Andean Empires
Empires in Motion is a field and laboratory research program in the south-central Andes of Peru that examines the successive Wari (CE 600-1000), Inka (CE 1400-1532), and Spanish (CE 1532-1824) empires. The project examines the techno-politics of ancient states, namely how state institutions utilized emergent technologies and infrastructures in the production of authority.
The project’s origin started with the basic question – how can we determine the extents and boundaries of ancient empires that left no written histories? Networks of infrastructure, such as roads and associated waystations, may best represent a state’s footprint. Roads embody the complex social relationships that led to their construction, use, and maintenance over centuries of time, and often served as the only point of contact between far-away state capitals and local communities.
The project’s origin started with the basic question – how can we determine the extents and boundaries of ancient empires that left no written histories? Networks of infrastructure, such as roads and associated waystations, may best represent a state’s footprint. Roads embody the complex social relationships that led to their construction, use, and maintenance over centuries of time, and often served as the only point of contact between far-away state capitals and local communities.
Empires in Motion examines a single road network that served as a major thoroughfare between the Andean highlands and arid coastal desert, dissected by lush agricultural river valleys. On a landscape scale, GIS modeling of human mobility and remote sensing is used to first identify archaeological sites and preserved traces of ancient roads.
On a regional-scale, we use traditional archaeological survey and excavations to investigate a number of sites associated with local peoples and intrusive state actors.
On a site and artifact-scale, this research program brings together U.S. and South American archaeologists, climate geoscientists, zooarchaeologists, and paleobotanists to better understand ancient lifeways and the long-distance exchange of powerful items and ideas.
The following pages highlight key project components, archaeological approaches, and collaborations.
