REGIONAL SETTLEMENT PATTERNS and POLITICAL COMPLEXITY in the CINTI VALLEY, BOLIVIA by Claudia Rivera Casanovas Licenciatura
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REGIONAL SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AND POLITICAL COMPLEXITY IN THE CINTI VALLEY, BOLIVIA by Claudia Rivera Casanovas Licenciatura, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz-Bolivia, 1994 MA, University of Pittsburgh, 2002 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2004 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Claudia Rivera Casanovas It was defended on May 15, 2003 and approved by Dr. Olivier de Montmollin Dr. Robert Drennan Dr. Katheryn Lynduff Dr. James Richardson III Dr. Marc Bermann Dissertation Director ii Copyright by Claudia Rivera Casanovas 2004 iii REGIONAL SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AND POLITICAL COMPLEXITY IN THE CINTI VALLEY, BOLIVIA Claudia Rivera Casanovas, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2004 Traditionally, scholars investigating prehispanic Andean polities and sociopolitical organization have worked from cross-cultural models of complex societies underlain by concepts of political hierarchy and centralized control. Recently, however, some archaeologists, drawing from ethnohistorical and ethnographic sources, have argued that late prehispanic polities in various parts of the Andes were organized around principles different from those that underlie traditional constructs of complex societies. This ethnohistoric evidence raises the possibility that models of political organization often used by archaeologists are not adequate to account for the development and dynamics of all prehispanic Andean polities. Ethnohistoric sources portray structure and dynamics of the “ethnic kingdoms” as rooted in still poorly understood indigenous principles of organization featuring nested, dual socio-territorial units (ayllus), decentralized political leadership, and confederation as the basis of hierarchy. To date, there has been little study of what these polities would look like archeologically, or how the supposedly different principles of iv organization would manifest themselves in regional settlement structure, wealth and status differentiation, or production and exchange patterns. Ethnohistoric documentation for the existence of ayllu polities in the Cinti region, southern Bolivia, made this area a prime setting for exploration of the archaeological ramifications of traditional and ayllu-based models. Full-scale regional survey and excavation generated data on the long-term evolution of sociopolitical structure and economic processes in the Cinti Valley. The investigation was organized around identifying strategies (economic and social) associated with political leadership, and their role in politico-economic centralization and social differentiation. The research revealed the emergence, by AD 800, of a strongly integrated, regional polity, characterized by a traditional settlement hierarchy, and elite residence at a dominant center. Catchment zone analysis indicated that increasing agricultural production was most closely linked to strategies of political leadership and status differentiation. The Cinti Valley investigation served to refine our understanding of the ayllu polity both as an archaeological model, and as a form of prehispanic political organization. Highlighting the convergence and divergence between emic constructs and empirical regional patterns should contribute to a better understanding of the nature and variability of southern Bolivian prehispanic societies, and how they should be archaeologically approached. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ......................................................................................................................xv CHAPTER 1 .................................................................................................................... 1 POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC POWER STRATEGIES IN THE NATIVE ANDES........... 1 POWER STRATEGIES IN COMPLEX SOCIETIES .................................................... 4 Staple Strategies...................................................................................................... 4 Wealth Strategies..................................................................................................... 5 Prestige Based Strategies........................................................................................ 6 The Ayllu Polity ........................................................................................................ 7 GOALS OF THE RESEARCH ................................................................................... 10 Research Questions and Archaeological Correlates.............................................. 12 CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................................. 17 ENVIRONMENTAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SETTING ............................................ 17 CLIMATE AND NATURAL RESOURCES ................................................................. 18 Flora and Fauna of the Cinti Valley........................................................................ 19 GEOLOGY, HYDROLOGY, AND SOILS................................................................... 21 Hydrology............................................................................................................... 22 Landscapes and Soils in the Cinti Valley ............................................................... 23 Slopes (Cuestas), C.6.1 ..................................................................................... 23 Alluvial terraces and beaches C.1.14 ................................................................. 24 Mountains (Serranías) C.1.9............................................................................... 24 Mountains (Serranías) C.1.27............................................................................. 25 Mountains (Serranías) C.1.62............................................................................. 25 Mountains (Serranías) C.1.45............................................................................. 25 Land Classification and Agricultural Potential ........................................................ 26 Prehispanic and modern land use.......................................................................... 27 HISTORY OF RESEARCH IN CINTI VALLEY .......................................................... 30 REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL SEQUENCE OF SOUTHERN INTERANDEAN VALLEYS................................................................................................................... 33 Preceramic Period (ca. 6000 - 2000 BC) ............................................................... 34 Formative Period (ca. 2000 BC- AD 400)............................................................... 35 Early Regional Development Period (AD 400- 800)............................................... 36 Late Regional Development Period (AD 800-1430) ............................................... 38 Late Period or Late Horizon (AD 1430-1535)......................................................... 40 ETHNOHISTORY OF THE REGION......................................................................... 42 THE QARAQARA CONFEDERATION IN ETNOHISTORIC AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE.......................................................................................................... 44 vi CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................. 47 SETTLEMENT PATTERNS, REGIONAL ORGANIZATION AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 47 REGIONAL SURVEY ................................................................................................ 47 Site Typology ......................................................................................................... 49 Regional Centers................................................................................................ 50 Local Centers or Large Villages.......................................................................... 50 Small Villages..................................................................................................... 51 Homesteads ....................................................................................................... 51 Rock Art Sites..................................................................................................... 51 Camp Sites and Hunting Areas .......................................................................... 51 Roads ................................................................................................................. 52 Agricultural Terraces .......................................................................................... 52 Quarry Areas ...................................................................................................... 52 Population Estimates ............................................................................................. 53 Catchment Zone Analysis ...................................................................................... 53 Estimates of Production ......................................................................................... 55 THE FORMATIVE PERIOD (2000 BC – AD 400)...................................................... 57 General Settlement Pattern.................................................................................... 58 Regional Organization...........................................................................................