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My State or Yours? Wari “Labor Camps” and the Inka Cult of Viracocha at Raqchi, Cuzco, Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Bill Sillar ,
Emily Dean  and
Amelia Pérez Trujillo
Bill Sillar
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 34 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PY England (b.sillar@ucl.ac.uk)
Emily Dean
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Southern Utah University, Centrum 225 G, 351 West University Blvd., Cedar City, UT 84720 U.S.A. (deanE@suu.edu)
Amelia Pérez Trujillo
Affiliation:
Ministerio de Cultura Cusco, domicilio Urb. Ttio Q-2-22 Segundo Paradero Pasaje America Huanchac, Cusco, Perú (ameliaptrujillo@gmail.com)
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Abstract

The archaeological site at Raqchi is best known for the large Inka building identified by colonial sources as the “temple of Viracocha.” The site also has an enclosure with 152 circular buildings that have previously been interpreted as Inka state storage: collcas. Although Inka pottery was found within some structures, the utilitarian pottery, carbonized plant remains, and hearths found on the floors of the buildings at Raqchi date their construction to the Middle Horizon. These results have caused a significant reinterpretation of the site and highlight a distinction between the political economies of the two largest Andean states. We suggest this sector of the site functioned as a Wari compound for seasonal work groups, similar to those at Pikillacta and Azángaro, suggesting a potential coercive aspect within Wari colonization. This prompts a reevaluation of the Viracocha cult during the Inka period, its reclaiming of Tiwanaku and Wari state sites, and the role of public ceremony within Inka state policy.

El sitio arqueológico de Raqchi es famoso por el gran edificio inka llamado el “Templo de Viracocha.” Este sitio presenta también un sector con 152 estructuras circulares, dispuestas de manera ordenada y planificada, que son conocidas e interpretadas como almacenes o collcas del estado inka. Durante nuestras excavaciones arqueológicas en este sector registramos fragmentos de cerámica de tipo utilitario (sin decoración), restos de plantas mezcladas y fogones, permitiendo fechar a estas construcciones en el Horizonte Medio. Estos resultados han provocado que se efectúe una re-interpretación del sitio y una aclaración de las diferencias entre las políticas económicas de los dos mayores estados andinos. Sugerimos entonces que este sector funcionó como un complejo wari conformado por grupos de trabajo temporal, similares a los de Pikillaqta y Azángaro, resaltando un aspecto coercitivo de la colonización wari. Esto lleva a una re-evaluación del culto a Viracocha durante el periodo inka, y del papel del ceremonial público en la política del estado inka.

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Latin American Antiquity , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , March 2013 , pp. 21 - 46
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Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2013

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