Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant- Negotiating Power in the Wari Empire

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Robin Coleman, under the supervision of Dr. Timothy Earle, will compare the colonial dynamics of two regions in the Andes ruled by the pre-Inka imperial power, the Wari. One thousand years prior to the rise and expansion of the Inka Empire, the Wari ruled the northern Cordillera from about A.D. 550 to 1050. Like the Inka, the Wari established a series of colonies that stretched thousands of kilometers both North and South of its capital in the central Andes, which bridged a broad range of ecological zones and an equally diverse populace. Coleman's survey and domestic excavations in two regions of Wari colonization will help identify how empires tailor political strategies to different regions and manage such a broad spectrum of people, places, and politics. At the same time, her research will highlight how conquered populations affect the development of political power in different areas of an empire. This archaeological research on empires and their political strategies provides the unique long-term perspective of political and social change that contemporary studies often cannot achieve. Up to this point, research in both the Moquegua and Chuquibamba valleys has focused largely on identifying imperial expansion. This project will build on these investigations to study how local factors, such as natural resources or indigenous politics, create distinct manifestations of imperial control. Even though empires are unified politically, regional variations in political rule, social traditions, and interpersonal relationships, often abound. It is important to identify these differences to understand how empires can maintain cohesion despite such internal diversity. The survey component of this project identifies the degree of Wari investment in colonial infrastructure, visible on the landscape as constructed roads, agricultural terraces, or canal systems. Identifying economic resources (mineral deposits, obsidian sources, or productive agricultural lands), sacred locales (mountains, springs), or a region's proximity to a military threat (borderlands or near hostile territories) will also highlight potential imperial draws to the area. Defining the scale of imperial investment in an area will provide a proxy for imperial control in the region; household excavations provide a finer scale of analysis to understand how individuals articulate with these broader political and economic processes. Imperial mechanisms of control, as well as individual household political strategies, will appear in varied patterns of production, distribution, and consumption of common, valued, or exotic resources. By looking at households and the daily lives of colonial inhabitants, we can outline the local factors and conditions that shape the political character of different regions in an empire, as well as understand how individuals contribute to its construction.At a local level, this project will continue the missions of the Contisuyo Museum of Moquegua and the Center for Archaeological Research of Arequipa, to investigate the prehistories of Andean populations that were largely erased with the Spanish Conquest in the 16th century and to make this information accessible to the public. Part of this research will consist of compiling a bilingual, Spanish-English publication that presents the research in accessible language. In addition, the co-investigator will participate in the public outreach opportunities offered by her host institutions. A community-focused field effort logistically facilitates an archaeological project; more important, however, it incorporates the perspectives and feedback of individuals who have an intimate understanding of the local traditions and gives them a voice in reconstructing their histories.