflect a change from reliance on lower valley terrace (Wari) and raised field systems (Tiwanaku) to more diversified agropastoral economies. These agro-pastoral economies would have served as an effective risk-reduction subsistence strategy in the wake of widespread demographic, settlement and environmental change (Stanish, 2003;Arkush, 2006Arkush, , 2008.…”