With National Science Foundation support, an international research team lead by Dr. Donna Nash, will examine the management strategies of an early expansive state to populate frontier settlements and control resources far from its political center. Research in southern Peru demonstrates the early Wari State (ca. AD 600-1000), established a distant frontier colony in Moquegua (~600 km from their capital) with state personnel occupying one hill, Cerro Baul, and a large contingent of support personnel occupying an adjacent hill, Cerro Mejia. The project's excavations at Cerro Mejia will establish if the people settled at this state-instigated colony were drawn from the immediate area or forced to migrate from a distant region. More broadly, the project examines ancient border relations in the context of major demographic and economic transformations, and provides a case study of the labor management capabilities of an early state-level society.
Archaeological and historic research suggests that first-generation states are different from their later counterparts. As fledgling states expanded beyond their geographic core to incorporate foreign subjects they confronted strategic decisions about their own administrative limitations for controlling outlying territories. In most instances, delegates from the polity's capital were sent to peripheries to manage state interests, but expansive states may also employ indirect strategies of working through foreign representatives.
Comparative cross-cultural studies indicate that first-generation states sometimes restructured local populations. The project will examine many variables to understand the relationship between state representatives on Cerro Baul and support populations living on Cerro Mejia. Proceeding from prior investigations at both sites, the one year project uses a strategy of broad sampling and focused excavation of archaeological households to test models of population management, assess the origins of the people occupying Mejia, and define their contributions to the Wari state's political economy. Results from this preliminary project will be drawn from analyses of botanical, ceramic, faunal, and lithic assemblages, as well as detailed contextual data. The project is designed to a) elucidate the economic organization of the Mejia colony; b) identify whether it was self-sustaining or state supported; and c) provide the basic parameters to frame further research of the labor management strategies developed by Wari state leaders.
At a larger scale this research examines the confrontation between two societies, the expanding Wari State and the subjugated group that occupied Cerro Mejia. Because expansive states incorporated people speaking different languages, groups with different ideals, and societies practicing different lifeways, studying these ancient polities through archaeology provides significant points of reference to understand ongoing processes of confrontation and transformation in modern polities around the globe.
The project team combines the research experiences of diverse archaeological specialists to provide educational and research support for two graduate students, as well as learning opportunities to Peruvian and US undergraduate students. The gathered data and collections will be available for future research at Museo Contisuyo, Moquegua, Peru. As partners with this local museum, Donna Nash and other members of the project team will continue their participation in local educational outreach programs, as well as participate in Peruvian and international conferences to promote collaboration and information exchange with archaeological colleagues. Findings from this research will also be disseminated through websites in English and Spanish, as well as peer-reviewed publications. The project will contribute to understanding an important aspect of Peru's multi-ethnic heritage and share these findings with the local and global community.
