Dr. McEwan and his colleagues will conduct two seasons of archaeological research at the site of Pikillacta which is located in the Peruvian highlands near the city of Cuzco. This large and impressive site exhibits evidence of strong centralized planning. Within a surrounding wall, the interior reveals a rigid geometric layout. Previous work at the site by Dr. McEwan and other investigators indicate that it was established ca. 600 A.D. and served as a provincial center in a larger Wari empire (named after the Peruvian site of Wari.) To gain greater insight into the functioning of this city Dr. McEwan and colleages will excavate a number of buildings to determine their function. By this means he will attempt to learn how the city itself was organized and how it interacted with other sites. Ceramic and other materials will be analyzed to provide a more detailed chronology. Trace element analysis of selected ceramic types will permit identification of non.local objects and hopefully permit the reconstruction of trade networks. Wari culture flourished from ca. 540 to 900 A.D. and is believed by many scholars to represent the first organized imperial state in the New World. However it is unclear just how it functioned and how the center at Wari incorporated and controlled outlying regions. Some scholars have argued for a tight form of control and integration while others have maintained that looser relations existed. Because Pikillacta is a major provincial center, it should provide data which may be fruitfully compared to similar information from the Wari itself. This research is important because it will provide data about an obviously important but little known archaeological site. Because the political situation in the Peruvian highlands is growing increasingly difficult, the project should be done now. The research will also increase our understanding of how large and complex political entities emerge, are maintained and decline.
