Wari Empire: Difference between revisions

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The '''Wari Empire''' or '''Huari Empire''' was a political formation that emerged around 600 AD (CE) in [[Peru]]'s Ayacucho Basin and grew to cover much of coastal and highland Peru.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schreiber|first=Katharina J.|date=April 1987|title=Conquest and Consolidation: A Comparison of the Wari and Inka Occupations of a Highland Peruvian Valley|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/281780|journal=American Antiquity|volume=52|issue=2|pages=266–284|doi=10.2307/281780|jstor=281780 |s2cid=155131409 |issn=0002-7316}}</ref> The empire lasted for about 500 years, until 1100 CE.<ref name=":1">Wade, Lizzie (August 17, 2016). "The Wari's grisly end—the fall of a South American empire". ''Science''. Retrieved April 28, 2024.</ref> It existed during the same era as the [[Tiwanaku Empire|Tiwanaku]] culture, and at one time, was thought to have been derived from it.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Patrick Ryan |date=2001 |title=Cerro Baúl: A Wari Center on the Tiwanaku Frontier |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/971758 |journal=Latin American Antiquity |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=67–83 |doi=10.2307/971758 |jstor=971758 |issn=1045-6635}}</ref> In 2008, [[archeologists]] found a [[precolumbian]] city, the [[Cerro Pátapo ruins|Northern Wari ruins]] (also called [[Cerro Pátapo]]) near modern [[Chiclayo]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-12-17 |title=Archaeologists unearth ancient Wari city |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna28281360 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608022909/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna28281360 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 8, 2023 |access-date=2024-05-27 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref> The find was the first extensive settlement related to the Wari culture discovered that far north.<ref name="'Ancient city unearthed' in Peru ">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7787053.stm|title='Ancient city unearthed' in Peru |date=17 December 2008|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=2008-12-17}}</ref><ref name="Archeologists in Peru unearth ancient Wari city">{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUKTRE4BF7NY20081216|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218061709/http://uk.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUKTRE4BF7NY20081216|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 18, 2008|title=Archeologists in Peru unearth ancient Wari city|date=16 December 2008|publisher=Reuters|access-date=2008-12-17}}</ref> Archaeological discoveries have continued over the past decade. In 2023, archaeologists discovered a 1200-year-old Wari ritual complex in Arequipa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Reid |first=David |date=March 2023 |title=The role of temple institutions in Wari imperial expansion at Pakaytambo, Peru |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278416523000016 |access-date=May 2, 2024 |journal=Journal of Anthropological Archaeology|volume=69 |doi=10.1016/j.jaa.2023.101485 }}</ref> While more discoveries are being made regarding the Wari Empire, archaeologists are able to draw more conclusions about the Wari Empire's culture.

The Wari had an expansionist culture beginning sometime in the seventh century AD,<ref name=":02">Marsh, Erik J; Schreiber, Katharina (21 February 2015). "Eyes of the empire: A viewshed-based exploration of Wari site-placement decisions in the Sondondo Valley, Peru". ''Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports''. '''4''': 54–64 – via Science Direct.</ref> given its military related weaponry. It is estimated that their expansionist nature led to a greater level of violence than many of the other pre-Hispanic cultures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tung |first=Tiffiny A. |date=July 2007 |title=Trauma and violence in the Wari empire of the Peruvian Andes: Warfare, raids, and ritual fights |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ajpa.20565 |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |language=en |volume=133 |issue=3 |pages=941–956 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.20565 |pmid=17506491 |issn=0002-9483}}</ref> It's speculated that the Wari relied on force to conquer and consolidate territories,<ref>Arkush, Elizabeth N. "Collapse, conflict, conquest: The transformation of warfare in the late prehispanic Andean highlands." ''The archaeology of warfare: prehistories of raiding and conquest'' (2006): 286-335.</ref> utilizing of cost-effective strategies. Those may have ranged from implied force, coercive diplomacy, to co-opting local political hierarchies.<ref>Sinopoli, Carla M. "The archaeology of empires." ''Annual review of anthropology'' 23.1 (1994): 159-180.</ref>

Located in south of what is now Peru, Cerro Baul was one of the most important discoveries for determining the relationship between the Tiwanaku and the Wari Empire, interpreting the duration of the empire, and the relationship between the capital Huari and other regions.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Patrick Ryan |date=2001 |title=Cerro Baúl: A Wari Center on the Tiwanaku Frontier |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/971758 |journal=Latin American Antiquity |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=67–83 |doi=10.2307/971758 |jstor=971758 |issn=1045-6635}}</ref> It was an administrative and ceremonial center in Moquegua Valley. there were two distinct types of architecture found, public buildings associated with administrative tasks built similarly to ones in the capital Huari, and secondly small housing for the people who lived atop the mesa.<ref name=":0" /> There was evidence of a variety of different food sources and animals present, which shows the expansive trade network within the Empire.<ref name=":4">{{Citation |last=deFrance |first=Susan D. |title=The Luxury of Variety: Animals and Social Distinction at the Wari site of Cerro Baúl, Southern Peru |date=2014 |work=Animals and Inequality in the Ancient World |pages=63–84 |editor-last=Arbuckle |editor-first=Benjamin S. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt128809k.9 |access-date=2024-06-04 |publisher=University Press of Colorado |jstor=j.ctt128809k.9 |isbn=978-1-60732-285-6 |editor2-last=McCarty |editor2-first=Sue Ann}}</ref> It is also theorized that the different food sources present we restricted based on different levels of social standing, and many of the animals present may not have been used for food but rather as sacrifices for religious rituals.<ref name=":4" />