STYLE AND TIME IN THE MIDDLE HORIZON Dorothy Menzel Contents Introduction . oo 06.5000 Middle Horizon Epoch 1... fe General sumary and terminology . . ‘The area of Ayacucho and Huari. ae Evidence of associations . . The Huarpa style. . . . . The Chakipampa style . . . The Ocros style. . . . 1 1 The Black Decorated style . . . The Conchopata style . 500 The Robles Mogo style. . . . . The south coast, . . -. . Evidence of associations , The Robles Mogo style of Pacheco . The Nasca 9 style . . . Sierra influences in the Pacheco refuse The central coast. . . . Evidence of associations The Nieverfa style. . . The south-central coast. . . Evidence of associations , The Cerro del Oro style , Middle Worizon Epoch 2.0. 2. . General summary and terminology The sierra. . ae Evidence of associations . ‘The Vifiaque style... Survivals of the Nasca tradition in the The Vifiaque-associated styles . . Vitiaque-associated styles Distribution of Vifiaque and The valleys of Nasca. . . Evidence of associations . The Atarco style. . . . The central coast. . . . - Evidence of associations . The Pachacamac style . . The Ica Valley. . . 1 se Middle Horizon Epoch 3... . - The valleys of Nasce. . . The Ica Valley. . . . . Middle Horizon Epoch4. . . . Viflaque style v7 18 ag 2. 23 23 26 28 30 31 31 32 33 33 34 35 35 38 38 40 43 4a 45 46 a7 53 53 55 61 62 63 64 65Conclugloms ee ce tee) U2 600g 50000005054 5500 TI Introduction In 1925, in discussing Middle Horizon pottery from a cemetery at Moche on the north coast of Peru, A, L, Kroeber emphasized the importance of making a careful distinction between the concepts of style and time in arch- aeological research, This section of his monograph was entitled "Style and Period in Peru."! The situation which prompted Kroeber's distinction was the occurrence of several different styles of pottery together in such circum- stances that he was led to assign then to the sane period. Associations of this kind are particularly characteristic of the earlier part of the Middle Horizon all over Peru, and they evident!y reflect complex cultural influences and developments, What these influences and developments were has long been a favorite subject for speculation. No convincing cultural interpretation was possible, however, in the absence of a precise system of relative dating to which surviving Middle Horizon sites and objects could be referred. This paper is an attempt to construct such a system and to use it as a basis for recovering an outline of the major events of the period. Kroeber's point about the importance of the distinction between time and style proved fundamental to the solution of the problems of Middle Horizon chronology, An equally indispensable working principle was to make the fullest possible use of archaeological associations, including refuse associations, grave lots, and contrasts in surface distributions, Tt would have been impossible to reach a solution by relying only on published mate- rial, Many of the key excavations of Middle Horizon sites have never been published, and where a report does exist it rarely provides an adequate record of the significant evidence, Fortunately, much unpublished evidence is available to any inquiring student in public and private collections in Peru and the United States. This study is the result of some three years of research, including a review of older collections and new surveys at key Middle Horizon sites.2 The Middle Horizon is a period of time defined arbitrarily with reference to the "standard" sequence of pottery styles of the Ica Valley on the south coast of Peru, the intent of the definition being to include the time when the art of the south coast was under the influence of a sierra style related to that of Tiahuanaco, The Middle Horizon starts with the beginning of Phase 9 of the Nasca style at Ica and ends with the beginning of the Chulpaca A phase of the Ica style, It is preceded by the Early Intermediate Period, in which eight epochs are distinguished, and followed by the Late Intermediate Period. At a conservative estimate, subject tocorrection when more radiocarbon determinations are available, the Middle Horizon dates from about A.D, 800 to about A.D. 1100.3 In an earlier study of Middle Horizon problems, published in 1958, I suggested a division of this period into four epochs, Further work has made it possible to subdivide Epochs 1 and 2, so that we can now distin- guish Epochs 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B. No doubt when more associations are avail- able for Epochs 3 and 4 it will be possible to subdivide them aiso, It is the greater precision in dating made possible by the subdivision of Epochs 1 and 2 that has made possible the reconstruction of cultural events outlined in the conciustons, Since this chronology for the Middle Horizon is based on distinc- tions in pottery styles, the discussion which follows will be concerned chiefly with pottery and its associations, The areas examined in most detail are those of Ayacucho and Huari in the southern sierra and Ica and Nasca on the south coast. The area of Ayacucho and Huari is important because it was the major center of cultural influences in Peru in the Middle Horizon. Ica and Nasca are important because they provide the evidence for relating Middle Horizon styles elsewhere to the standard sequence of Ica; Nasca has additional special significance because it was a center of prestige which influenced the Ayacucho region. A third area of special interest on which some information is available is the central coast between Pachacamac and Ancén. Deficiencies in the evidence available make it necessary to treat other parts of Peru more briefly, although some of them are probably very important to the Middle Horizon story. Middle Horizon Epoch 1 General summary and terminology It was during Epoch 1 of the Middle Horizon that intrusive pottery of sierra origin made its first appearance in the Ica and Nasca valleys. Earlier and later phases can be distinguished in the sierra pottery styles of this epoch, and it is this difference in style which provides the basis for making A and B subdivisions within Epoch 1, No comparable distinction can yet be made in the Nasca 9 style, because there are too few recorded associations for Nasca 9 material. However, the intrusive highland pottery which appears in the Nasca 9 associations we have is all attributable to Epoch 1B, The same types of intrusive pottery appear on the coast as far north as Chancay and as far south as Acar{, In the sierra, these pottery types are concentrated around Ayacucho and Huari, but they are found as far north as Huaraz, while reports indicate that they may be found in the Pampas River drainage and possibly even further south, in the sierra back of Nasca and Acar{.4 The sierra styles characteristic of the area of Ayacucho and Huari influenced coastal styles in Epoch 1B, inducing sudden changes, although features of the older coastal traditions continued to be dominant or at least important, The Nasca tradition, which had exerted widespread