Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Vail, Gabrielle

Keywords

Wari, Uraca, Peru, Artifacts, Textiles

Area of Concentration

Anthropology

Abstract

The coastal valleys of the far south of Peru have received relatively little attention in the archaeological literature on the Andes. Recently, however, scholars have begun to examine this area to better understand the relationship between these valleys and the Central Andean cultural sphere. Of particular interest are the dynamics between the south coastal valleys of Peru and the Wari heartland during the Middle Horizon. This research aims to better understand Wari methods of expansion and control by examining Wari presence in areas on the periphery. During the summer of 2014 Cassandra K. Scaffidi and Manuel García Márquez conducted excavations at the site of Uraca, Majes Valley, Department of Arequipa, Peru following in this pattern of research. Currently it is thought that Uraca is not in fact a Wari site but instead a local site, with artifacts suggesting it was in use during the later half of the Early Intermediate Period and the early half of the Middle Horizon. This thesis examines a sample of band fragments recovered and analyzed during the 2014 field season. Through the analysis of technical attributes and design motifs from Sector I and Sector IIC, I define the tradition of band-making that is represented at the site of Uraca and compare it to other textile traditions in the Majes Valley. These fragments, all recovered from looted contexts, also raised questions about the role out-of-context artifacts play within the archaeological record. This thesis also examines the types of information textiles recovered from nonprimary contexts can contribute to archaeological research endeavors.

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