National Geographic History - 01 e 02.2022

entire southern end of the site. Once painted

crimson, the sprawling complex seemed to be

a Wari temple dedicated to ancestor worship.

In fall 2012, as the team dug down beneath a

layer of heavy trapezoidal bricks, they discov-

ered something few Andean archaeologists ever

expected to find: an unlooted royal tomb. Inside

were interred four elite Wari women—perhaps

queens or princesses—accompanied by as many

as 54 other highborn individuals, six human sac-

rifices, and more than a thousand grave goods, all

of the finest workmanship—from huge golden

ear ornaments, silver bowls, and copper-alloy

axes to exquisitely crafted textiles and col-

orful ceramics.

The Wari

Around the seventh century a.d.,

the Wari emerged from obscurity

in Peru’s Ayacucho Valley, rising

to glory long before the Inca, in a

time of repeated drought and en-

vironmental crisis. They became

master engineers, constructing

aqueducts and canal systems to

irrigate their terraced fields.

Near the modern city of Ayacucho, they

founded a sprawling capital, known today as

Huari. At its zenith, Huari boasted a popula-

tion of as many as 40,000 people—twice the

population of Paris at the time. From this strong-

hold the Wari lords were able to extend their do-

main hundreds of miles along the Andes and into

the coastal deserts, forging what many archae-

ologists call the first empire in Andean South

America, which would grow to cover nearly the

entire Peruvian Andes and coast.

Researchers have long puzzled over how the

Wari built and governed this vast, unruly realm,

whether through conquest or persuasion or

some combination of both. Unlike most imperial

powers, the Wari had no system of writing and

left no recorded narrative history, but the rich

finds at El Castillo, a journey of some 500 miles

from the Wari capital, are filling in many blanks.

After the Wari had established firm control

of the region, the new lord constructed a palace

at the foot of El Castillo, and over time he and

his successors began transforming the steep hill

above into a towering temple devoted to ances-

tor worship. To rub shoulders in death with

members of the royal dynasty, nobles staked

0 mi 400

0 km 400

Extent of Wari Empire

influence, ca A.D. 800

PACIFIC

OCEAN

El Castillo de

Huarmey

Huari

Lima

Pikillaqta

Cerro Baúl

Pachacamac

Ayacucho

Cusco

PERU

COLOMBIA

ECUADOR

BRAZIL

BOLIVIA

CHILE

A

N

D

E

S

PERU

SOUTH

AMERICA Expansion

and Influence

WARI CULTURE emerged around a.d. 600

from the Ayacucho Valley of Peru. From

their capital Huari in the Andes, the Wari

expanded control across the region until

about a.d. 1000, when their empire col-

lapsed. The Wari did not have a written

language, so much of what is understood

about them today comes from archaeo-

logical sites. One of the best preserved is

Pikillaqta, located about 12 miles east of

modern Cusco, where a massive irrigation

system and a fortified complex were built.

Another important Wari site in southern

Peru is Cerro Baúl, which served as both

an administrative and ceremonial center.

Just south of modern Lima are the remains

of a major religious center, Pachacamac

(scholars debate whether it was inde-

pendent or a Wari province, but artifacts

found there reveal strong Wari influence).

FIERCE
SUBJECTS
Animals were popular
subjects of Wari
artisans, who sculpted
vessels with their
likenesses out of stone
(below) and from clay.

NG MAPS

RROBERT CLARK/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHICOBERT CLARK/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

66 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022