The Wari culture flourished on the coast and highlands of ancient Peru between 450 and 1000 AD. Centered on their capital Huari, the Wari successfully exploited the various routes they controlled to build an empire administered by provincial capitals connected by a long network of roads. Their methods of maintaining an empire and an artistic style would have a significant influence on the later Inca civilization.
The Wari were contemporaneous with the other cultures of the Middle Horizon (600-1000 AD), established in Tiwanaku and Pukara. The more warlike Wari were also favored farmers and built canals to irrigate terraced fields. The economic stability and prosperity this brought allowed the Wari to implement a combined strategy of military power, economic benefits, and distinctive artistic imagery to forge an empire throughout ancient Peru. Their superior management of the land also helped them withstand the 30 year period of drought during the late 6th century AD, which contributed to the decline of the neighboring Nazca and Moche cultures.
The Wari were undoubtedly influenced by contemporary cultures, for example, by appropriating the staff god Chavín (a god closely associated with the sun, rain, and corn: all vital for cultures that depended on agriculture and whims), of an unsafe climate. They transformed it into a ritual icon present in textiles and ceramics, they spread their own iconography and left a final legacy in Andean art.
Huari
The wari applied a combined strategy of military power, economic benefits, and a distinctive artistic imaginery to forge an empire in ancient peru.
The capital at Huari (25 km north of modern Ayacucho) is located at an altitude of 2800 m and extends over 15 square km. It was originally established around 250 AD. and eventually had a population possibly as large as 70,000 at its peak. Huari shows typical features of Andean architecture: rectangular structures closed by walls that in turn can be divided into labyrinths of compartments. The city walls are enormous (up to 10 m high and 4 m thick) and are made of largely unworked stones set with a clay mortar. The buildings had two or three floors, the patios were lined with stones. The floors and walls of the buildings were generally covered with plaster and painted white.
There is little distinction in Wari architecture between public and private buildings, and little evidence of urban planning. A royal palace, however, has been identified in the northwestern section of the city, the oldest area of habitation and which is called Vagachayoq Moqo. Today a ruined temple was located in the Moraduchayuq compound southeast of the city. It was built in the 6th century AD. and had underground parts with an entire structure that was once painted red. Like other buildings on the site, it was deliberately destroyed and ritually burned. The city appears to have been abandoned in 800 AD. for unknown reasons.
Tombs have been excavated where examples of Wari textiles were found. Ceramics are also among the discoveries of the place. A royal tomb was discovered in the Monjachayoq area, consisting of 25 chambers on two different levels, all lined with finely cut stone slabs. Additionally, a shaft descends to a third level of the chamber that is shaped like a flame. Finally, there is a circular chamber on a fourth level down. The flame-shaped tomb, looted in ancient times, was a royal resting place and dates back to 750-800 AD.
Huari was once surrounded by irrigated fields and fresh water ran to the city via underground conduits. Further indicators of prosperity are the presence of areas dedicated to the production of specific goods, such as ceramics and jewelry. Precious materials for these works and imported goods indicate trade with distant regions: shells from the coast and Spondylus from Ecuador, for example. The presence of buildings used for storage at Huari and other Wari cities also indicates a centrally controlled trade network spread across ancient Peru.
Pikillacta
Another important Wari center was in Pikillacta, southeast of Huari, founded in 650 AD. It has an altitude of 3250 m, it was the heart of an administrative and military settlement built in a rectangular shape, measuring 745 x 630 m, arranged in a precise geometric pattern of squares. The interiors of the individual compositions are, however, idiosyncratic in design.
As at other Wari sites, access was strictly controlled by a single path, a winding entrance. Notable discoveries at Pikillacta include 40 miniature greenstone figures representing elite citizens and small figurines (no longer than 5 cm) of tranced shamans, warriors, bound captives, and pumas in copper, gold, and semiprecious stones. The site was abandoned between 850 and 900 AD. and there is evidence of destruction by fire of some buildings, as well as doors that were deliberately sealed.
Other important Wari cities were Viracochapampa, Jincamocco, Conchopata, Marca Huamachuco, and Azangaro. There were also purely military settlements, such as the Cerro Baúl fort, which bordered Tiwanaku territory to the south. These sites were connected to water sources and each by a system of roads.
Wari Art
The best examples of Wari art are seen in textile finds that occasionally represent the god of the staff, plants, the flower of the San Pedro cactus, pumas, condors, and especially llamas, illustrating the importance of these herds of animals for the Wari. Textiles were burned with the dead and tombs in the dry desert have been well preserved. The textiles were multicolored, although blue was very present, and the designs were predominantly composed of rectilinear geometric shapes, especially the stepped diamond motif. At the same time, despite the apparent regular geometric patterns, weavers sometimes introduced a single random motif or a color change (typically using green or indigo) into their pieces. These could have been signatures or an illustration that rules could always have exceptions.
Eventually, Wari designs became so abstract that the figures were essentially unrecognizable, perhaps in a deliberate effort by the elite to monopolize their interpretation. The abstract figures distorted almost beyond recognition could also be an effort to represent shamanic transformation and trances of consciousness through substance use, which were part of Wari religious ceremonies.
Popular forms of Wari pottery were the double-poured vessels also present in other Andean cultures, large urns, glasses, plates, and molded effigies. The decorative designs were strongly influenced by those used in Wari textiles production. The staff god was an especially popular theme for pouring vessels (kero) as well as warriors with dart spears, shields and military tunics.
Precious metals were also a popular medium for elite goods. Notable discoveries from a royal tomb at Espíritu Pampa include a silver mask and breastplate, gold bracelets, and other jewelry in semiprecious stones such as greenstone and lapiz lazuli. Human figures in typical Wari attire (sleeveless tunics and four-horned caps) were also made in hammered precious metals.
The Wari legacy
Although the exact causes of the Wari decline are not known, theories range from the overextension of the empire to another period of extended drought in the 9th century AD. Whatever the reasons, the region returned to a situation of fragmented governments for several centuries.
The most lasting legacy of the Wari is their artistic style, which not only influenced their Moche contemporaries but also the later Lambayeque culture, and even later, the Incas. Many of the roads built by the Wari were also used by the Incas within their extensive road system, as well as the large number of Wari terraces for agriculture. The capital of Huari was sacked in ancient times, and again in the 16th century by the Spanish.
Wari culture was rediscovered in the mid-20th century; The first excavations began in the 1940s and today continue to reveal the wealth and power once enjoyed by one of the most important Andean cultures.
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