Cuzco Archaeology

The 1989 and 1990 field seasons at the Wari provincial site of Pikillacta in the valley of Cuzco, Peru, comprised the first extensive excavation of the second-largest existing Wari architectural complex. Occupied between A.C. 600 and 900, Pikillacta was built in three successive construction phases and finally abandoned before completion of the final one. Excavations revealed well-preserved architecture in the center of the site, including such featu res as gypsum-plastered floors and walls; superimposed floo r remains collapsed on one another, demonstrating the existence of multi-storied buildings; plastered staircases; plaster-lined niches; and a variety of sub-floor offering pits. Although the interiors of the buildings were largely devoid of artifacts, excavations in the site's principal midden produced an abundance of material: large quantities of ceramic remains, including such foreign styles as Nazca and Cajamarca, as well as objects of bone, shell, metal, obsidian, and worked stone. Evidence is presented that addresses many of the long-standing questions regarding this unusual site. The data suggest a sudden but orderly abandonment of Pikillacta in the midst of the last construction phase. Entrances to many of the buildings were carefully sealed, and at least one partially constructed building was intentionally buried. There is also evidence that the central portion of the site was consumed by fire during or shortly after abandonment.

Un grupo de vasijas características de la cerámica Lucre, está conformado por jarros y cántaros denominados "Cara-cuello" o “cara gollete”, debido a la
decoración de un rostro humano. Su hallazgo en los sitios de Minaspata y
Choquepujio, brinda la oportunidad de comprender su función como objeto de ofrenda, a partir de su hallazgo en contextos rituales y su papel como representación antropomorfa relacionada a la identidad étnica.

El sitio arqueol6gico Pikillacta, localizado en la cuenca de Lucre, aproximadamente 30 km. al sur de Cuzco, ha sido objeto de especulaci6n por aiios en cuanto a su orig en y funci6n. Esta especulaci6n ha sido causada por los rasgos extraordinaries del sitio: tales como su gran tamaiio, su piano rectangular, pocas call es, sus edificios grandes sin acceso, y la ausencia de artefactos sobre la superficie, con la excepci6n de la arquitectura.

El imperio inca incluía diferentes personas con distintas tradiciones que seria muy sorprendente si toda la cerámica producida en él conformara un estilo único. De hecho, no es así y la diversidad de cerámica de datación inca ha causado gran confusión en áreas como la costa norte peruana y el noroeste argentino, donde cualquier tipo de cerámica con un rasgo inca es llamado con probabilidad ¨Inca de Cuzco¨.

A new look at Choqek'iraw (Choque Quira). An Inca site in the heart of the Vilcabamba Cordillera, Peru

Situated in the heart of the Vilcabamba cordillera in Peru, some 150 km northwest of Cuzco, the ancient Inca state capital, Choqek’iraw or Choquequirao (« the golden cradle » in Quechua), is one of the most beautiful achievements of Inca architecture, and one of the very few pre-Hispanic sites displaying large wall mosaics showing geometric figures and llama caravans climbing the mountainside, the only one known from Inca times.
Ethnohistoric sources suggest that Choqek'iraw was one of the Tupac Inca Yupanqui’s palaces, but the excavations we conducted in peripheral residential areas suggest a much earlier occupation; it could begin at the end of the Formative Horizon or the early Intermediate Period, dated from 200 to 500 AD, and continue during the Late Intermediate (1000-1300 AD), characterized by Killke and Chanka ceramics. Several elements also suggest that figures represented on the mosaics convey cosmological significance and are laid out following textile principles.
Finally, the orientation of some buildings with the cardinal points and the presence of a truncated hill considered as an astronomical observatory, an ushnu, reinforce this hypothesis, suggesting that Choqek'iraw could have played the role of a regional agro-pastoral calendar and be considered as a important ritual centre or wak'a, and an oracular shrine dedicated to the triple Inca tripe divinity of the Lightning.
This book stems from an extensive French-Peruvian archaeological project conducted from 2003 to 2006, as part of a cooperation agreement between the French and Peruvian governments related to the execution of transactions for the Debt Conversion Sustainable Development. It presents the results of the excavations that have been carried out, but also new hypotheses about the role - including symbolic - that this site may have played. It is so far the most complete work available on Choqek’iraw.

Durante las Ilitimas dos decadas han habido avances significativos en los estudios wari, como resultado de las investigaciones cOllducidas en las regiones provinciales. De esos estudios se han elucidado nuevas perspectivas sobre la expansion imperial de los wari, dandosele mayor enJasis a las investigaciolles realizadas en los sitios 1II0nulllentales de Pikillacta y Huaro. Basados en sus investigaciones, los autores han concluido que la oClipacion warifue mas temprana, mas intensa y de mas larga duracion que 10 que previamente se SlipUSO y plantean que su exiro se debio en gran parte al control directo del gobierno imperial de los wari.

Basados en una excavación por niveles naturales y registro mediante "matrix Harris", los autores exponen y examinan la estratificación del sector central del sitio arqueológico de Marcavalle, obtenida en la unidad de excavación N° 4 abierta el año 2016. La estratigrafía recuperada fue utilizada para determinar niveles y subniveles de ocupación cultural, lo que permite comprender de manera procesual la manera en que se acumularon las deposiciones culturales y la forma en que creció el asentamiento.

En 1968 John Howland Rowe afirmo que la porción monumental del Cuzco incaico formaba el perfil de una puma si se le observaba desde el aire. Esta idea ha sido ampliamente aceptada tanto por estudiosos, como por el publico en general. Rowe senala que la evidencia documental confiable acerca de la apariencia prehispanica de Cuzco reside potencialmente en los relatos hechos por personas que vieron la ciudad imperial antes de 1534 cuando la revuelta de Manco Inca dio por resultado su parcial destrucción. Sin embargo, Rowe no se basa en testigos oculares, sino en afirmaciones enigmáticas de Juan de Betanzos y de Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa. Los autores sostenemos que al comparar la ciudad del Cuzco con un felino, Betanzos y Sarmiento pueden haber estado influenciados por la moda europea de elaboración de mapas que representaba continentes, países o provincias en forma de personas, animales, plantas y objetos comunes. Uno de los mapas mas populares de este tipo fue el Leo Belgicus. Dado que Betanzos y Sarmiento pudieron haber descrito el Cuzco teniendo en mente convenciones gráficas europeas, debemos buscar otra evidencia para comprender el plan urbano de la capital inca.

Considéré comme l’un des sites majeurs de la culture inca, Choqek’iraw ou Choque
Quirao (le berceau de l’or, en langue quechua) est localisé dans les Andes péruviennes
au coeur de la cordillère de Vilcabamba, à quelque 160 km au nord-ouest de
la ville de Cuzco, à la limite des départements de Cuzco et d’Apurímac.
De 2003 à 2006, une équipe franco-péruvienne y a mené plusieurs campagnes de
fouilles. Les résultats permettent de brosser un tableau de l’histoire du site, tout en
suggérant une occupation plus ancienne que celle qui lui est attribuée ; elle pourrait
dater de la fin de l’Horizon moyen, entre 500 et 1000 apr. J.-C.

The male human body found in an Alpine glacier on September 19, 1991 ("Tyrolean Iceman") has, for the first time in history, given scientists a chance to perform detailed anatomical, histological, and molecular investigations on the organs of a person from the Neolithic Age (5350 -5100 B.P.). In the present study, tissue samples aseptically taken from the stomach and the colon of the mummy were utilized for DNA extraction, and the DNA was PCR-amplified, using primer pairs designed to bind to fragments of the 16s ribosomal RNA gene (16s rDNA) of a broad range of bacteria. The PCR products were cloned in plasmid vectors, and the recombinant clones (amplicons) were sequenced. The sequence data were finally used for scanning data libraries containing the corresponding sequences of presentday bacteria, to infer the putative ecophysiology of the ancient ones. The same procedure was repeated on some fragments of grass from the clothing found near the corpse. These fragments were taken as a control of the microbiological situation of the glacier. The results show that the flora of the Iceman's stomach is entirely composed of Burkholderia pickettii, an organism commonly found in aquatic habitats. The colon, on the other hand, contains several members of the fecal flora of humans, such as Clostridium perfringens, C. ghonii, C. sordellii, Eubacterium tenue, and Bacteroides sp. The Iceman's colon, however, was found to contain, rather unexpectedly, also some members of the genus Vibrio. The results are discussed in light of what is known about the preservation of microbial DNA at the Iceman's site and of previous parasitological studies performed on the Iceman himself and on human coprolites. Am

By the end of the 13th century CE, campaigns to extend the power of the Inca state began to target local communities outside of the Cuzco Valley. A century or so of state conquests and administrative intensification in the Cuzco region set the stage for generations of rapid imperial growth that commenced around 1400 CE. The subordination of neighboring populations reduced external military threats to the Inca state while simultaneously concentrating more productive land and labor tribute in the hands of the Inca elite. Royal Inca control over rural landscapes in the Cuzco region intensified during the imperial period, but the ways that this affected local societies varied from place to place. By the time of the Spanish conquest (1530s CE), some parts of the Cuzco region had undergone significant changes in their settlement patterns and subsistence economies, whereas others experienced a less transformative relationship with the Inca state and its ruling elite. In this paper, we use regional archaeological data from survey projects as a context for comparing our archaeological excavations from three sites near Cuzco (Ak’awillay, Cheqoq, and Pukara Pantillijlla) to discuss the impact of Inca empire-building on the everyday lives of local farmers and herders. Our results speak to the variability found within the Inca heartland and the uneven distribution of Inca material culture that is found at the level of communities and households. Our excavations at sites with both pre-Inca and Inca occupations permit us to develop long-term perspectives on local populations and their interactions with and responses to the growing Inca state.

This is a translation from Spanish to English of Carlos Delgado Gonzalez's article, "Feasts and Offerings in Arcopata, Cusco", published in
Andean Past 11. A rescue excavation in Inca deposits allowed Delgado to uncover the remains of a series of feasts. He reports on his results here.

Research at the Site of Kasapata (Bradford Jones and Brian S Bauer) The Lithic remains from the site of Kasapata (Cynthia Klink) Analysis of Human Skeletal Materials from Kasapata (Richard C Sutter and Rosa J Cortez) Faunal Remains from the site of Kasapata (Susan deFrance) The Sourcing of Archaic Obsidian from Kasapata (AN-309), Department of Cuzco (Richard L Burger and Michael Glascock) The Archaic Period of the Cuzco Valley (Brian S Bauer, Bradford Jones, Cynthia Klink, Richard Sutter, Susan D deFrance, and Richard Burger) Appendix 1: Radiocarbon Dates from the site of Kasapata.

We have isolated DNA from 14 tissue samples from the internal organs of an Andean human mummy (10th-11th century A.D.) and have checked the persistence of the original human and bacterial templates using the following main approaches: 1) amino acid racemization test; 2) quantification ofmitochondrial DNAcopy number; 3) survey of bacterial DNA in the different organs; 4) sequence analysis of bacterial amplicons of different lengths. The results demonstrate that both the original human DNA and the DNA of the bacteria of the mummy gut are preserved. In particular, sequence analysis of two (respectively 100 and 196 bp in length) libraries of bacterial 16s ribosomal RNA gene amplicons from the mummy colon shows that while the shortest amplicons give only modest and biased indications about the bacterial taxa, the longer amplicons allow the identification several species of the

We have isolated DNA from 14 tissue samples from the internal organs of an Andean human mummy (10th-11th century A.D.) and have checked the persistence of the original human and bacterial templates using the following main approaches: 1) amino acid racemization test; 2) quantification ofmitochondrial DNAcopy number; 3) survey of bacterial DNA in the different organs; 4) sequence analysis of bacterial amplicons of different lengths. The results demonstrate that both the original human DNA and the DNA of the bacteria of the mummy gut are preserved. In particular, sequence analysis of two (respectively 100 and 196 bp in length) libraries of bacterial 16s ribosomal RNA gene amplicons from the mummy colon shows that while the shortest amplicons give only modest and biased indications about the bacterial taxa, the longer amplicons allow the identification several species of the

Niché au coeur de la Cordillère de Vilcabamba, quelque 160 km au nord-ouest
de Cuzco, l’ancienne capitale de l’empire inca, le site de Choqek’iraw, « le berceau de
l’or » en langue quechua, est considéré comme l’une des plus belles réalisations
architecturales inca. Mais les fouilles que nous venons de réaliser, en août dernier, dans
un secteur résidentiel spécifique de l’agglomération (le n° 9) suggèrent une occupation
beaucoup plus ancienne que celle qui lui est attribuée : elle pourrait dater de la période
formative, de ±1000 av. J.-C. à ± 300 apr. J.-C.