The Chanka and the Development of Native Lords in the Andes

FAIN: FA-53142-07

Brian S. Bauer
Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (Chicago, IL 60612-4305)

A fellowship is requested to analyze archaeological and historical data for a book on the development of the Chanka ethnic group in the Andean highlands (Andahuaylas, Peru). The Chanka, one of the most important prehistoric cultures of South America, remain unstudied and the cultural processes that led to their development are not well understood. The first half of the book is based on a three-year archaeological field investigation of the Chanka heartland. The second half is based on archival work in Peru and Spain. The results are relevant to understanding the prehistory of Andean peoples, as well as to broader anthropological issues concerning the processes of state development and indigenous responses to conquests.

Associated Products

2010 The Chanka: Archaeological Research in Andahuaylas (Apurimac), Peru (Book)
Title: 2010 The Chanka: Archaeological Research in Andahuaylas (Apurimac), Peru
Author: Bauer, Brian S.
Author: Lucas C. Kellett and Miriam Aráoz Silva
Abstract: In AD 1438, a battle took place outside the city of Cuzco that changed the course of South American history. The Chanka, a powerful ethnic group from the Andahuaylas region, had begun an aggressive program of expansion. Conquering a host of smaller polities, their army had advanced well inside the territory of their traditional rival, the Inca. In a series of unusual maneuvers, the Inca defeated the invading Chanka forces and became the most powerful people in the Andes. Many scholars believe that the defeat of the Chanka represents a defining moment in the history of South America as the Inca then continued to expand and establish the largest empire of the Americas. Despite its critical position in South American history, until recently the Chanka heartland remained unexplored and the cultural processes that led to their rapid development and subsequent defeat by the Inca had not been investigated. From 2001 to 2004, Brian Bauer conducted an archaeological survey of the Andahuaylas region. This project represents an unparalleled opportunity to examine theoretical issues concerning the history and cultural development of late-prehistoric societies in this area of the Andes. The resulting book includes an archaeological analysis on the development of the Chanka and examines their ultimate defeat by the Inca.
Year: 2010
Publisher: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California: Los Angeles
Type: Multi-author monograph
ISBN: 13: 978-19317

Cultural transformations of the Chanka Homeland (Andahuaylas, Peru) during the Late Intermediate Period (A.D. 100-1400). (Article)
Title: Cultural transformations of the Chanka Homeland (Andahuaylas, Peru) during the Late Intermediate Period (A.D. 100-1400).
Author: Bauer, Brian S.
Author: Lucas C. Kellett,
Abstract: One of the largest demographic shifts to occur in Andean prehistory took place during the Late Intermediate Period (A.D. 1000–1400). Across a large expanse of the central Andes a vast number of lower elevation settlements were abandoned and local populations were concentrated in newly constructed, defensibly positioned sites, located along high ridges. In this article we examine this dramatic settlement shift in relation to the Chanka ethnic group that occupied the Andahuaylas region (Department of Apurimac, Peru). The results indicate that the shift from valley to hilltop settlements in the Andahuaylas region occurred around A.D. 1000. We propose that the shift reflects an increased dependency on agro-pastoralism that resulted from a period of climate change. We also suggest that in this region of the Andes the shift was augmented by growing levels of political competition after the dissolution of the Wari Empire and that current models, which situate the Chanka as a uniquely powerful ethnic group at the time of the Inca expansion, need to be reexamined.
Year: 2010
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Latin American Antiquity
Publisher: 21:1:87-111

La fase Qasawirka en la región de Andahuaylas (Apurimac, Perú). (Article)
Title: La fase Qasawirka en la región de Andahuaylas (Apurimac, Perú).
Author: Miriam Aráoz Silva
Author: Bauer, Brian S.
Abstract: A description of the major Early Intermediate and Middle Horizon ceramic styles of the Andahuaylas region.
Year: 2010
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: Arqueología en el Perú: nuevos aportes para el estudio de las sociedades andinas prehispánicas.
Publisher: Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal: Lima. Perú.

---