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Pikillaqta, Cusco Valley, Quispicanchi Province, Peru
Pikillaqta is a village of the Wari people. Wari was the center village and other cities like Pikillaqta were influenced from it. The Wari also inhabited many other sites around the area. The site was occupied from about 550 to 1100AD. Its main use was for ceremonies and the site was no complete when it was abandoned. Luis Valcarcel discovered the site of Pikillaqta in 1927. Extensive research was not done, Valcarcel just focused on the findings of two green-stoned figurines and his findings were not published until years later. Emilio Harth-Terre was next and published the ground plans of the site in 1959 but did not excavate. William Sanders looked at the surface remains of the architecture in the 1960s and split the site into more detailed proportions. He searched two buildings and only found a few artifacts. Mary Glowacki studied the site for ceramics in 1996.
Pikillaqta may have been a large feasting site. There was a large patio in the middle of the architectural structure that probably was the center of the administrative rituals and religious practices. Rulers and their kin would come together and feast and drink, and with the capacity of the patio, Pikillaqta could hold a ceremony for people from other Wari villages. Great amounts of native beer (chicha) was drank. Maize and chica were very important in rituals, they were sacred so they appeared often in ceremonies. Even though the patio was the main function of the ceremonies, other places of Pikillaqta show some important ceremonial use. Niched halls were important religious buildings also. There were 18 of these structures. The halls were looted but they may have held sacred objects and offerings once. In Wari art, ceremonies were depicted with a ceremonial pole coming out of the center of niched halls along with offerings, plants, and felines shown in a sacred context. The functions of the niched halls then were probably ceremonially and ritually used because the halls match up with other Wari sites and art. Small conjoint buildings were also present at the site for ritual use.
There were 501 structures of these rooms. A small number of people could gather here for ritual feasting on a smaller more private scale. Sector four of the small conjoint buildings could have been a place where mummies were held and visited. Small fire hearths were found in them where offerings to the deceased could have been done. The Wari thought it was important to keep in touch with the mummies so they could watch over the living so they were regularly visited. There were four chambers included in the small conjoint rooms an one contained a large stone that the Wari couldn't move. They built their structure around this and the rock was than probably used as a sacred object.
Pikillaqta was occupied from about 550-1100 AD and around 1100 AD is when it was ultimately abandoned. Reasoning for this is not exact but it could have been because of a crisis in the empire or that the Wari were trying to expand somewhere else than planning to comeback. There were two stages in the abandonment, the part where the Wari left and then a giant fire after that.
Pikillaqta, Cusco Valley, Quispicanchi Province, Peru
Pikillaqta is a village of the Wari people. Wari was the center village and other cities like Pikillaqta were influenced from it. The Wari also inhabited many other sites around the area. The site was occupied from about 550 to 1100AD. Its main use was for ceremonies and the site was no complete when it was abandoned. Luis Valcarcel discovered the site of Pikillaqta in 1927. Extensive research was not done, Valcarcel just focused on the findings of two green-stoned figurines and his findings were not published until years later. Emilio Harth-Terre was next and published the ground plans of the site in 1959 but did not excavate. William Sanders looked at the surface remains of the architecture in the 1960s and split the site into more detailed proportions. He searched two buildings and only found a few artifacts. Mary Glowacki studied the site for ceramics in 1996.
Pikillaqta may have been a large feasting site. There was a large patio in the middle of the architectural structure that probably was the center of the administrative rituals and religious practices. Rulers and their kin would come together and feast and drink, and with the capacity of the patio, Pikillaqta could hold a ceremony for people from other Wari villages. Great amounts of native beer (chicha) was drank. Maize and chica were very important in rituals, they were sacred so they appeared often in ceremonies. Even though the patio was the main function of the ceremonies, other places of Pikillaqta show some important ceremonial use. Niched halls were important religious buildings also. There were 18 of these structures. The halls were looted but they may have held sacred objects and offerings once. In Wari art, ceremonies were depicted with a ceremonial pole coming out of the center of niched halls along with offerings, plants, and felines shown in a sacred context. The functions of the niched halls then were probably ceremonially and ritually used because the halls match up with other Wari sites and art. Small conjoint buildings were also present at the site for ritual use.
There were 501 structures of these rooms. A small number of people could gather here for ritual feasting on a smaller more private scale. Sector four of the small conjoint buildings could have been a place where mummies were held and visited. Small fire hearths were found in them where offerings to the deceased could have been done. The Wari thought it was important to keep in touch with the mummies so they could watch over the living so they were regularly visited. There were four chambers included in the small conjoint rooms an one contained a large stone that the Wari couldn't move. They built their structure around this and the rock was than probably used as a sacred object.
Pikillaqta was occupied from about 550-1100 AD and around 1100 AD is when it was ultimately abandoned. Reasoning for this is not exact but it could have been because of a crisis in the empire or that the Wari were trying to expand somewhere else than planning to comeback. There were two stages in the abandonment, the part where the Wari left and then a giant fire after that.