In the Field

by Joan M. Gero

one knows exactly when formal

state systems arose in the Andes

of Peru, but archaeological finds from sites like
PorrERy.
Queyash Alto make it clear that heads of kinship
PowER, groups amassed considerable power from about 200

e.c. to n.o. 600. Toward the end of this Early Inter-

AND.
mediate Period (EIP), the appe arance of stunning,

PenuEsr elaborately decorated ceramics, known locally as

"Recuay" pottery, suggests that lead-
ers possessed and exchanged prestige
items as a way of consolidating their
claims to political power. My recent
excavations at Queyash Alto further
indicate that sumptuous ritual feasts
This bone ;flute was
amongtfumysbalirutru.-
ments;foundata Qnyash
A ltofmsting site. Llama
figurines found at the
c e re monia, I s;te (s ezfacing
page) point to the ani-
mal's irnportance as an
emblem of wealth and
status.
were held there, featuring an abun-
dance of grilled llama meat and a
generous supply of beer made from
rnaize. Can we really tie the consoli-
dation of political power and the
abundance ofhighly refined crafts to
events that look so much like beer
bashes?
Queyash Alto is one of a number
of ridgetop sites found in the Callej6n
de Huaylas region of north-central
Peru. The Callej6n, or'torridor," is
52 AncHeEoLocy
a high valley about 100 miles long,
bounded by the glaciated Cordillera
Blanca (22,205 feet high) on the east,
and by the lower Cordillera Negra
(17,050 feet) on the west. Tircked un-
der the highest peaks of the Andes,
this region is defined by formidable
topographic boundaries that seriously
restrict access to adjacent areas.
The insular Callej6n region thus pro-
vides an excellent context in which
to examine political formations and
transformations.
Ecffi:
As early as 1979, my survey work E@*
in the Callej6n began to reveal certain
settlement patterns. At least some
mffi'
EIP sites, including Queyash Alto,
exhibit strong similarities in location,
n@{
size, and architectural layout: a linear E{ffiH'
alignment of courtyards and open
spaces along the top ofan artificially
B@,
leveled ridge some 300-450 feet long
that terminates in low mounds at
either end of the ridge. The formal
and repetitive nature of these sites
suggested to me that they might re-
veal the origins of bureaucratic ad-
ministration in the region.
Our excavations at Queyash Alto
produced large amounts of charac-
teristic Huaraz Red-on-White Dot-
tery, including shallow bowls with
sharply defined basal angles, made in
a red paste decorated with white slip.
This pottery confirmed an EIP con-
struction of the formal aspects of the
site, dating it to the critical period
just prior to the consolidation of
"Recuay" (late EIP) power. It was in
the western "plaza'area. in associa-
tion with the west mound, that we
found the most revealing evidence.
The west mound proved to be con-
structed of rubble fill contained
within large, dressed boulder re-
taining walls. It was here that the
feasts were held. We discovered large
amounts of llama bones, some of
them splintered and charred in small
fire pits; a concentration ofobsidian
knives presumably used for butcher-
ing or slicing meat; quantities of
thick-sided, large-volume jars and
ceramic colanders (for making and
storing beer); a variety of spoons and
dippers, three of which had been
cleverly fashioned from llama crania,
with the frontal bone left in place as
a handle: the dense remains of Hua-
raz shailow bowls, almost surely used
as high-srarus drinking vessels-all
these items indicated ceremonial
feasting, perhaps related to social and
political developments. Other arti-
facts included ceramic panpipe frag-
ments in large quantities and a bone
flute for music, a hollow ground bird-
bone tube, possibly for taking snuff,
and several llama figurines under-
scoring the economic (and hence
political) importance of llamas as
a source and an emblem of wealth.
It seems likely that such feasts
represented some kind of payoff by
one group ro another in a society
lacking currency or wage labor. Per-
haps a new and unaccustomed de-
mand was being made by an emerg-
nl jP
ing elite class on the labor of groups I iI r.
Ll -:
who had never before worked for any
household but their own. If indeed
the feasts suggest that labor is being
,0#
,i n€
March/April 1990 53
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54 AncH qEoLocy
"paid off" what kind of labor might
this be? Without evidence of vast pub-
lic works such as temples, or road
and irrigation systems, the feasts may
have rewarded agricultural labor.
It is probable that prior to the
Huaraz Red-on-White period, every
household within every ki n-b ased alllu
(or land-holding lineage, which con-
stitutes the basis of kinship structures
in the Andes) would have worked its
own fields or participated in recipro-
cal Iabor exchanges with the under-
standing that all labor had to be
repaid. Ayllus that produced sur-
pluses (probably of maize, but also
perhaps of llamas, which were widely
introduced into the area at this time)
could have converted them into com-
munity feasts-feasts that not only
reinforced social prestige, but possi-
bly also bespoke more powerful in-
fluence with supernatural forces. The
repeated production of surpluses
might then have reinforced an ayllu's
claim to supernatural linkages, and
one ayllu might have emerged as
primary, with its head as chief, or
perhaps as priest.
Perhaps at the time Queyash Alto
was established, a change was occur-
ing, and new rights were claimed by
the primary ayllus, or by the heads
of these strong lineages: possibly they
could claim the right to having their
fields worked without having ro repay
this labor, except through ceremo-
nial feasting. With this switch, the
indefinitely as surpluses became
concentrated in the hands of a sin-
gle land-controlling (and surplus-
controlling) chief who sponsored
/ as a means of reiterating ties to
the gods, and of consolidating the
work force with generous feasting.
Meanwhile, in addition to the evi-
dence of feasting, other rare and
costly items of Iimited circulation ap-
pear at Queyash, both near the west
mound and also in the limited high-
status residential areas ofthe north-
ern terrace. A surprising number of
these rtems seem to suggest women's
work or wealth: copper pins used to
fasten women's ponchos at the neck,
drilled pendants of mother-o1-pearl
and marine shell, elaborate spindle
whorls, weaving implements of bor;e.
Undoubtedly, womeris labor at Que-
yash contributed to the high status of
the ayllu, and women's participation
in the feasts may reflect their own high
prestige.
The appearance of copper would
have been noteworthy in the EIP, and
it is possible that for many people, the
feasts at Queyash provided a first look
at this newly worked metal. Also of
great importance would have been the
increasing frequency of the fine Rec-
uay ceramics at the later EIP feasts.
Recuay ceramics are made of a fine,
white kaolin paste painted in strik-
ing polychrome designs. The pottery
BRAZIL
shapes are diverse and include forms
that would have been technically very
challenging as elaborately modeled
human and animal figures, some
showing complex scenes of interact-
ing individuals or buildings with
their occupants. This pottery is
closely associated with the Callej6n
region, but was exported both to
coastal regions and adjacent highland
valleys after about e.o. 200.
Only moderate amounts of Recuay
pottery appear in the later EIP levels
at Queyash, but their presence raises 8,,1re
the question: what is the
socio-
political role of such technologically E@
sophisticated art in defining and
maintaining the emergence of newly E
I
B
3 E@
powerful lineage heads? This question zi E@{
is vital because the elaborate Recuay
: fl iH**
ceramics are part of a boom in differ- z
ent craft innovations during the EIP E@

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56 Ancr'reEoLocrr
in many Andean regions, including
the renowned Paracas textiles and the
splendid Nasca and Moche pottery.
Although these craft traditions are not '
necessarily connected, their contem-
poraneity suggests an association be-
tween consolidation of power by an
elite group and the production of
energy-intensive and technologically
challenging crafts.
It seems safe to say that the inten-
sification ofcraft production and the
elaboration of decorative techniques
not only put beautiful, rare items into
circulation, but they also advertised
languages. It makes the experience the power of newly emerged political
and economic leaders. As the lords
feel like a homeEoming. strove to consolidate ever greater
While on boud, v6u'll have power, their patronized craft spe-
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owners of elite wares become more
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visibly separate from ordinary peo-
ple. At Queyash Alto, this process
is reflected in the superseding of
Huaraz Red-on-White ceramics by
Recuay kaolin wares, which are not
only more elaborate and harder to
manufacture, but are also made of
GATAPAGOS rarer raw materials.
Thus, Queyash Alto presents a
SIPAN
microcosm of larger-scale, pan-An-
MACHU PICCHU dean processes of power consolida-
AMAZoN fUNGLE
tion. But the actual evidence recov-
ered from the site brings us closer to
the lived experience of the EIP, to the
NAZCA LINES events and things that individuals
TIAHUANACU would have known about theirworld:
the smell of roasting llama, the gid-
EASTER ISLAND diness produced by the beer, the
cacophony of music that accompa-
BARIIOCHE nied dance. We can surmise with
TIKAT some confidence that women and
men at Queyash participated in big-
COPAN ger feasts than their forbears had,
marveled at a new variety of goods in-
UXMAT cluding copper and snuff, and were
CHICHEN.ITZA made to feel their own lack of power
and prestige by the costlier, fancier
For information on these and other new ceramics their new lord owned.
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