PREHISTORIC FORTIFICATION SYSTEMS OF NORTHERN PERU

by JOHN R. ToPic and THERESA LANGE ToPic Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ont., Canada. 12 iv 78 In June of 1977 we began an intensive survey of fortified sites in northern Peru. The literature on Peruvian prehistory contains many statements about the role of warfare in the development of indigenous civilizations and has formed the basis of some theoretical writings (Carneiro 1970). These interpretations are, however, based on very few data indeed. We felt that a much more realistic understanding of prehistoric militarism, its causes, and its effects could be gained if information were collected on the location, context, type, and date of all fortified sites in a 75 x 75-mi. test area of northern Peru. To this end, the first season’s work concentrated in the Moche River drainage, an area reaching from the Pacific oast to the continental divide. The coastal part of the valley has already been well studied by the Moche Valley-Chan Chan Project, but above the 500-m contour level the valley is virtually unexplored. On the basis of the data from our survey of the valley and the information from the Viru’ Valley to the south (Willey 1953), two sequences for the development of fortificationsa highland sequence and a coastal sequence-can tentatively be proposed. The earliest fortifications i the highland portion of the Moche watershed are tentatively dated to the early part of the Early Intermediate P riod (500 B.C. to 0). The defenses from this era consist of “great” walls constructed of locally available fieldstone toheights of 1.5 to 2 m, running for distances as great as 10 km. The walls trace a sinuous course which more or less parallels the 3,500-m contour line and divide the lower valleys, where rainfall agriculture is possible, from the higher, frost-prone jalca (which was apparently not yet intensively utilized). They are provided at infrequent intervals with small watch stations consisting of one to two rooms on low terraces at locations with a good view across the jalca. The purpose of the wall/watch-station c figurations was apparently to protect the scattered settlements ofthe valley from incursions by similar populations across the jalca. In the later part of the Early Intermediate P riod (0 to A.D. 500), the tendency is to agglutinate he population into large fortified settlements. These sites are built in defensible ocations (e.g., on hilltops, along ridges, on the jalca) and are provided with one or more surrounding walls and occasionally ditches. Site layout, size, and patterning ofthe defenses vary greatly from site to site, but there is a clear preoccupation with defense. No sites have yet been securely dated to the Middle Horizon (A.D. 500 to 1000), but the Late Intermediate Period (A.D. 1000 to 1476) witnesses a growing complexity inthe political organization of the area. A balance of power is struck in the Upper Moche drainage, with large independent sites dominating smaller satellite communities. The three dominant sites identified to date control (a) the best route north from the upper valley, (b) the southern bank of the Upper Moche River, including an important mining area, and (c) the best route ast across the continental divide. Trade sherds give some indication of the relations between the Upper Moche River groups and their neighbors. Chimu trade sherds (from the powerful coastal empire with its capital in the Moche Valley delta) are found throughout the area, but in small quantities, indicating very little Chimu penetration fits highland hinterland. Sherds of Cajamarca style, probably manufactured 90 km to the northeast, are found only on the north side of the valley; this distribution pattern may signify control of Cajamarca trade by the dominant site on the north side of the upper valley, Carpaico. Carpaico is the most impressive site on a fortified road which leads from the middle Moche Valley north to the jalca, and perhaps eventually to Cajamarca. Carpaico is typical of Late Intermediate P riod fortifications i the area in that it defends nonsettlement features of the cultural landscape. Carpaico itself is defended by massive terraces, but finely cut stone architecture suggests that it functioned more as an elite population centre than as a defensive site. Associated with Carpaico, however, are three small hilltop fortresses which are strategically located along the walled road. Probably dating to the Late Horizon (A.D. 1476-1532, the period of Inca hegemony) is a cluster of small habitation sites and extensive agricultural terraces covering over 5 km2. This complex, called Rogoday, is located 2 km north of Carpaico along the road. Some aspects of the Rogoday settlement, such as the numbers of rooms and the general tomb type, indicate a continuity with the Carpaico tradition. Ceramic evidence indicates little or no temporal overlap between the two sites, while the extensive terrace system, the architectural style, and the scarcity of trade sherds represent a distinct discontinuity with Carpaico. From these types of evidence, it is argued that Rogoday represents a forced resettlement of the Carpaico elite by the Inca, probably designed to disrupt coast-highland trade; the local elite were compensated for the loss of trade revenues by the increase in agricultural production allowed by the terrace system. The sequence through time in this part of the highlands thus shows several changes in emphasis in fortifications, mirroring changes in the economic base and in social organization. The small unagglutinated settlements of the early agriculturalists are defended communally by walling in the entire area under cultivation. Later, the population is concentrated into larger settlements, and these agglutinated sites themselves are defended. With the development oftrade routes and hierarchical patterning of sites, defense of communications routes is emphasized; small habitation sites continue to be walled, but dominant sites are more specialized in function and usually contain a small walled fortification distinct from the habitation area. The Inca apparently assured control of the zone in their traditional way, by restructuring local economic patterns to be responsive to Cuzco rather than to previous power centers. Fortifications i the Upper Moche drainage thus demonstrate 1 The fieldwork has been made possible through a grant from the Canada Council. We would like to also thank the Instituto Nacional de Cultura del Perii for allowing the survey.