Wari en Palpa y Nasca: perspectivas desde el punto de vista funerario

Abstract

Wari in Palpa and Nasca: Perspectives from Funerary Point of View

This paper presents new evidences of Wari presence in the Palpa-Nasca region, on Peru's south coast. On the basis of the study of more than 200 intact mortuary contexts from both Nasca and Wari cultures, patterns in the mortuary customs of the people living in the Palpa and Nasca valleys during the Middle Horizon are described. In order to identify diagnostic changes the principal characteristics of the Nasca and Wari funerary contexts were recorded and compared (based primarily on associations with Loro or Chakipampa ceramic styles, respectively). These changes were also analyzed in light of evidence available from similar contexts in the Ayacucho region. Details of the tomb construction, associated materials, and particularly the mortuary treatment of the individuals, indicate that the funerary customs during the Middle Horizon changed substantially when compared with those of the Nasca culture. I argue that these changes document the formation of a new political and social order imposed by the Wari culture.