From Huarpa Ceremonial Center to Huari Town: New Evidences from the Site of Ñawinpukyo (Ayacucho, Peru)

LEONI, JUAN BAUTISTA

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Conferencia; 21st Annual Northeast Conference on Andean Archaeology and Ethnohistory, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; 2002

University of Pittsburgh

Excavations carried out at the site of Ñawinpukyo (Ayacucho, Peru) in 2001 have shed new light on this usually mentioned but little known site of the Ayacucho valley. The new research shows that the site, traditionally considered as the most important site of the Huarpa culture of the Early Intermediate Period, actually played a significant ceremonial role during the late part of the EIP. In fact, the first evidences of Huarpa ceremonialism have been uncovered. On the other hand, most of the occupation of the site seems to correspond to Epochs 1 and 2 of the Middle Horizon, when the site became a sizable Huari settlement. In this paper, the occupation sequence of the site will be described, new empirical data will be presented and the change in function and use of space in the transition from the EIP to the MH will be discussed.