Conny Waters – AncientPages.com – The pre-Hispanic Wari culture Wari flourished from about 500 A.D. to 1000 A.D., in the region of Ayacucho region and stretched over Cusco’s rainforest in Peru.

The Wari people spoke their own language and produced beautiful tapestries and weavings that survived well and can be seen in museums.

The Wari Empire relied on innovative technology, and its architecture focused on constructing earthquake-resistant temples and other buildings. They often used polygonal blocks, which influenced the later Inca building style.

Excavation of d-shaped temple. Top insert: plastered interior wall. Bottom insert: abandonment feature on structure floor. Credit: UIC

During recent excavations at Pakaytambo in southern Peru archaeologists have uncovered a Wari ritual complex replete with a d-shaped temple, patio-group architecture, and monumental platform construction. The 1,200-year.old temple housed Wari religious officials and people linked to the Wari Empire.

“One of the most effective ways of bringing people into the empire was through shared beliefs and religious practices.
Open plaza spaces ᴀssociated with the temple complex at Pakaytambo would have allowed local communities to participate in ritual gatherings organized by the Wari,” says archaeologist David Reid of the University of Illinois at Chicago, who led the research.

He also notes that such ceremonial events would have been critical in maintaining political authority across great distances of the Wari Empire.

“Temple complexes of premodern states served critical roles beyond that of a religious function. Both political and economic activities were often embedded within state-sponsored rituals, ceremonies, and events organized by temple insтιтutions. Although we may not fully know how Pakaytambo was integrated within the broader Wari political economy, its geographic location and archaeological record provide some insight,” researchers write in their study published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.

During the Middle Horizon period over 1,000 years ago, Pakaytambo was strategically established on a prehistoric transit route at an important ecological and political location between the foothills of the Andean highlands and adjacent coastal valleys of Arequipa.

Drone pH๏τograph of the temple complex and monumental platform. Credit: David Reid

This is one of several recent finds of Wari D-shaped temples across Peru, where Wari state expansion and influence previously were unclear.

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“Archaeological investigations at the newly discovered temple center of Pakaytambo provide the first conclusive evidence of an intrusive Wari imperial presence in the Majes-Chuquibamba region of Arequipa, Peru. During the late Middle Horizon, Pakaytambo was established along a major transit route at an important ecological and political transition between the foothills of the Andean highlands and adjacent coastal valleys of Arequipa.

The Wari temple was abandoned by the end of the 10th century. Much of it is now covered in ash from a volcanic eruption in 1600, the researchers write in their study.

The study was published in Journal of Anthropological Archaeology

Written by Conny Waters – AncientPages.com Staff Writer