Water, Huacas, and Ancestor Worship: Traces of a Sacred Wari Landscape

Mary Glowacki; Michael Malpass

Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 14, No. 4. (Dec., 2003), pp. 431-448.

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 WATER, HUACAS, AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP:

TRACES OF A SACRED WAR1 LANDSCAPE

Mary Glowacki and Michael Malpass

--

During the Middle Hori;on (A.D. 540-900) the Wuri of the cenrrul highlands Ayacucho region expanded their control into
many parts of rhe Andes. While different motives ha1.e been cired for Wari state expansion. uje suggest that a severe andpro-
longed droughr during the ~ i x r hcentury mcv have ~,la,yeda sigtlificat~trole. We posit rhat the Wari responded to this envi-
ronmental crisis not only hy seeking practical solutions, such as secirring productive lartd outside the hearrland, but also
b y implementing rrligiouspructices intended to cosn~ologicall~ resrorefertility ro drought- tricke en areas and validate acqui-
sition of arable land in foreign territories. Using n model of lnka ideology developed by Peter Gose, we propose that a
strong religious complex involving ancestor worship, huacus, and the cosrnological conrrol of water led the Wari to seek
out and control locations where wcrter could be drawn from supernatural sources. The presence of large bodies of water
near major Wari udmini.ttrative sites as well as other naturcll phenomena, particularly certain mountains, rock formurions,
and lurge stones, and site offerings of Spondylus, copper, and stonejgurines support this model. A .sacred Wari landscape
is thus .seer! as complemenrun to the e.\tahlished political landscape and providing a supernatural justification.

Durante el Horizonre Medio (540-900 d.C.) 10s Wari del alriplano central en la regidn de Ayacucho llegaron a controlar una
gran parte de 10.7 Andes. Autique se han ofrecido mucha.~q l i c a c i o n e .sobre esre fendmeno, favorecemos la teoria de que esre
n~ovimientofue impul.sadopor una sequia terrible de larga duracidn durunre el siglo sexto. E.sprohable que 10s Wari no sola-
menre hayarl huscado so1rrcione.s practicas como la conqui.cta de terrirorio exrranjero, pero tambiPn implementaron pructicas
religiosas para restit~rirco.stnoldgicamente la fertilidad de sus tierra~y de esta manera validar su invasidn. Basado en el mo-
d e l ~d e ideologia lnka proprtesto por Peter Gose, teori:omos que 10s Wari,fueron motivados por sus practicas religiosas tales
la veneracidn de 10s atltepasador y hiiuca.~.Esro les impulsd husrur y conrrolar cosmoldgicamente el agua. La presencia de
grandes cuerpos de agua, montaiia.~,formacio~~es rocosas, y ofrendas de Spondylus, cobre, yjigurinas de piedra cerca de la
.sede de centros admini.stratico.s Wari soportan nuestra teoria. Es decir, que el panorama sagrado corresponde a1 panorama
politico ,y se complementan el uno a/ otro, lo cualjustijica la existencia de este ~rltimo.

F
actors influencing the selection of places
where people choose to live include prox-
imity to food and culturally important nat-
ural resources, safety from inclement weather and
potential aggressors, and accessibility to comdors
of trade. Religious beliefs and places integral to
them, although harder to identify archaeologically,
should also be considered in settlement pattern
studies. In the case of non-Western societies, deci-
sions about many aspects of life are frequently
based on both practical and religious considera-
tions, with no clear distinction made between the
two (see, for example, Lansing 1991 regarding the
role of water temples in Balinese society). Conse-
quently, the archaeological record should reflect
such decision-making processes and, in particular,
the selection and use of sites and the sacred nature
of the landscape they comprise.
Water, an essential element of life, has consis-
tently dictated where early people decided to set-
tle. However, choosing which source of water and
the degree of proximity likely took into account
religious meaning associated with such natural phe-
nomena. This linkage is supported by the fact that
water acquisition, management, and control are
some of the most common themes of religious
myths. According to William Back, who has stud-
ied water-related myths of early indigenous Amer-
icans,

.. There is no conceptual distinction of purpose

Mary Glowacki Pre-Columbian Archaeological Research Group, Inc.. 2018 Wahalaw Nene. Tallahassee, FL 32301
Michael Malpass Department of Anthropology, Ithaca College. 1150 Garnett Ctr., Ithaca, NY 1485G7274

Latin American Antiquity, 14(4), 2003, pp. 43 I 4 8

CopyrightO 2003 by the Society for American Archaeology

432 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
between (1) construction of a modern dam to
form a reservoir for storage of water along
with the usual canals for diverting it to other
areas, (2) construction of a clay pot to be
filled with spring water for storage and
"diverted" to an area of need by being carried
on the head of an Indian woman, and (3) con-
struction of a ritual to be performed by an
Indian priest involving prayers, dance, art, and
perhaps sacrifices to bring rain in time for the
planting season. In all three situations, human
activity is being directed toward making the
spatial and temporal occurrence of water com-
patible with the spatial and temporal need for
the water. This is the objective of all water
management. Nor is there a distinction as to
which of the three is assured of unfaltering
success: dams fail, water jugs break, and
prayers go unanswered [Back 1981:257].
While many archaeological studies consider the
more practical means by which early societies con-
trolled water, corresponding religious beliefs and
decisions require further investigation. This is par-
ticularly true for societies of the South American
Andes where prehistory was repeatedly marked by
climatic events producing too little or too much
rain, resulting in numerous secular and sacred activ-
ities directed toward the control of water.
The Middle Horizon (A.D. 54G900) is marked
by the appearance of Wari cultural influence
throughout much of precolumbian Peru. The Wari
were based at the site of Wari, Ayacucho, in the
Peruvian central highlands. This polity, generally
accepted now as a state-level expansionist society,
is identified, in part, by a widespread architectural
style associated with monumental complexes and
a site distribution hierarchy (Isbell 1991;Isbell and
Schreiber 1978; Schreiber 1992). Corresponding
to this central Andean horizon is evidence for cer-
emonial activities closely tied to sacred natural
topographical features and intimately linked to
ancestor worship and the cosmological control of
water. Drawing on later practices by imperial Inka
society as an interpretive model, we present data
that suggest a sacred Wari landscape concurrent
with the political one.
Background
The Wari initiated imperial expansion sometime
between A.D. 600 and 700. This established an
empire that endured until at least A.D. 800
[Vol. 14, No. 4,2003
(Schreiber 1992:77-78), and probably later.'
Developing from earlier Huarpa culture (Knobloch
1983; Lumbreras 198 1; see also MacNeish et al.
1981), Wari society built its capital into an impres-
sive city. Its architectural core covered an area of
approximately 2.5 to 3 krn2, comprised of numer-
ous multistory building compounds.2 Population
estimates for Wari range from as few as 10,000 to
20,000 persons to as many as 35,000 to 70,000 per-
sons (Isbell 1984:98, 1986: 191, 1988:168-169,
171, 173;Isbellet al. 1991:24,51). During theMid-
dle Horizon, it was the largest urban center in the
Peruvian Central Andes.
The character of Wari society has only recently
been the subject of investigation and debate. Until
the 1950s, Wari was considered a coastal manifes-
tation of the Middle Horizon altiplano culture,
Tiwanaku. Further research resulted in more com-
prehensive analyses of Wari material culture and its
distribution that led scholars to interpret Wari as a
secular, militaristic state that expanded quickly out
of the Ayacucho region north as far as Cajamarca
and south as far as the Department of Cuzco (Fig-
ure 1). While this view acknowledged the impor-
tance of Wari religion in state enterprise, the
emphasis was on a more secular perspective of activ-
ities engaged in at the main sites (see Cook
1986:18-58,1994:3340; Isbell and McEwan 1991;
see also other chapters in Isbell and McEwan 1991).
While most Andean prehistorians subscribe to
the view of a Wari expansionist state, a few adhere
to a more religious characterization. For example,
some have interpreted Wari activity as part of a pan-
Andean religious phenomenon propelled by
Tiwanaku proselytization and closely tied to eco-
nomic exchange (Bawden and Conrad 1982:30-3 1;
Shady 1982).
The impetus for Wan expansion from Ayacu-
cho has also been a topic of considerable discus-
sion. Research at the Wari capital and provincial
sites has led to the view of Wari as militaristic
aggressor, and as a conquest state (Isbell 1991;
Isbell and Schreiber 1978), though evidence for
specific acts of militarism have yet to be docu-
mented. Some scholars working outside the Wari
heartland have challenged this position. A few have
stressed the importance of Pachacamac, the oracle
center on the central coast, as a significant factor
in the spread of Wari influence (Shady 1982; Shea
Glowacki and Malpass] WATER, HUACAS, AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP

Figure 1. Map of Peru showing sites discussed in text.

434 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
1969).With the discovery of large ceremonial urns
that were ritually smashed and buried at Con-
chopata near the Wari capital (Isbell and Cook
1987), and similar vessels earlier recovered from
Pacheco in the Nazca drainage (Tello 1942), the
idea of a powerful religion motivating the expan-
sion has gained favor. Others scholars have seen
the expansion as economic, focusing on the intro-
duction of successful agricultural terracing and irri-
gation as the hallmark of Wari influence (Moseley
1992). Still others (see Topic 1991:162;Topic and
Topic 1992:177) have proposed that a combination
of religious and economic incentives lie at the heart
of Wari expansion.
As with many early states, multiplecauses could
have been at the core of Wari expansionism. Ice-
core data from the Quelccaya ice cap in central Peru
(Thompson et al. 1985) provide a detailed view of
short-term climate change over the past 1,500 years.
A major d r ~ u g h taffecting
,~ much of the Andes for
several decades during the sixth century A.D., may
have led the Wari to seek arable land and fertile pas-
tures e l ~ e w h e r eThis
. ~ expansion was rapidly exe-
cuted and by A.D. 650, the Wari polity had some
presence in much of what is now coastal and high-
land Peru.
Wari expansionism manifested itself differently
in different regions. In the highlands, the Wari built
monumental complexes. In the southern highlands,
they built Pikillacta (McEwan 1984, 1991), the
largest Wari planned complex, and the less rigidly
designed settlement of Huaro (Glowacki
2002a:282).In the northern sierra they established
Viracochapampa (Topic andTopic 1984).Between
the central highlands and the south coast they con-
structed Jincarnocco (Schreiber 1978, 1992), and
in the Ayacucho Basin, Azangaro (Anders 1986,
199 l ) , and there were numerous other sites (for an
enumeration and description, see Schreiber
1992:94-112).
Until recently, no diagnostic architecture had
been definitively identified on the coast, although
Wari presence has been documented through ceme-
teries and isolated burials, and ceramic offering
deposits. With the discovery of Sonay, a small Wari
architectural complex in the Camanh Valley of
southern Peru (Malpass et al. 1997), and Pataraya
in the Nazca drainage (Schreiber 1999), it now
appears that the corporate manifestations of the
[Vol. 14, No. 4, 2003
Wari were present in coastal contexts as well. It is
interesting to note, however, that these complexes
are two of the smallest known.
Pottery also distinguishes Wari highland from
coastal occupations. During Epoch 1 of the Mid-
dle Horizon (A.D. 54&700), the first phase of Wari
expansion, Wari presence is recognized on the coast
by the appearance of Chakipampa pottery (Men-
zel 1964:68),whereas in the sierra, Okros is the
dominant Wari provincial ceramic style (Glowacki
1996:388,391,479480).These pottery styles may
be indicative of Wari contingents dispatched to dif-
ferent territories. In Epoch 2 (A.D. 70&800), dur-
ing the posited height of Wari imperialism, Wari
presence is best characterized by Viiiaque pottery
in the highlands, and by Atarco and Pachacamac
pottery on the south and central coasts, respec-
tively. According to Dorothy Menze1(1964:36,69),
the introduction of these ceramic styles represented
new centers of Wari influence and power estab-
lished during the second wave of expansion.
We propose that the Wari expansion had a strong
religious component that left material remains sug-
gesting a sacred landscape. We believe that Wari
state ideology, which revolved around ancestor
worship as a means of cosmologically controlling
sacred places (i.e., huacas), stimulated territorial
expansion. An important component of that ideol-
ogy may have been ancestor worship associated
with the control of water. Our model for this inter-
pretation is Inka ideology.
Ethnographic, Ethnohistoric, and
Ethnoarchaeological Analogs and the Inka
Model
The Use of Analogy
Ideology defines and explains religious, political,
social, and economic aspects of a society. Reli-
gious ideology is perhaps the strongest and most
enduring (e.g., Eliade 1959) in traditional and pre-
literate society where religious beliefs and their
material associations are both conservative and per-
vasive. Consequently, if analogies are to be made
between living or historic cultures and prehistoric
ones, the strongest of these should be religious.
Ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and ethnoarchaeo-
logical studies support the notion that religious ide-
ology is the least likely component of culture to
Glowacki and Malpass] WATER, HUACAS, AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP 435

change over time (W. Isbell 1978:270; Uvi-Strauss societies, religious beliefs are more integrated into
1964:295-296, 1967:264268; Vogt 1969). When the "secular" spheres of culture (for example, eco-
change does occur, it is slow, belief being carefully nomic and social systems), making it possible to
conveyed from one generation to the next (Vansina find greater redundancy in analogic data. For exarn-
1961:157). Religious ideology is also where we find ple, in early theocratic states, such as that of the
symbolic meaning to be most consciously and pre- Egyptians, religious and political views were tightly
cisely expressed (Mills 1970:94;Robertson 1992:84). interwoven. Accordingly, a pharaoh's political rule
In interpreting religious ideology through anal- could not be understood irrespective of his divine
ogy, the probability of total disjunction of form and kingship (Frankfort 1948:30-58).
meaning over time can be significantly lessened by William Isbell (1997:303-308), following Ann
addressing a complex formal configuration that is Stahl(1993), suggests that rigorous analogies must
unlikely to be duplicated without conveying simi- identify both a source and subject culture. The for-
lar meaning (B. Isbell 1978:227). Beliefs and prac- mer is the society used in interpreting the latter's
tices of a religious ideology should be recognized material record. Moreover, the comparisons must
by their unique symbolic representational elements be time-specific for each; that is, one should clearly
and configurations and, consequently, should be state the temporal reference point for both, indi-
identifiable in the archaeological record. cating the particular context from which the infer-
An analysis of religious ideology should draw ences are drawn. Finally, both differences and
not only on religious data but also on those of other similarities between the source and subject cul-
cultural spheres, since all are generated by the same tures should be defined, to more clearly identify
underlying structure and practices. Technological, what behaviors should or should not be inferred.
economic, political, and social aspects of culture The source culture for this study is the Inka state
may reveal different forms of redundancy, reduc- at its height of power in the early sixteenth century
ing the chance of a similar form without the asso- and prior to the changes wrought by the Spanish
ciated meaning (Adams 1977:127; Schneider C o n q u e ~ tThe . ~ subject culture is the Wari of the
1976:209). Moreover, if an ideological configura- Middle Horizon, Epochs 1B and 2B, when they
tion can be found in multiple contexts--ethno- reached the apex of their political influence. Both
graphic, ethnohistoric, and archaeological-the were Andean expansionist polities with overlapping
reliability of its meaning is greatly enhanced. If a temtories, suggesting political, environmental, and
prehistoric culture can be substantially linked to a economic parallels. In addition, the Wari estab-
historic one, then the strength of the analogy lished one of their principal settlements in the
markedly improves (Adams 1977:136; Strong Department of Cuzco, a short distance from what
1935; Wedel 1938). was to become the Inka capital of Cuzco. While
Most archaeologists who have employed ethno- some four hundred years separated these two soci-
graphic and ethnohistoric inference agree that it is eties, many Wari became part of the Cuzco land-
adherence to standards of relevance or the quality scape after the collapse of the Wari polity, and some
of the criteria for comparison that makes for good may have become Inka ancestors,6 implying a direct
analogic arguments. There are three separate, but historical connection. The Wari heartland in Ayacu-
in no way exclusive, criteria for formulating a cho became part of the homeland of the Chankas,
strong analogy: the quantity of features shared a confederation of chiefdoms subdued by the Inka
between the known and inferred society, the degree early in their political development (Zuidema
of similarity shared between these features, and the 1973a:743-747). Some of the Chankas were prob-
relevance of the features to the research question. ably descendants of the Wari and may have con-
Comparative features include cultural association tributed concepts of state administration to the
(e.g., social, political, ideological, economic, lin- emerging Inka empire. Overall, we consider these
guistic, and ethnic affiliation), environmental cor- linkages to be a solid basis for analogy.
respondence, and geographical and temporal
proximity (see Ascher 1961; Becquelin 1973; de The Inka Model
Montmollin 1989; Wylie 1985). In non-Western We examine the religious character of the Inka state
436 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
pertaining to ancestor worship and the cosmolog-
ical control of water, drawing largely on the syn-
thetic work of Peter Gose (1993). A key concept,
"huaca," is a Quechua term for any person, place,
or thing possessing a sacred or supernatural qual-
ity. The seminal importance of huacas is clearly evi-
denced in the 1653 writings of the Jesuit priest,
BernabC Cobo. He describes a complex of approx-
imately 350 huacas surrounding the Inka capital
of Cuzco, organized around the most sacred of Inka
sites, the Coricancha, or Temple of the Sun. These
huacas occurred within the Inka ceque system (an
abstract spatial and temporal structure imposed
upon the Inka empire, which helped organize social,
economic, and religious activity. See Bauer 1998).
Many huacas were intimately associated with
the resting-places or abodes of ancestors, and were
sacred for that reason. In addition to the bountiful
ethnohistoric evidence, which links the concept of
ancestor worship with huaca in Inka times, the two
are linguistically related. The Quechua word
"villca" meaning "grandfather" or "great-grandfa-
ther," and by extension, "ancestor" can be used
interchangeably with the word "huaca." Interest-
ingly, the words "villca" and "ayllu:' the latter being
the corporate unit defined by and responsible for
its ancestral huacas, are likewise synonymous
(Conrad and Demarest 1984:102,105 citing the fol-
lowing: Albornoz in Duviols 1967; Arriaga
1920:49-55, 137-144 [1621]; 1968b:46-52,
117-123 [1621]; Brundage 1963:46-52, 1967:35,
144-155, 149; Cobo 1890-95:Book 13:13-17;
9-47, 342, 1990:1, 47; Gonzilez Holguin
1608:Book 2, 330; Rowe 1946:295-298; Santo
Tomis 1951: 143, 173, 232; Sarmiento 1942:70;
Zuidema 1964, 1973b: 19).7
Certain types of huacas, such as large bodies of
water, certain mountains, rock formations, and
great stones, were believed to be the origin points
of different peoples and the deities associated with
each, their founding ancestors. These kinds of huu-
cas were called pacarinas or origin places. The
corporate group identified with these huacas hon-
ored their divine forefathers through offerings to
their pacarinas. As Gose explains,
Each huaca defined a level of political organi-
zation that might nest into units of a higher
order or subdivide into smaller groupings.
Collectively they formed a segmentary hierar-
[Vol. 14, No. 4, 2003
chy that transcended the boundaries of local
ethnic polities and provided the basis for
empires like that of the Incas. However, these
huacas were also the focus of local kinship
relations and agrarian fertility rituals. The
political structure that they articulated there-
fore had a built-in concern for the metaphysi-
cal reproduction of human, animal, and plant
life. Political power in the pre-Columbian
Andes was particularly bound up with
attempts to control the flow of water across
the frontier of life and death, resulting in no
clear distinction between ritual and adminis-
tration [Gose 1993:480].
With regard to the Inka, he concludes,
[Tlhe power of the Inca was not an end in
itself but rather a means of realizing a meta-
physical control that was the common aspira-
tion of most of the fragmented political units
that existed before the empire was formed ....
One central metaphysical issue motivating the
rise of the Inca empire and embodied in this
political structure was how to control a com-
plex cycle that linked death and the regenera-
tion of life in Andean thought. Here death was
thought to create sources of water8 that lay
outside the boundaries of the local political
unit, such as Lake Titicaca and the Pacific
Ocean. These sources had to be coaxed or
coerced into sending water back to the local
level for agricultural purposes. If these distant
places could be subject to imperial control,
then the complex cycle linking human death
and agricultural fertility might be directly
administered [Gose 1993:481-4821.
Huacas, sometimes associated with ancestor
worship aspacarinas,then, were the links and por-
tals to this ideological system whereby death and
water produced a cycling of creation and recre-
ation. Mythologically, the ancestors associated with
these natural shrines or huacas were said to have
emerged from them to found their descent groups.
Occasionally their deeds were so great that they
were turned into stones, referred to as huancas,
and remained with their people to enhance agri-
cultural fertility and impart wisdom as oracles
(Gose 1993:489, 494-495 citing Duviols 1978,
1979a, 1979b; see also Cobo 1890-95:Vol. 3, Book
13:947[1653]; Sarmiento 1942:70 [1572]).
Metaphorically, the Inka ancestral dead, who
sometimes took the form of mummies, were con-
sidered much like desiccated seeds, which through
burial were returned to the earth so that life could
Glowacki and Malpass] WATER, HUACAS, AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP
be renewed. Both "thirsted," and just as seeds are
watered, the ancestors were offered libations of
chicha, brewed corn beer, for their revitalization,
which in return, brought prosperity to their com-
munities. Their supernatural journeys through the
underground waterways helped to "aquify" the land,
sending them to their ultimate dwelling or resting
places called upairnarcas, which were bodies of
water. Because of their desiccated state, the ances-
tors were evidently drawn to these watery sites
where they were reconstituted. They could then
return to their local communities to supply their
descendants with water. The upaimurcas were hier-
archically structured. Lower ranking ones, better
referred to as pacarinas or drawing points, occurred
locally and regionally. For the Inka, the maximum
pacarinas or upaimurcas are said by some sources
to have been Lake Titicaca and the Pacific Ocean
(Gose 1993:495-496 citing Arriaga 1968a:220
[1621]; Duviols 1986:150,200; Sherbondy 1982:8).
By controlling major huacas, power over ances-
tral land and cosmological sources of water could
be harnessed. The Inka adeptly manipulated this
system, transfemng and commandeering huacas to
suit their needs. For example, when the royal Inka
relocated a group of people from one part of the
empire to another, he would give them a newpaca-
rina or huaca of origin. This entailed transfemng
the power of the old huaca to a new one. If the
huaca was a source of water, a small amount of it
was removed and ceremonially poured into the new
huaca. If the huaca was stone, power was shifted
by removing its dress, a piece of textile, and plac-
ing it on another (Zuidema 1982:446 citing Albor-
noz in Duviols 1967: 17,21,27,37). The Inka also
gained control of important huacas through mar-
riage ties and conquests (Sherbondy 1982:17, 20
citing Cobo 1956:172 [1653]; Guaman Poma
1936:97; Sarmiento 1942:73 [1572]; see alsocieza
de Le6n 1943:Book 2:161-164 [1551],
1959:190-193 [1553]; Molina 1913:136-137,
151-153 [1575]; Po10 1940:154 [1561]).
Ancestor worship was a driving force of the
Inka state9 and may hold considerable antiquity.
Isbell (1997:287) argues that the idea of ancestor
worship, as linked to ayllu organization, may have
originated in the north highlands during the later
part of the Early Intermediate period (3701420
B.C.-A.D. 540) and gradually spread southward,
437
reaching the altiplano by the Late Intermediate
period (A.D. 900-1476). We argue that many
aspects of Inka state ideology, as outlined above,
are analogous to Middle Horizon Wari ideology,
and in fact may be rooted there.
Natural Topography and Associated Ritual
Artifacts at Wari Sites
As with the Inka, Wari religion seems to have been
focused on natural phenomena as huacas, lo in the
form of bodies of water, mountains, rock forma-
tions, and great stones. We believe a Wari preoc-
cupation with water was perhaps made more
immediate by the extended droughts of the sixth
and early seventh centuries. The Wari also may
have usurped huacas from other peoples via con-
quest or co-option, allowing their control of the
associated foreign ancestral territories.
The Wari may have attempted to control super-
natural sources of water in different ways, depend-
ing on the local circumstances and indigenous
group. Where a pacarina was present, such as a
lake, the Wari could co-opt it; where other sources
were present, like an ancestral shrine, other means
might be used. Thus, the mosaic of control defined
by Schreiber (1992:263) would extend to the sacred
landscape as well as the political one. In the fol-
lowing sections we suggest how this sacred mosaic
of control might have been manifest.
Lakes and Other SigniJicant Bodies of Water
Lakes, many of which may have been upaimarcas
or pacarinas, are found in the vicinity of many
Wari sites. For example, a major lake is believed
to have supplied water via a canal network to the
site of Wari (Valdez and Valdez 1998:4). This lake
could have been the original upairnarca of the Wari,
and certainly served as a local pacarina.
In the Cuzco region, lakes are close to the largest
Wari provincial complexes. In the Lucre Basin,
Pikillacta is built above Lake Huacarpay. Fifteen km
southeast of Pikillacta, in the Huaro Valley, Huaro
was once flanked by two lakes, although only one
remains. In the district of Pomacanchi, 35 km south-
east of Huaro, K'ullupata is situated neara very large
lake. Near K'ullupata is another site that has pro-
duced the largest cache of finely worked metal
objects known for the Middle Horizon, suggesting
its considerable significance (ChBvez 1985).
438 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
While little is known about the Wari occupation
in Pomacanchi, the association between the Pikil-
lacta and Huaro site complexes and their lakes is
clear. The lakes were, no doubt, a source of water
for large-scale agriculture and lacustrine resources.
However, there may have been far greater Wari
motivation in selecting these sites. These lakes may
have been the pacarinas or upaimarcas of other eth-
nic groups, over which the Wari took control. This
interpretation would help explain why the Wari
occupation of the southern highlands, which does
not appear to have been overtly militaristic, may
have been accomplished by peaceful, but, nonethe-
less, manipulative means."
Pachacamac, the largest Middle Horizon site of
Peru's Central Coast, served as a shrine or huaca
and oracle center from as early as A.D. 200 until
the Spanish conquest (Lumbreras 1974: 119-120,
155, 157, 165-166, 168,223). The Pacific Ocean,
which Pachacamac overlooks, was considered one
of the two principal upaimarcas of the Inka (Gose
1993:495-496 citing Arriaga 1968a:220 [1621];
Duviols 1986:150, 200; Sherbondy 1982:8), who
may have assumed it as their huaca of origin by
consolidating Pachacamac into their realm. The
role of Pachacamac seems to be of considerable
antiquity and would explain its attraction to the
Wari as a ceremonial center associated with a pow-
erful upaimarca. Artifacts dating to the Middle
Horizon, including an ornate textile wall hanging,
decorated with Spondylus shell and copper orna-
ments, were recovered from the Temple of Pacha-
camac (Paulsen 1974:603). These could have been
a Wari offering to one of its most important hua-
cas. As discussed below, there is reason to believe
Pachacamac served as a major node in a pilgrim-
age network that also provided sacred materials,
like Spondylus, to highland and coastal sites.
Marking a sacred spring, Wari-Wilka, in the
central highlands, was an important shrine and ora-
cle to the Wankas, a local tribe that occupied the
region before and during the Inka's reign. Histori-
cal sources indicate that the founding Wanka ances-
tors emerged from the spring at Wari-Wilka. The
Wankas commemorated this event by building a
wall and temple at the spring where they paid
homage (Cieza de Le6n 1853:XXVI:Tomo II:432
115591).
Daniel Shea (1969:4-17, 79-83, 93-104,
[Vol. 14, No. 4, 2003
121-124) has proposed that during the Middle
Horizon Wari-Wilka served as an oracle center and
was part of an oracle complex subordinate to Pacha-
camac. A large quantity of ceramics, much of it
Wari pottery, and other artifacts were found in and
around the Wari-Wilka spring. These likely offer-
ings corroborate written accounts of the site's role
as an ancestral shrine and establish its use by the
Wari prior to the Wanka (Shea 1969:27,44, Table
la), reiterating the symbolic relationship between
water and mountains recognized by the Wari as
well as their concern for water. Perhaps, at oracle
centers such as Pachacamac and possibly Wari-
Wilka, the oracle functioned as the mouthpiece of
an ancestor.
Viracochapampa, the second-largest Wari com-
plex, located in the northern sierra, was not built
near a significant body of water. However, an aque-
duct brought water to the site from approximately
5km away (John Topic, personal communication
1999), the nature of which requires further inves-
tigation. Moreover, Viracochapampa is located in
close proximity to Cerro Amaru, which contains
three wells, or chiles as they are called. Considered
a site of local group affiliation, Cerro Amaru was
frequented by the Wari and functioned in a cere-
monial capacity (Topic and Topic 1992). Max
Uhle's 1900 dredging of one of the site's wells
revealed their use as shrines where offerings were
made, including thousands of dumortierite,
turquoise, and Spondylus beads, and large worked
and unworked pieces of Spondylus (Topic and
Topic 1992:172 citing McCown 1945:305). The
site's mausoleum contained two individuals, laid
on a bed of cut Spondylus, and interred with other
elite family members. John Topic and Theresa
Topic (1992:174) believe Cerro Amaru was an
important water shrine tied to an elite lineage.
Cerro Amaru wells resemble those of the Tic-
sicocha huacas of Cuzco. Ticsicocha, means "ori-
gin lake" in Quechua, and its wells served as
Cuzco's principal huacas to commemorate the
Inka's founding of the city.'=Using this model, the
Cerro Amaru water sources may have represented
the cosmological origin of an ethnic group, while
the burial chamber was the resting-place of its
founding ancestors or other important individuals
of their lineage. Fine Wari pottery associated with
the mausoleum at Cerro Amaru (Topic and Topic
Glowacki and Malpass] WATER, HUACAS, AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP 439

1992:176) suggests that the Wari recognized the Gonzilez CarrC and Rivera Pineda 1983; Isbell
power of the shrine and its compatibility with their 1978; Morrissette and Racine 1973). Mountains
own ideology. It may have been seen as the cos- also may have been part of the sacred Wari land-
mological equivalent of a lake, helping to explain scape. Wari sites may have been associated with
why Viracochapampa was located nearby. wamanis or apus, also mountain deities. Jin-
Cerro Amaru peaked by the Middle Horizon camocco in the Sondondo Valley is adjacent to a
with the onset of drought conditions in the high- major snow-capped peak to the east, Seiial
lands. Such conditions would have demanded Carhuarazo. An extinct volcano, it is associated
greater efforts in the acquisition of water and the with a powerful wamani, said by local residents to
preservation of remaining sources. Viracocha- control the local weather, particularly rain
pampa's proximity to Cerro Amaru suggests that (Schreiber 1992: 1 17).
the cosmological control of water through ances- In Cuzco, Pikillacta and sites of the Huaro Val-
tor worship played a significant role in the Wari ley were located close to Wiracochan, an impor-
expansion whether by conquest or other means. tant Inka upu (Figure 2). In the Huaro Valley the
Lakes may have been pacarinas or upaimarcas remains of three Inka and two Wari sites (respec-
and, thus, important to the Wari as a supernatural tively Wiracochan 1-3, and Wari Wiracochan and
means tocontrol water. However, in some areas like Cotocotuyoc) are located on top of Cerro Wira-
Azhgaro and more generally, along the coast, lakes cochan, the mountain that separates the valley from
are not present. In such areas, other sources of con- the Rio Vilcanota (Glowacki 2002b:7-10). The
trol were needed. Spanish chronicles indicate that Cerro Wiracochan
was considered very sacred to the Inka because of
Mountains, Rock Formations, and Stone Huacas
its association with Viracocha. According to myths
In addition to bodies of water, other natural phe- that explain the arrival of this deity to Cuzco, this
nomena associated with Wari sites suggest the ven- mountain and other sites along the Vilcanota River
eration of huacas for control of water. While were dedicated to him. As the creator deity, Vira-
mountains and other geologic features certainly cocha, was closely associated with water and moun-
played a part in the day-to-day and spiritual life of tains (Reinhard 1990:cf. 168). On his trek to Cuzco
practically all early Andean peoples, the way in from Lake Titicaca following the Vilcanota River,
which each society incorporated them into its Viracocha stopped at Urcos, the town adjacent to
worldview and the importance attributed to them Huaro. From there, he called to the residents to
probably varied. Even today certain mountain emerge from the mountain, a place that they would
peaks are considered more important to some associate with the origin of their ethnic group. The
groups than others or are related to huacas that in people paid Viracocha homage and later built a
earlier times may not have been acknowledged. shrine to him on top of the mountain, i.e., Wira-
The Spanish extirpation of idolatry during the colo- cochan 1-3 (Cieza de Ledn 188O:Book 2, Chapter
nial era transformed certain aspects of ancestor 5; Cobo 1890-95:Book 13, Chapter 2[1653];
worship, leading, for example, to the emergence of Molina 191 3: 118-123[1575]; Rowe 1946:
mountain deities (Isbell 1997:13I), but these sacred 3 15-3 16 citing Betanzos 1968:Chapters 1-2;
entities continued to be associated with water and Sarrniento 1907:Chapters 6-7).
rainfall as did their prehispanic counterparts. There- Historical documents also tell us that during
fore, we wish to consider particular mountains as Inka times, theyacarca occupied Huaro. They were
well as rock formations and stone huacas in light greatly feared and respected by the Inka for their
of data that could substantiate a Wari sacred land- divination, which may have been carried out in
scape. conjunction with their veneration of Cerro Wira-
Still regarded today in the Andes as supernat- cochan. Employing braziers, they would read the
ural forces associated with water and fertility, flames, summoning spirits of the living and the
wamanis or sacred mountain deities are venerated dead. This method of divination was used only for
by cults identified with local groups and their ter- serious matters, and often was accompanied by the
ritories (Anders 1991: 193-194 citing Earls 1973; sacrifice of a child, llama, or other valued posses-
440 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY [Vol. 14, No. 4,2003

Figure 2. Pikillacta and the Huaro Complex. Backdrop map provided by Defense Mapping Agency,
HydrographiflopographicCenter, Bethesda, MD (Cuzco, Peru 2543 5632 edition 1-DMA).

sion. These practices were so important that the
royal Inkahimself would sometimes attend (Molina
1913: 129[1575]; Rowe 1946:303 citing Cobo
1890-95:Book 13, Chapter 34[1653]; Sarmiento
1907:Chapters 27, 62). The valley is still revered
for the sacred mountain peak, Wiracochan, where
its mountain lord or apu resides.
It is possible that the sites of Wari Wiracochan
and Cotocotuyoc were also located on this same
mountain because of its sacred nature; Wari Wira-
cochan is a small rectangular architecturalcomplex
high on the eastern end of Wiracochan.The site pro-
vides a commanding view of the Vilcanota Valley
to the north as well as the HuaroValley to the south-
west. Cotocotuyoc, located some 500 m below Wari
Wiracochan, was a much larger architectural com-
plex with an extensive view. Together, they pro-
vided a southeast view of traffic to and from the
valley as well as movement in the Vilcanota Valley
to the west. They also may have served as religious
sites, possibly related to the sacredness of this
mountain and possibly an ancient huaca that the
Wari usurped when they settled in Huaro. We know
that the Inka claimed new land by capturing hua-
cas of other ethnic groups as part of their imperial
expansion (Zuidema 1982:446 citing Albornoz in
Duviols 1967:17, 21, 27, 37). Wari Wiracochan
and Cotocotuyoc may have symbolized Wari con-
trol of this sacred mountain. The strategic nature
of these sites, fortifiedby stone walls, suggests that
they were very important to the Huaro site com-
plex for both defensive and religious purposes.
Martha Anders (1986:731-736) argued that
mountains defined the boundaries of the Wari site
of Aztingaro, 15 km northwest of Wari and that
Azhgaro was established to intensify agriculture
duringEpoch 2 of the Middle Horizon, after the cen-
ter of Wari began to decline. She believed that the
site had a strong ritual component, focused on an
agricultural calendar cosmologically tied to four
major wamanis who controlled rain (Anders
1991:194andcitingAniaga1920:Chapter2 [1621];
Glowacki and Malpass] WATER, HUACAS, AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP
Favre 1967; Isbell 1978; Martinez 1983; Morisette
and Racine 1973; M u ~ 1964:Chapters
a 29, 31;
Zuidema 1973a, 1982). Other aspects of Azgngaro
support Anders's (199 1 :191-194) view. These
include ceremonial canals, the presence and place-
ment of ritual objects such as Spondylus shell and
carved turquoise images of seeds and figurines, and
the ritual nature of the site's Central Sector where
calendrically driven agricultural rites are thought to
have been performed. According to Anders, the Inka
may have been introduced to the concept of wamani
when they conquered the Chankas, whose territory
was defined by the mountains of the four warna-
nis.I3 The Chankas, posited to be the descendants
(i.e., the post-empire manifestation) of the Wari
(Anders 1991:194 and citing Zuidema 1973a), offer
what may be a direct historical link to Wari ideol-
ogy through a sacred landscape.
Located on top of a steep mesa in the Moquegua
Valley, Cerro Balil also may have served a cere-
monial function related to huaca worship and the
control of water. The architecture of Cerro Bad1
resembles that of other Wari sites tied to ancestor
worship (Moseley et al. 1991: 124). While the min-
ing of lapis lazuli, obsidian, and copper may have
been the primary purpose of the Wari occupation
of the Moquegua Valley (Moseley et al. 1991: 135
citing Watanabe 1984), it may also have helped
fulfill important ritual needs. Metal and stone are
thought to have been intimately linked to ancestor
worship in the Andes as forces used to draw water
from the earth (Gose 1993508). Cerro Baul served
as an outpost for the Wari where these substances
were extracted from the Moquegua region. Rituals
revolving around mineral procurement would have
been important in ensuring its success.
Additionally, a Wari canal and associated agri-
cultural fields upstream and downstream from
Cerro B a ~ l the
, longest system ever built in the
Moquegua Valley, document control of water
resources by the Wari. This system would have pro-
vided a superior advantage to the Wari in times of
drought compared to Tiwanaku co-residents of the
valley, who principally occupied the lower eleva-
tions (Williams 2002:366-367).
Today Cerro Balil functions as a shrine where
visitors make offerings in hopes of prosperity. These
offerings include the construction of modem farm-
steads complete with agricultural furrows that link
441
worship at Cerro Balil to the control of water
resources (Moseley et al. 199 1 : 13 1-1 32; Patrick
Williams, personal communication 2000). Like
many other Andean shrines, its religious role prob-
ably bears considerable antiquity. Cerro B a d may
have been a sacred ceremonial center in pre-
columbian times due to its status as an important
huaca or wamani with great mineral wealth, com-
plemented by a reliable hydraulic system. This com-
bination may have motivated the Wari to establish
themselves far in southern Peru, well beyond the
area they politically controlled, despite adverse reac-
tions from the valley's native and foreign occupants.
Rock formations and stone huacas appear to be
symbolically related to mountains in Andean
thought, as all are geologic phenomena, though
differing in scale, tied to Pachamama (Mother
Earth), and associated with water. This is evident
in Inka ideology in which stones, rock formations,
and water are intimately associated as shrines and
other sacred sites (see, for example, MacLean 1986;
Niles 1987:Chapter 7). The Wari acknowledged
the supernatural power of such huacas. For exam-
ple, Sector 4 of Pikillacta, one of four rectangular
sectors of the site that was primarily composed of
rows of small, standardized rooms, is partly situ-
ated on a prominent rock formation. This sector
includes two structures that contain stone huacas
much like those of the Inka's ceremonial complex,
Sacsahuaman. One contained an offering includ-
ing a shell bead carved in the form of a conch shell.
A principal avenue, which divides the central sec-
tor of the site from the eastern uphill sector and runs
the length of the complex, was built through this
rocky area. It dead-ends at the edge of a steep ravine
that overlooks the Huatanay River. It seems possi-
ble that this avenue. crossing the site's rock-cov-
ered zone and terminating at the edge of the
Huatanay Rivervalley, symbolically connected the
site's stone hliaca to an ancient cosmological water-
way. The Huatanay is a tributary of the Urubamba
River, which the Inka considered sacred, and which
many Quechua communities of Cuzco consider to
be the foremost cosmic terrestriall%ver, through
which water is cycled back to the cosmic sea (Urton
198 1 :38, 5 M 5 ) .
Sporzdylus Shells, Copper, and Stone Figurines
Among many early and present-day Andean peo-
442 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
ples, Spondylus shells and copper possess sym-
bolic qualities indicative of ancestor worship and
cosmological aquification.The Spanish chroniclers
speak of the Spondylus shell, also known as the
thorny oyster, or mullu in Quechua, as having held
greater value than gold for precolumbian Andean
societies. The Inka used it as offerings to springs
to induce rain (Cobo 1956:Libro XIII, Capitulo
xxii-xvi [1653]; Polo 1916:39 [1554]), and one
Inka myth describes Spondylus as "the favorite
food of the gods" (Salomon and Urioste
1991:66-69, 116). Based on this characterization,
we suggest that the ritual use of Spondylus served
as a symbolic mechanism for drawing water from
the underworld through a huaca to the earthly
world. The impact of highland drought by the end
of the Early Intermediate period may have stimu-
lated a quest for Spondylus as offerings to water
shrines (Topic and Topic 1992:174), helping to
explain the Wari presence in the northern sierra
between Ayacucho and the coast of Ecuador, the
source of Spondylus.
Copper, too, held prestige in many parts of the
Andes (Paulsen 1974:602-603; Rostworowski
1977:118-121), perhaps because of its symbolic
identification with mummies, as is known from the
Inka, who considered it a "sacred and imperishable
ancestral substance" (Gose 1993:506-507 and cit-
ing Cobo 1956:68 [1653]; Guaman Pomade Ayala
1936:60 [1615]). During the Inka period, copper
objects, referred to as ax-monies, are thought to
have been part of an extensive trade system involv-
ing the Chincha of the central coast. Exchanged for
Spondylus, these ax-monies possessed an impor-
tant ritual quality tied to ancestor worship and
sometimes were used among north coast peoples
as burial offerings, seemingly "to ensure the well-
being of the deceased into the next life" (Rost-
worowski 1999:209-210). This exchange network
is believed to hold considerable antiquity (Paulsen
1974). By the Middle Horizon, highlanders were
trading copper for Spondylus, likely driven by the
sierra demand for the latter. Regardless of the stim-
ulus for this exchange, it is apparent that both
Spondylus and copper had ritual value to highland
Middle Horizon people.
Spondylus and copper have been recovered
together as ritual offerings from various Wari sites
(see earlier discussions of Pachacamac and AzBn-
[Vol. 14, No. 4,2003
garo). At Pikillacta, niched halls were likely used
for ceremonies that paid homage to the ancestors
(Glowacki 1996:349-360; McEwan 1998a: 6-15).
Excavation of some of these structures identified
looted offering pits containing fragments of
Spondylus, camelid bone, and traces of copper
(McEwan 1998x75). One Pikillacta niched hall is
believed to have been the location of an offering of
two sets of miniature turquoise human figurines,
each found in association with Spondylus and
Strombus shell, and a bar of copper (Trimborn and
Vega 1935:36-89; Valc6rcel 1933:4). These fig-
urines, and perhaps others like them,I5 may repre-
sent the founding ancestors of the Wari polity (Cook
1992:358-360). Evidence of human remains recov-
ered from Pikillacta niched halls, specifically Unit
10 which contained an offering pit of 10 human
skulls, supports the interpretation of ancestor-
related activities associated with this room type
(McEwan 1998a:76). The authors have been told
in Huaro, southeast of Pikillacta, that various fam-
ilies keep skeletal remains of their departed rela-
tives, particularly skulls, within their homes.
Residents say that these remains of their ancestors
protect them; could this practice be rooted in ear-
lier Andean belief?
Similar structures at Marcahuamachuco, the
indigenous northern sierra complex that was
replaced by the Wari complex of Viracochapampa,
produced comparable findings (Topic and Topic
1989). An enormous offering of Spondylus shell
(approximately 10 kg) and small turquoise fig-
urines, carved in the shape of Spondylus and other
possible shell shapes, were recovered in a niched
hall. Numerous llama sacrifices were offered
nearby. Modeled after Marcahuamachuco, Vira-
cochapampa is also thought to have served as the
locus of ancestor worship (Topic 2000:202-204,
214). In light of niched hall burials at Pikillacta,
human remains interred within its walls and those
of Marcahuamachuco corroborate this view (Topic
1994:7-8; Topic and Topic 1992:174, 176).
Pachacamac served as the major node of a pan-
Andean pilgrimage and trade network by which
Spondylus and other items reached the highlands
(Rostworowski 1977:106,203) and may have been
the Middle Horizon distribution center for these
shells. However, the presence of Spondylus at var-
ious other Wari sites, recovered in ritual contexts
Glowacki and Malpass] WATER, HUACAS, AND ANCESTOR WORSHIP
and particularly in association with copper and
stone figurines, suggests that these sites were ritu-
ally, if not also commercially, linked. Their con-
nection may have been the cosmological control of
water through rituals involving Spondylus and cop-
per. Sometimes, as at Pikillacta, this control might
have been mediated through ancestor worship.
These types of offerings associate Spondylus,
copper, and stone figurines as symbolically and rit-
ually related substances. As symbols of opposi-
tion-water and earth, wet and dry, coast and
sierra-shell, and metal and stone, together, may
have represented a synchronized hydraulic and cos-
mological system. Buried as gifts to the subter-
ranean world of the dead, they may have been used
to invoke the power of the ancestors to bring forth
water.
Interpretive Overview and Conclusion
We have proposed that a drought precipitated the
Wari expansion, leading them to find sources of
water that sustained arable and grazing land out-
side of Ayacucho. This quest was both practical and
spiritual; practical considerations have been
addressed by others for specific regions (e.g.,
Schreiber 1992:26 1,267,281 for agricultural pro-
duction in the Carahuarazo Valley, Watanabe 1984
for mineral extraction in the Moquegua Valley),
but the search also involved religious ceremonies
to cosmologically control sources of water. Using
an Inka model proposed by Gose (1993), we pre-
sented archaeological evidence that supports our
view of the importance of these ideological moti-
vations for expansion. In particular, we discussed
major topographical features, such as large bodies
of water, mountains, rock formations, and large
stones as well as certain types of offerings, i.e.,
Spondylus, copper, and human figurines, associated
with Wari sites that reflect this ideology of a "sacred
landscape."
One explanation for the Wari expansion was the
need for the Wari polity to sustain itself in the face
of a major drought. The ancestors held the key to
cosmological sources of water, which, in turn,
tapped natural ones, leading the Wari to seek both
practical and ideological solutions to this problem.
In addition to Schreiber's (1992:263) description
of the Wari empire as a geographical "mosaic" of
political control, we can also envision a sacred Wari
443
landscape devoted to satisfying ideological as well
as political needs. The Wari employed different
strategies of expansionism relative to their needs
and the resources of the different territories they
occupied. They occupied different parts of Peru in
pursuit of arable land and ideological links to ances-
tors who controlled water sources. Because a num-
ber of targeted sites were already in existence at
the time of expansion (e.g., Pachacamac, Wari
Wilka, and Cerro Amaru), the Wari may be seen as
creating a "mosaic" of regionally important sacred
sites in an effort to connect, and perhaps even inten-
sify, the most powerful cosmological Andean cen-
ters associated with water. The very nature of Wari
occupations across space may have been dictated
by a sacred landscape.
Andean religion and politics being intimately
connected, Wari incentives for constructing vari-
ous provincial sites and centers and occupying oth-
ers may have been, in part, to physically and
cosmologically harness and manipulate sources of
water. What we glean now are only traces of a vast
sacred landscape-a patchwork of natural phe-
nomena, human construction, and associated
objects intended to meet this fundamental need.
Acknowledgments. The authors wish to thank several indi-
viduals for their assistance in the preparation and completion
of this manuscript. Anita Cook, Theresa and John Topic,
Gordon McEwan, and particularly Brian Bauer provided
useful commentary and criticism of early draft. The senior
author thanks Michael Lavender and Louis Tesar for their
valuable editorial comments and encouragement. The junior
author thanks Clark Erickson and Jack Rossen for their ver-
bal comments on the version presented at the Northeast
Andean meetings in Binghamton, and to Susanne and Soren
Kessemeier for their forbearance in the completion of the
manuscript. Finally, both authors thank Ines Twomey for
assisting in the Spanish translation of the abstract. All errors
and omissions are the authors' alone.
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Notes
1. Recent radiocarbon dates from sites such as Pikillacta,
suggest that the decline of the Wari empire occurred later. For
additional examples, see Malpass (1999) and Williams et al.
(1998).
2. Wari, Ayacucho, as an archaeological zone covers
between 10 and 15 km2 and possibly more.
3. For our purposes, we refer to a general definition of
drought provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Agency (NOAA): "drought is a period of abnormally dry
weather which persists long enough to produced a serious
hydrologic imbalance (for example, crop damage, water sup-
ply shortage, etc.). The severity of the drought depends upon
the degree of moisture deficiency, the duration and size of the
affected area" (NOAA 2003).
4. Allison Paulsen (1975) posited that an interpluvial
beginning sometime around A.D. 600 caused major agricul-
tural decline and economic hardship for Andean societies,
and ultimately led to the Wari expansion.
5. Unfortunately, all historical documents pertaining to
the Inkas came from Spanish sources, although many drew on
lnka informants for their information (see Rowe
1946: 192-197). The authors acknowledge this cultural filter,
and all sources have been carefully cited. The reader must
judge their validity.
6. Wari ceramic designs can be traced into the Late
448 LATIN AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
Intermediate period and even the Late Horizon for Cuzco pot-
tery, suggesting continuity in Cuzco traditions from the
Middle to the Late Horizon and supporting the notion of a
Wari ancestral link to the Inka.
7. While there is some debate among scholars about the
exact meaning of the word "villca," the general sense implies
a person who holds the status of a huaca (Salomon and
Urioste 1991:46, Footnote 44).
8. The notion that death "creates sources of water" has
been debated by some scholars. There are various examples,
though, that point to this as a viable interpretation. BernabC
Cobo (1956 [1653]:201) indicates that the Inka sacrificed
children and buried them in pots or cisterns to induce rain to
be collected in these receptacles. Equally, the Inka publicly
paraded their royal mummies for this same purpose (Polo
1916 [I554 1585?]:10). In both examples. dead individuals
appear to have the power to "create" water.
9. This view is supported by fact that royal Inka inheri-
tance and state expansion was defined by "split inheritance."
the practice by which the new ruling Inka had to seek terri-
tory and wealth of his own because the deceased Inka',
panaca, or ancestor cult. retained the material wealth of the
former ruler (e.g., Cobo 1979: 11 1. 248).
10. While the language of the Wari is unknown. we
believe it is more precise and parsimonious to employ
Quechua terms rather than their English translations to
describe Inka concepts with regard to the Wari.
I I. Because militarism can be difficult to identify archae-
ologically, its role in the growth and development of early
states is sometimes hard to assess. The apparent absence or
near absence of evidence for Wari militarism may be due to
[Vol. 14, No. 4,20031
poor preservation of its material remains or the inability of
archaeologists to recognize them. However, the expansion, to
a great extent. may have been peacefully executed. That is, a
group's leaders, recognizing that they would lose militarily,
acceded to the Wari demands. thereby hoping to retain more
than they would otherwise.
12.The location of the Inka capital, Cuzco, is said to have
been chosen, in part. by the presence of a lake. The lake's
swampiness led the Inka to drain it, but they preserved two
smaller ones in its vicinity by constructing a building to
enclose them. These mini-lakes were named "Ticsicocha"
(Sherbondy 1982:15. 16 citing the following: Betanzos
1968:ll-12; Cieza de Leon 1943: 172; Cobo 1956:170
[1656]; Garcilaso de la Vega 1959:Libro 17, Capitulo 10;
Gonzilez 1952:340; Toledo 1940:18).
13. Many mountains were also considered sacred places
or h~lacasby the Inka (Rowe 1946:296). Because of the
antiquity and pervasiveness of mountain worship in the
Andes, it is unlikely that the Inka became familiar with the
concept of "wamani" only after their encounter with the
Chankas.
14. "Terrestrial" is used by Gary Urton (1981:64) to
describe the Vilcanota/Urubamba River as it contrasts with its
"celestial" counterpart, the Milky Way.
15. Menzel (1968:52) reports that similar stone human
figurines have been recovered as offerings accompanied by
shell from other Middle Horizon sites throughout Peru.
Submitted Murch 29, 2002: Accepted Februur? 10, 2003;
Revised Ju~ze4, 2003.