Political Strategies and Domestic Economy of the Lote B Rural Elite in the Prehispanic Lurín Valley, Peru
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POLITICAL STRATEGIES AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY OF THE LOTE B RURAL ELITE IN THE PREHISPANIC LURÍN VALLEY, PERU by Giancarlo Marcone F. BA, Pontificia Universidad Católica Del Perú, 1996 Licenciatura, Pontificia Universidad Católica Del Perú. 2008 MA, University of Pittsburgh. 2008 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2012 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Giancarlo Marcone F. It was defended on November 28, 2011 and approved by Dr. Robert D. Drennan, Distinguished Professor, Anthropology Dr. Marc B. Abbott, Associate Professor, Geology and Planetary Sciences Dissertation Co- Advisor: Dr. Marc P. Bermann, Associate Professor, Anthropology Dissertation Co- Advisor: Dr. James B. Richardson III, Emeritus Professor, Anthropology ii POLITICAL STRATEGIES AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY OF THE LOTE B RURAL ELITE IN THE PREHISPANIC LURÍN VALLEY, PERU Giancarlo Marcone F, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2012 Copyright © by Giancarlo Marcone F. 2012 iii POLITICAL STRATEGEIS AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY OF THE LOTE B RURAL ELITE IN THE PREHISPANIC LURÍN VALLEY. PERU Giancarlo Marcone PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2012 There is a long tradition in archaeology that focuses on the study of societal intermediate groups as a way to understand how broad regional political transformations intermingle with different local settings. This dissertation explores this topic at the rural Lima Culture site of Lote B (Cerro Manchay) in the Lurín Valley. This site was occupied from the Early Intermediate to Middle Horizon period (circa 500–700 CE), a time of dramatic regional change. My research identifiyed the main power strategies at work in the site, the constituent factors of these power strategies and how they were re-arrange by Lote B inhabitants at the start of the Middle Horizon period. The analysis has illuminated the transformation of power strategies of Lote B inhabitant in both domestic and monumental context. In order to develop a better understanding of Lote B inhabitants’ political strategies, test pits in midden deposits, complemented with limited broad excavations inside the architecture were undertaken at the four constituent sectors of the Site. The results of this investigation revealed an elite domestic compound occupied in the Early Intermediate and lasted through the Middle Horizon Period. This domestic compound was later co-opted by the Late Lima multi- valley polity through the construction of two non-domestic buildings, one of them a storage facility that was constructed on area previously used as burial grounds. Other transformations like the increase in feasting activities, more storage structures and better quality of architecture in v the residential complex, suggests that these elite maybe benefited from an economical improvement with their inclusion into this regional polity. My results detail a case of what I believe is a common integrative process in the formation of regional-level polities: that intermediate elites are willing to trade independence of action for favored economic agendas, when this are likely to solidify their political position. In short, the regional transformation associated with the spread of the state, allowed local elites to change their relationships with commoners. vi A Lucille, lo que yo, simplemente soñé iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................................... XXII 1.0 FROM LOCAL LEADERS TO RURAL ELITE IN THE LIMA POLITY .......... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 1.2 POWER STRATEGIES IN THE PREHISPANIC ANDES ............................ 2 1.3 STUDY OF INTERMEDIATE ELITES IN ANDEAN ARCHAEOLOGY .. 4 1.4 FROM LOCAL LEADERS TO INTERMEDIATE ELITES IN THE LURÍN VALLEY .................................................................................................................. 7 2.0 THE LIMA CULTURE AND LOTE B ................................................................... 11 2.1 LIMA CULTURE .............................................................................................. 11 2.2 PREVIOUS RESEARCH ON THE LIMA CULTURE AND IN THE LURÍN VALLEY ................................................................................................................ 14 2.2.1 The Lima Ceramic Style ............................................................................. 17 2.2.2 Lima Settlement Patterns ........................................................................... 19 2.2.2.1 Chillón Valley ...................................................................................... 19 2.2.2.2 Rimac Valley ........................................................................................ 21 2.2.2.3 Lurín Valley ......................................................................................... 22 2.2.3 Residential Patterns and Household Differentiation ............................... 24 2.3 CURRENT INTERPRETATIONS OF LIMA SOCIOPOLITICAL ORGANIZATION .............................................................................................................. 32 vii 2.3.1 Hypotheses for the emergence of the Lima state ...................................... 33 2.3.2 The Lima Polity and the Wari Empire ..................................................... 36 2.4 THE LURÍN VALLEY AND LOTE B ............................................................ 39 2.4.1 The Lima period at Pachacamac ............................................................... 39 2.4.2 Lote B ........................................................................................................... 42 2.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................... 45 2.5.1 Fieldwork at Lote B .................................................................................... 46 3.0 EXCAVATION OF SECTOR 1 ............................................................................... 48 3.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 48 3.2 SECTOR 1 – DESCRIPTION .......................................................................... 49 3.3 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 1 ............................................................................. 50 3.4 EXCAVATIONS OF UNIT 2 ........................................................................... 54 3.4.1 Feature 03 .................................................................................................... 56 3.5 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 3 ............................................................................. 58 3.6 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 7 ............................................................................. 61 3.7 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 8 ............................................................................. 65 3.8 CONCLUSIONS - SECTOR 1 ......................................................................... 65 4.0 EXCAVATION OF SECTOR 2 ............................................................................... 68 4.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 68 4.2 DESCRIPTION.................................................................................................. 69 4.3 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 4 ............................................................................. 70 4.4 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 5 ............................................................................. 70 4.5 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 6 ............................................................................. 74 viii 4.6 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 9 ............................................................................. 79 4.6.1 Feature 04 .................................................................................................... 82 4.7 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 10 ........................................................................... 84 4.7.1 Feature 06 - .................................................................................................. 93 4.8 CONCLUSION - SECTOR 2 ........................................................................... 94 5.0 EXCAVATION OF SECTOR 3 ............................................................................... 96 5.1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 96 5.2 SECTOR 3 – DESCRIPTION .......................................................................... 97 5.3 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 11 ........................................................................... 98 5.4 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 12 ......................................................................... 101 5.4.1 Feature 05 .................................................................................................. 105 5.5 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 13 ......................................................................... 108 5.6 EXCAVATION OF UNIT 16 ......................................................................... 110 5.7 CONCLUSIONS - SECTOR 3 ....................................................................... 113 6.0 EXCAVATION OF SECTOR 4 ............................................................................. 115 6.1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................... 115 6.2 DESCRIPTION...............................................................................................