Regional Developments is the period of time during which regional cultures emerged after Tiwanaku influence and before the spread of the Inca Empire. However, Tiwanaku influence in the preceding period had been so strong on the local cultures, that those developing subsequently can never be considered completely local in character. Nevertheless, there are differences. This period was more locally developed in the desert region than in the western valleys where new, post-Tiwanaku altiplanic ethnic groups continued to arrive and settle. In the salt puna and desert regions the rupture with circum Titicaca polities occurred with the last Tiwanaku event.
With the end of the Tiwanaku state all sorts of ethnic groups began to re-arrange themselves on the landscape. These groups are identified with the Black-on-Red ceramic tradition, occupying the upper valleys, precordillera and altiplano. In the low valleys and coastal environments the Polychrome Pottery Tradition seems to be predominant. This continuous movement of people out from the Lake Titicaca region to southern Peru, northern Chile, and northwestern Argentina was the cause for the construction of fortifications (known in Quechua as pukaras) among many local settlements, in an attempt to defend themselves. Settlements of Black-on-Red pottery producers represent enclaves that controlled access to productive lands. The economic organization developed complementary
Activities that emphasized redistribution through full development of the vertical archipie-lago system (economic complementarity), especially in the western valleys. Goods from different ecozones, including the tropical forest, the highlands, and the Pacific coast are found at the pukaras.
This active mobility is reflected archaeologically in a mosaic of cultural phases, syn-chronically interdigitated, reaching a level of self-sufficiency under the regulatory principles of vertical complementarity. Arts and craft specialization of ceramics and textiles became highly distinctive and stylized.
Settlement patterns for this period consist of large residential sites that cover areas varying between 0.5 and 7 ha, especially along the western valleys. Most representative are the sites of Saxamar, Copaquilla, San Lorenzo, Purisa, Tangani, and Huaihuarani, located at strategic points, many with defensive walls and dense occupations. Depending on the topography of the landscape, these settlements are surrounded by extensive agricultural facilities, open fields, or terraces. Some of the sites are also associated with mortuary buildings of adobe (chullpas), particularly in the highlands.
In the lowlands the Arica Complex consists of two successive phases: San Miguel and Gentilar, equivalent to Arica I and II (Bird 1943; Dauelsberg 1972). These phases have ceramic styles with polychrome designs; there is a final transitional style called Pocoma. Chronologically the beginning of San Miguel is estimated at AD 1000, while Gentilar is estimated to begin by AD 1350.
The San Miguel style corresponds to big globular water jars with flat bases, vertical handles and narrow necks, keros and vessels with modeled figures on the rim, and anthropomorphic or zoomorphic vases. Decorative designs consist of geometric motifs painted in black or red and black on a white slipped surface (Figure 48.7).
Gentilar, on the other hand, is a better quality and thinner pottery. Water jars with flaring necks are the most common. Designs are black, white and red on a smooth red
Figure 48.7. San Miguel style globular water jar, Azapa Valley. (Photo: Mario Rivera)
Figure 48.8. Gentilar style ceramics, Azapa Valley. (Photo: Mario Rivera)
Slip. The motifs are extremely varied, mainly of geometric figures, but also crosses, anthropomorphic and zoomorphic designs (Figure 48.8).
The Pocoma style consists of designs distributed in panels with light red color as background and separated by vertical lines. The spatial distribution of these styles includes the western valleys of northern Chile and the valleys of southern Peru, particularly Caplina, Sama, and Osmore. Exceptionally, they also extended south of Pisagua, especially at coastal sites such as Caleta Huelen and Taltal. Towards the altiplano the distribution reached the headwaters of valleys in the precordillera, and even into the Titicaca region in the territory of the Lupaqa kingdom (Hyslop 1976).
In the Azapa region the Black-on-Red ware is defined as the Chilpe style, which is contemporaneous with the Gentilar style on the coast. Chilpe is considered a post Tiwa-naku style and identified also in the altiplano as the Collao style, related to the expansion of Colla kingdom people (Schaedel and Munizaga 1957) that, by AD 1300, initiated the process of “Aymarization” in Azapa (Dauelsberg 1982).
In San Pedro de Atacama this period is represented by San Pedro III phase (AD 1000-1450), at sites such as Pukara Quitor and Solor. Elsewhere in the desert this period is represented at Lasana (Lasana II phase) in the mid course of the Loa River (Pollard 1971) and Pukara Turi, in the upper Salado River, a tributary of the Loa.
In the salt puna, above 3,000 masl, the Toconce Mallku complex dominated, with over twenty sites known around the Toconce area (Aldunate and Castro 1981). This complex is related to the Lipez region of southern Bolivia. Its most distinctive feature consists of settlements containing three clearly separate areas: the dwelling area itself, a chullpas or mortuary section, and storage facilities. The dwellings are made up of rectangular houses, numbering between twenty and two hundred, in a clustered pattern with contiguous stone walls. The pottery is mostly undecorated, and known as Likan Ordinary ware, with big globular jars. There is also the Likan Red ware, represented mostly by bowls, and Hedionda Black-on-Buff, with geometric designs on the inside rim (Schiappacasse et al. 1989).
In these western valleys and dry puna, altiplano cultural influences share interesting similarities with late developments in Bolivian and Argentinean puna environments.
World History
