The Inka State built enormous dispersed warehouses throughout their empire in order to store all types of goods. These facilities were built in clusters, usually atop mountain summits, and seem to suggest that Inka storage systems were always of enormous size. Yet recent archaeological research suggests that smaller scale warehouses, different from those found in the Peruvian highlands, were also erected on the coastlands. This paper examines the cists of Tambo Viejo semisubterranean facilities of varying shape that were also used as storehouses, as follows from the discovery made inside them of items such as maize kernels and coca leaves. This find shows that other forms of storage that probably preceded the development of the State were in place during the Inka expansion on the southern coast of Peru. Just like in the highlands, these forms of storage took advantage of coast’s enviro...

En este trabajo se dan a conocer los resultados de las excavaciones efectuadas en Marayniyoq, un centro especializado wari del valle de Ayacucho. El descubrimiento de una serie de batanes y sus respectivas moliendas indican que éste fue un establecimiento destinado al procesamiento de granos, como el maíz. Puesto que estos batanes consisten en grandes bloques de piedra labrada, queda también manifiesto que se invirtió una enorme actividad humana en su preparación, traslado y construcción final. A su vez, la presencia de vasijas y evidencias adicionales tienden a sugerir que la función de Marayniyoq se relacionaba con el procesamiento de maíz y la producción de chicha.

Archaeological excavations at Amato, a site established at the beginning of the Early Intermediate period (circa 50 BC – 300 AD) in the Acari Valley of the Peruvian south coast, uncovered two isolated human heads from different contexts. One head was found near an area where dozens intentionally decapitated skeletons were recovered. The second head was located in association with the main wall that encloses the site. Both heads were buried in similar fashion to Early Intermediate period south coast trophy heads; however, these heads from Amato were not culturally modified (e.g. perforated frontal bone and/or artificially enlarged foramen magnum). These two isolated heads demonstrate that not all human decapitation in the Acari Valley was for the purposes of securing trophy heads. Based on these findings, we suggest that the purpose and motivation for human decapitation and head-taking ...

The Inka state was well aware that the natural world we live in coexists with an invisible, supernatural world inhabited by divine beings who—from their standpoint—influenced human life. In order to establish and maintain good relations with these beings, the Inkas found it convenient to organise ritual ceremonies and to make various offerings. The gods corresponded to this show of goodwill by sending rains that made good harvests possible. The goods offered as presents were the best available and these included multicoloured bird feathers. This paper presents the archaeological excavations undertaken at the Inka provincial centre of Tambo Viejo, where tropical bird feathers have been found amidst several of the offerings placed inside storehouses. Here we discuss the ritual use of these items throughout the Inka period, and the special significance of their discovery amongst these g...