Predecessors of the Inca, called Wari, didn't just rule only by pillage, plunder and a strong administration, but also created loosely administered colonies to expand trade, provide land for settlers and tap natural resources across much of the central Andes, a new study has revealed.
The results shed new light on how early states evolved into empires in the region that became the Inca imperial heartland.
The Dartmouth study is the first large-scale look at the settlement patterns and power of the Wari civilization, which flourished from about AD 600-1000 in the Andean highlands, well before the Inca Empire's 15th century rise.
As very little is known about Wari, many scholars think they established strong centralized control - economic, political, cultural and military - like their Inca successors to govern the majority of the far-flung populations living across the central Andes.
But the study suggests that while the Wari had significant administrative power, they did not successfully transition most colonies into directly ruled provinces.
Professor Alan Covey, the study's lead author, said that the identification of limited Wari state power encourages a focus on colonization practices rather than an interpretation of strong provincial rule.
Covey said that a 'colonization first' interpretation of early Wari expansion encourages the reconsideration of motivations for expansion, shifting from military conquest and economic exploitation of subject populations to issues such as demographic relief and strategic expansion of trade routes or natural resource access.
The results are based on a systematic inventory of archaeological surveys covering nearly 1,000 square miles and GIS analysis of more than 3,000 archaeological sites in and around Peru's Cusco Valley.
The study is published in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.
