Archaeological investigations at Ñawinpukyo: change and continuity ina an Early Intermediate Period and Middle Horizon community in Ayacucho, Peru

LEONI, JUAN B

Archaeopress, British Archaeological Reports International Series 1991

Lugar: Oxford, Gran Bretaña; Año: 2009 p. 222

978-1-4073-0525-7

In this book I present a study of the pre-Hispanic occupation at the site of Ñawinpukyo (Ayacucho, Peru) (Figure 1.1) during the Early Intermediate Period (EIP) (ca. 200 BC – AD 600) and the Middle Horizon (MH) (ca. AD 600-1000). A local and diachronic perspective is adopted to examine the developmental trajectory of this community, in the context of the broader regional processes that took place in the valley during those periods. These processes brought about, especially during the MH, significant cultural changes not only in the Ayacucho Valley but in the whole central Andean area, with the rise of the powerful Wari[1] society and culture. Earlier interpretations about the site and its role in Ayacucho prehistory are reevaluated in the light of the newly acquired information and the proposed interpretations. The archaeological data recovered from recent investigations at Ñawinpukyo are examined throughout the book to elucidate the nature of the occupation of the site in terms of chronology and site organization, pointing out changes over time as well as comparing to other contemporary sites in the region. Finally, the different lines of evidence are integrated into a diachronic interpretive narrative about the ancient community of Ñawinpukyo and the changes it underwent during the EIP and the MH. This narrative is centered on a central theme, the processes of identity construction that fostered Ñawinpukyo inhabitants’ definition and development of community identity through time, in which issues of locality, place, ritual feasting and historical memory seem to have played significant roles. The investigations show that communal ritual activities focused on a ceremonial enclosure on the hilltop played a significant role during the EIP occupation of the site, having a crucial role in the integration of the local community and the construction of a community identity. Important transformations occurred in the Middle Horizon when the site became a sizable Wari settlement. Interestingly, the Wari inhabitants of the site purposefully maintained a strong connection with the community’s past by preserving the earlier ceremonial compound largely intact. This is interpreted as a significant effort aimed to assert a long-term local community identity within the broader realm of Wari culture and polity. Thus, the book contributes to enhance the current understanding of Ayacucho EIP and MH society by presenting new empirical information about the Huarpa and Wari cultures and describing the developmental trajectory of a particular local community. The specific patterns of human activities identified at the site and their changes over time illustrate from a local perspective the socio-cultural changes brought about by broader regional processes that took place in the valley during the EIP and the MH. This book is based on my doctoral dissertation, which was completed in 2004. However, extensive editing has been undertaken, many mistakes of different types corrected and the chapters reorganized into the present format. References to more recent works have been included in some sections, but for the most part the book reflects the state of knowledge about Ayacucho prehistory at that time. The main purpose of this book is to make the substantial corpus of empirical information produced by the investigations available to a wider audience. This information has attained new significance as the site was largely obliterated by urban development a year or so after the original dissertation was completed. Since no further salvage excavations were carried out, the investigations presented in this book remain as the more encompassing research effort carried out at the site and as the only hint at what life at Ñawinpukyo in the EIP and MH could have looked like. [1] I follow in this book the spelling convention proposed by Isbell (2001b), suggesting the use of “Huari” for the archaeological site and “Wari” for the culture and art style found outside the capital city.