Elemental analysis of pottery sherds provided insights on the ceramic production in the Huancabamba Valley (northern highland-Peru) and the way in which the Incas administrate the provinces. The pottery sherds from six archaeological sites selected for elemental analysis indicated the use of similar clay sources in the manufacture of pottery. The production of ceramic vessels took place at the local level without the strict control of the Inca state. The Incas built administrative structures in the Huancabamba Valley in order to maintain control of their road system, which connected the north area of Peru to Ecuador. The ceramic assemblage recovered from Inca sites does not illustrate typical Inca pottery style or decoration from the heartland. The administrative centers built by the Incas throughout the Empire provided the means to support state activities such as pottery production of local wares. In addition, ethno-historic evidence suggests that during the Inca period coastal communities were relocated to highland settlements in order to serve as officers in state facilities, or to maintain the Inca road system. These coastal communities continue producing pottery following the traditional techniques from their homeland.

The "Guayacundo" Ethnos in the Highland of PiuraThe Guayacundo were an atuncuracazgo, or macroethnia, during the Late Intermediate Period and Late Horizon. Their location corresponds to the space occupied by the counties of Ayabaca and Huancabamba, in Piura. Their culture was greatly influenced by peoples from the forest, such as the Paltas, Caluas and Malacatos, located to the north and the northeast. Guayacundo was a chiefdom of sedentary towns, dedicated to agriculture and diverse crafts, organized in a politically structured space with permanent contact with both the coast and the tropical forest. The Guayacundo were conquered by Tupac Yupanqui who, among other things, founded the urban establishment of Caxas, in the lands of Coyayca. The guayacundos became part of the Tahuantinsuyo in capacity of loyal servants of the Inca, who trusted them with positions of responsibility in the service of the state. / Los guayacundo formaron un atuncuracazgo o macroetnia durante el Periodo Intermedio Tardío y el Horizonte Tardío. Su ubicación corresponde al espacio actualmente ocupado por las provincias de Ayabaca y Huancabamba, en el departamento de Piura. Su cultura tuvo una gran influencia selvática, al igual que los paltas, caluas y malacatos, localizados al norte y al noreste. Guayacundo fue un señorío de pueblos sedentarios, dedicados a la agricultura y a diversas artesanías, organizados en un espacio políticamente estructurado y con permanente contacto con costa y selva. Fueron conquistados por Túpac Yupanqui, quien, entre otras cosas, fundó el asentamiento urbano de Caxas, en las tierras de Coyayca. Los guayacundos pasaron a formar parte del Tahuantinsuyo en calidad de leales servidores de los incas, los que les confiaron cargos de responsabilidad a favor del Estado.

The recurrence in the use of enclosed courtyards and porches where people sat in the shade, back against the wall, and with platforms accessible only by ramps or stairs, are unique characteristics found in late period Andean structures. This particularity as well as some another features make difficult to understand the functions and uses of monumental architecture in the ancient Central Andes. The recent discussion about these architectural features found in prehispanic Andean palaces proves the common disagreements even with substantial archaeological evidence where seems not easy to distinct between governors main residences and temples. The investigations carried out at Pueblo Viejo-Pucará, "Lomas de Lurín" Archaeological Project-Field School, Convenio Cementos Lima S.A.-Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, under the direction of Krzysztof Makowski from 1999 to present, have provided valuable information to this topic. The excavations covers more than 6000 square meters of architectonic evidence in four of its five sections, including two residential structures of the elite, with palace features, and one temple located at the top of a mountain. Comparing the hypothetical households of two curacas, two residential elite homes and other residential units excavated in Pueblo Viejo-Pucara, show the common use of a central patio with wide open kitchens and areas of entertainment, such as structures next to the patio and porches facing it; which differentiate the elite ones from the commoners’ homes. The patio is the central area of public activity where offers were made during banquets and the food was served in a festive manner, including camelid and cervid meats, chicha served in fine ceramic ware. The main palace is differentiated from the rest of the residences, based on the presence of an ushnu with funerary chambers and two plazas that are related with the cult of two huancas and at least one rocky outcrop seen as a sacred huaca, with offerings of Spondylus princeps, gold and silver. / La recurrencia de patios cercados (canchas), "audiencias" y pórticos, lugares destinados para albergar largas filas de personas sentadas de manera cómoda a la sombra de techo y de espaldas a una pared, así como la presencia de plataformas accesibles por medio de rampas o escaleras cuentan entre los rasgos que definen el carácter peculiar de la arquitectura de los periodos tardíos en los Andes, un aspecto difícil de interpretar desde el punto de vista de la función. Recientes discusiones sobre las características de la arquitectura palaciega en los Andes prehispánicos han puesto en evidencia los problemas con los que tropiezan los intentos de hacer el deslinde formal y funcional entre la residencia principal del gobernante y el templo a partir de las evidencias arqueológicas. Las investigaciones realizadas en Pueblo Viejo-Pucará desde 1999 hasta el presente en el marco del Proyecto Arqueológico-Taller de Campo "Lomas de Lurín", Convenio Cementos Lima S.A.-Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, bajo la dirección de Krzysztof Makowski, aportan datos valiosos a la discusión del tema dado que han abarcado más de 6000 metros cuadrados de superficie excavada en cuatro de los cinco sectores del sitio, incluidas dos estructuras residenciales de elite de carácter palaciego y un templo que corona una elevación, denominado "Templo de la Cima". La comparación entre las hipotéticas moradas de dos curacas, dos residencias de elite y las demás unidades residenciales excavadas en Pueblo Viejo-Pucará deja en claro que la presencia del patio central con amplias cocinas y áreas de agasajo en forma de recintos anexos y pórticos constituye la principal diferencia entre la residencia de elite y la casa común. El patio es el área central de la vida pública, donde, de manera frecuente, se ofrecen banquetes con comida de carácter festivo, rica en la preciada carne de camélidos y de cérvidos, así como en chicha, la que se sirve en vasijas finas ejecutadas en estilos de prestigio. El palacio principal difiere de las demás residencias por la presencia de un ushnu con cámaras funerarias adosadas, dos plazas relacionadas con el culto de dos huancas y de, por lo menos, un afloramiento rocoso con ofrendas de conchas Spondylus princeps, oro y plata, el que habría sido venerado como huaca.

Priests and Weavers in the Inka Province of PachacamacBy following the principle that offerings, accompanying the dead, can be used effectively to determine the former occupation the deceased, we can extend our knowledge of the social organisation of the Province of  Pachacamac. The meaning of offerings in terms of level of social status and occupation is interpreted by artifacts which probably belonged the deceased, including those which would include personal items and the tools of the trade, both of which would confirm what kind of social status the deceased enjoyed and what trade he or she pursued. This suits particularly well if the tools and other instruments for specific tasks show signs of wear and if there are half-finished products, such as textiles or nets. In this article I want to identify aspects concerning two specialists groups: the priests and weavers. / Investigaciones arqueológicas han comprobado que, durante el Periodo Intermedio Tardío y el Horizonte Tardío, algunos contextos funerarios son diagnósticos en la identificación de especialidades u oficios laborales. Esto puede demostrarse en la provincia inka de Pachacamac y en este artículo se intenta caracterizar algunos aspectos de dos grupos de especialistas identificados por el análisis arqueológico, apoyado por importantes y reveladoras informaciones etnohistóricas. Es interés del autor mostrar los resultados de sus investigaciones respecto a los sacerdotes y tejedores andinos.

Anthropomorphic Effigy Vases: A Silvermith’s Production during the Late Intermediate Period and Late HorizonAnthropomorphic effigy vases have been classified, without any scientific basis, as belonging to the Chimu Culture. This investigation shows how these kinds of vases are more related in iconography as well as in provenance with the iconography of the central coast of Peru. In a selection of nine vases analysed, we determine different techniques of manufacture, which indicate the high technological complexity achieved by the precolumbian metal smiths during the Late Intermediate period and the Late Horizon. This study seeks to clarify, with the help of historic and ethnographic documentation, the social importance of the silversmith’s workshops that elaborated the effigy vases in question. We hope through the study of these archaeological remains and their comparison with historical texts, to decipher the symbolic and ritual value, as well as possible religious influences in their manufacture along the Peruvian coast. Finally, the possible process used by the coastal metal smiths in the manufacture of the effigy vases was identified by means of electronic microscope and metalographic analysis. / Desde hace mucho tiempo, un tipo especial de objetos rituales —los vasos-efigie antropomorfos de metal— han sido clasificados, sin sustento científico, como pertenecientes a la cultura Chimú. La investigación llevada a cabo por las autoras demuestra cómo este tipo de vasos está más relacionado, tanto en iconografía como en procedencia, con la temática iconográfica de la costa central del Perú. Se trata de un corpus de nueve vasos analizados con el que se determinaron diferentes técnicas de manufactura que muestran la alta complejidad tecnológica lograda por los orfebres tanto en el Periodo Intermedio Tardío como en el Horizonte Tardío. Para la realización de dicha investigación se ha utilizado documentación tanto histórica como etnográfica, las que permitieron explicar la posible importancia social de los talleres de los orfebres o plateros que manufacturaron dichos vasos. Estudios comparativos entre los restos arqueológicos con textos históricos ayudaron a descifrar el valor simbólico o ritual para el que fueron elaborados y su posible influencia religiosa en otros lugares de la costa peruana. Por último, los análisis metalográficos y microscopía electrónica identificaron las posibles formas de manufactura utilizadas en estos vasos por los antiguos orfebres o plateros de la costa.

The Andean Late Horizon (ca. AD 1438–1532) was a period of exceptionally rapid and far-reaching cultural change. Over this short span of only a few generations, the Inka ethnic group established an empire that was greater in size than any other pre-colonial American polity. The Inka accomplished their expansion without the use of certain institutions (i.e., a standing army, formal writing system, monetary system, or price-setting markets) that the received anthropological wisdom has long held as being necessary preconditions to imperial expansion. Standard explanations of Late Horizon culture change tend to overemphasize the roles of environmental constraints, social evolution, and economistic motives. In this thesis, I analyze Inka expansion beginning with the assumption that “value” was an assessment of socially-integrating creative action, rather than of objects to be exchanged and accumulated (cf. Graeber 2001). I determine that the Inkaic Late Horizon was motivated by pursuits of “vitality,” or the capacity to effect change in pacha—an Andean concept of the world as a mutable coalescence of time, space, and matter. Vitality was not captured through the production or accumulation of goods, but through intensifying their production and circulation. I conclude that Late Horizon political economy in the Xauxa-Pachacamac axis can best be understood as a socially-stratified “gift economy” in which what was ultimately transferred were not objects, but vitality.

Qu’elle soit envisagée comme un mythe ou une histoire véridique, l’épopée des Incas excite la curiosité de l’Occident depuis le XVIe siècle. Le Tahuantinsuyu, qui s’étendait, du nord au sud, des montagnes colombiennes, aux côtes de l’actuel Chili, est aujourd’hui considéré comme le plus grand, le plus prestigieux et le plus abouti des systèmes sociaux qu’ait connus le Pérou. Ainsi, la société inca possède le caractère terrible de l’exotisme, et celui plus rassurant de la cohérence et de l’organisation « à l’occidentale ». Mais, conquérir n’est pas gouverner, en particulier sur un territoire aussi vaste. Alors, comment les Incas occupaient-t-ils leur territoire ? Avaient-ils un modèle d’occupation ou n’étaient-ils que de simples conquérants ? Cette étude propose d’analyser et d’interroger les modalités d’occupation de l’espace chez les Incas, dans le cadre particulier de la côte sud du Pérou. Elle adopte deux approches. La première vise à recenser, localiser et cartographier l’ensemble des sites archéologiques de l’Horizon tardif. Ce corpus constitue une base de données pour comparer les caractéristiques de chaque établissement, et recomposer la réalité physique du monde inca. La seconde prend pour principe que la compréhension du territoire du Tahuantinsuyu n’est accessible qu’en adoptant le point de vue des Incas. En réhabilitant leur parole, disponible dans les documents espagnols, il est possible de comprendre quels sont les grands concepts symboliques qui fondent l’organisation de l’espace, et à partir desquels a été construit tout un modèle socio-territorial. Cette plongée dans les profondeurs de l’histoire préhispanique permet de révéler, dans des cas concrets, une partie de ce que fut véritablement le territoire inca. / Whether considered as a myth or a truthful story, the epic of the Incas arouse curiosity in the occidental world since the sixteenth century. The Tawantinsuyu, which stretched from the Colombian mountains to the coast of Chile, is today considered as the largest, the most prestigious and the most successful social systems that Peru has never had. Thus, the Inca society has the terrible characteristic of exoticism, and the more reassuring appearance of coherence and "western" organization. But conquering is not governing, especially in such a vast territory. So how did the Incas occupy their territory? Did they have a model of occupation, or were they merely conquerors? This study proposes to analyze and interrogate the modes of occupation of space in the Incas, in the particular setting of the southern coast of Peru. It adopts two approaches. The first aims to identify, locate and map all the archaeological remains of the Late Horizon. This corpus constitutes a database to compare the characteristics of each site, to recompose the physical reality of the Inca world. The second takes for principle that the understanding of the Tawantinsuyu territory is only accessible by adopting the Inca point of view. By rehabilitating their word, available in Spanish documents, it is possible to understand what are the symbolic fundamentals concepts that underlying the organization of space, from which an entire socio-territorial model was constructed. This plunge into the depths of pre-Hispanic history reveals, in concrete cases, part of what really was the Inca territory.