Revaluating the middle horizon in Arequipa

Abstract

The Department of Arequipa is commonly seen as forming the southern frontier of the Wari Empire. This chapter questions theevidence for Wari conquest and control over the region by noting the paucity of evidence for either an extractive economy or state administrative facilities. I argue that down-the-line reactions to Huari urbanization and colonization are better explanations for the widespread social changes and Wari stylistic influence that occurred in Arequipa. Wari state incursions into the Nazca Valley destabilized the region at the beginning of the Middle Horizon, and fostered the growth of elites in coastal Arequipa who legitimated their tenuous status positions through violence, long-distant exchange, and adherence to a hybrid Wari/Nasca/Acarí ideology. After social stratification was well-established on the coast, these local elites turned towards the sierra in order to create a regional economy in the second half of the Middle Horizon. The social changes and Wari stylistic influence that resulted in highland Arequipa from this economy reflected links with coastal Arequipa rather than contact with Wari or its colonies.