A team of researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Almería have found the following during recent excavations at the El Trigal III site in the archaeological area: The Puntilla (Nasca, Ica, Peru), a new type of settlement. It is a large architectural complex consisting of a two-story building and a courtyard with warehouses from the Wari State period.
This is the result of the excavations carried out at the end of 2022 as part of the La Puntilla Archaeological Research Project.
The team has been carrying out field work in the region since 2005 El Trigal deposits, next to the Aja River, on the northern slope of the La Puntilla Mountains. This is an archaeological area near the municipality of Orcona (Nasca Province, Ica Department, Peru). Since 2012, excavations have focused on El Trigal III, where a settlement from the period is located Cahuachi Stateof 1st to 4th centuries of our time, a moment that corresponds to that Geoglyphs with animal figures known as the Nasca Lines.
In 2021, excavations of the so-called northern complex began, and in 2022 it was confirmed that it was a building from a later period Era of Wari State. Until the dates obtained using carbon 14 are confirmed, the chronology is assumed to be correct between the 7th and 10th centuries our time.
The Wari State had its center in the town of Wari Andes Mountainsin the Peruvian department Ayacucho. From the 7th century it expanded its political control From this region to the mountain and coastal areas of northern Peru. It is believed that this political expansion represented one Richwith a significant weight of military activity to conquer territory, but also with alliances and pacts with dominant groups from different regions, as could be the case in the Nasca Valley.
The building in the north campus of El Trigal III had approx 130 square meters and it was built with walls of great stones rising up on them Adobe walls. Due to the thickness of the walls and the volume of the collapses found, it had two floors. The walls were plastered in white and yellow, due to residues stuck to the stones that made up the architectural material. And on the preserved ground floor there is evidence of work on food preparation and storage.
Painted ceramics from the Wari State period of El Trigal III. / ACAIA team.
A large room has been added to this building, consisting of a terrace with small terraces Rooms intended for storage, still in the excavation process, within the so-called south complex. This enclosure reached an area of more than 500 square meters and was bordered by walls made of large stones.
Such a building complex had not previously been documented through extensive excavations. But one was known Ceramic model with the same configuration, found in a Ayacucho tomb. The creation of models shows this The construction was planned previously. This fact is also known in the case of the territorial control centers where the Wari Empire located the warehouses where the tributes of the communities of the subjugated regions were deposited state control.
The El Trigal III settlement represents a new type Enclave, rural naturein Wari territory, probably owned by a group of the imperial ruling class who were able to maintain the various territories through servile labor crafted workthe preparation of food and the maintenance of warehouses in the house and its outbuildings, and the carrying out of agricultural work on the lands of the Aja River Valley.
At the time of Wari State they knew each other well political centerssuch as the city of Wari, or a number of territorial centers in different regions, as well as some establishments where there are unique apsidal-shaped buildings, certainly places of political and religious use, and also a large number of tombs, often without clear connections. , but with Grave trousseau Since this moment. But the settlement found as part of the La Puntilla project corresponds to a small rural town, although with an architectural component that requires a great deal of work, certainly because it was inhabited by members of the upper class.
The 2022 campaign in El Trigal was carried out under the scientific direction of Pedro V. Castro-Martinezfrom UAB and from Trinidad Escoriza-Mateu, from the University of Almería. A preview of the results has just been published in the magazine Informes y Trabajos, No. 21, of the Institute of Cultural Heritage of Spain and will also be presented at the 10th National Archeology Congress of Peru, which begins on November 28th.
As part of the congress, the Cultural and Scientific Affairs Department of the Spanish Embassy in Peru will launch the portal network Yachay, an archeology site created as an example window for work in this area of Spanish research and facilities in Peru, together with local specialists, in the numerous sites of archaeological value in the country. The portal will include a virtual exhibition of the results of the La Puntilla project from 2005 to 2022 as well as research progress in the Caral (Supe) archaeological zone on the north coast of Peru.