The Middle Horizon© Alvaro Higueras |
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| Definition | This second
Andean Horizon is defined by the enlargement of two regional societies that develop by the
end of the previous period: the Wari society in Ayacucho (Southern Highlands), and the
Tiwanaku society on the southern shores of Lake Titicaca. The Wari and Tiwanaku societies will
expand, from their centers with the same name, to the Central and Northern Highlands and
to the Southern Andes, respectively. They will share a common border in the Moquegua
Valley where there are settlements and fortresses for each society, testifying to the
highly likely intense contacts between them. In effect, these two societies share
religious and iconographic features. It is suggested that the Wari people obtain the
iconography of the Staffed God from Tiwanaku traders and artisans. While the site of
Tiwanaku has shown all the features to be considered an important shrine and pilgrimage
site during this period, the site of Wari has all the features of an urban settlement head
of a highly complex state administration. Therefore, the character of their expansion in their respective territories was very different: the Wari society functioned more like a classic state building administrative centers with basic architectural standards. In contrast, expansion of the Tiwanaku society is recorded in the form of a wide dissemination of its iconographic array dominated by the staffed God and the Condor mostly because they limited their interaction with other peoples to trade of goods and foodstuffs. There is little indication, in the regions with Tiwanaku style materials, of large administrative centers that would control entire valleys. There is, rather, a type of small platform constructions that would reflect the periodic interaction of valleys like the Moquegua Valley with the Tiwanaku center using the Andean strategy of "verticality". By 1000 AD a period of long draughts in the highlands seriously affected the integrity of the large settlements of this horizon, and induced a decrease in their power. The settlements were abandoned, their central control disrupted by the climatic events, and life returned to be dominated by the basic household that continued to live in and around the ruins of the old centers; a domestic, small-scale type of economy regained popularity in the Andes. |
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| Time frame | After the Early Intermediate Period and before the Late Intermediate Period. | |
| Location of societies | ||
| Links to other periods | ||
| Preceramic Period | Initial Period | |
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See the following resources: THE TIWANAKU SOCIETY, documents by Tiwanakuarcheo.net< THE TIWANAKU SOCIETY, Flash module by Tiwanakuarcheo.net WARI ORTHOGONAL ARCHITECTURE, Flash module by Tiwanakuarcheo.net WARI TEXTILE ICONOGRAPHY, Flash module by Tiwanakuarcheo.net SICÁN AND THE ANDEAN PYRAMID, Flash module by Tiwanakuarcheo.net PACHACAMAC IN THE MIDDLE HORIZON, Flash module by Tiwanakuarcheo.net
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Formative Period | |
| Early Intermediate Period | Late Intermediate Period | Late Horizon |
| Introduction | ||
| Andean and Tiwanaku Archaeology Page Andean resources bar 4 Suyus Andinos |
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