Cerro Baúl: A Wari Center on the Tiwanaku Frontier

Abstract

Andean scholars have long debated the nature of the relationship between two Middle Horizon (ca. A. D. 750-1000) Andean states; many assumed Tiwanaku dominated Wari and preceded Wari in time. Recent research at the Wari administrative center of Cerro Baúl in the only known region occupied by both states (the Moquegua Valley of southern Peru) indicates that Tiwanaku may not predate Wari in Moquegua and that, contrary to previous assertions, both states occupied the valley for the last three centuries of the Middle Horizon. In support of this position, I review recent excavations at Cerro Baúl. Then I present eight new 14 C dates and summarize the evidence for two major construction episodes at Cerro Baúl. I interpret the local Wari construction chronology based on the 12 14 C dates now available from excavation contexts and I suggest that the new data, in comparison with 24 published 14 C dates from other Wari centers, support a later date for Middle Horizon 1B Wari expansion than previously postulated.