The Archaeology of Wari and the Dispersal of Quechua
The association of Wari with Quechua, or proto-Quechan speech, cannot be demonstrated by an unbroken tradition of material culture such as ceramic style from the Middle Horizon to ethnohistorically known Quechua speaking communities. However, the spread of Wari from its northern Ayacucho homeland, t...
| Autor Principal: | Isbell, William H. |
|---|---|
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Idioma: | spa |
| Publicado: |
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
2012
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: |
http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/boletindearqueologia/article/view/1309/1285 |
| Etiquetas: |
Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
|
| Sumario: |
The association of Wari with Quechua, or proto-Quechan speech, cannot be demonstrated by an unbroken tradition of material culture such as ceramic style from the Middle Horizon to ethnohistorically known Quechua speaking communities. However, the spread of Wari from its northern Ayacucho homeland, to the archaeologically most obvious colonies that stretch across Andes from Cuzco to southern Ayacucho, and into Ica and Arequipa, corresponds remarkably with the ethnohistoric distribution of Quechua IIC. This is the most convincing confirmation that Wari spoke proto-Quechua. Variation among southern Quechua IIC dialects suggests to linguists that dispersal was later than the Middle Horizon. However, if a unified Wari polity promoted a uniform speech community throughout its southern domain it is likely that differentiation would not have begun until Huari collapsed at the end of the Middle Horizon.The origins of Wari lie in long-term interactions between highland Huarpa and coastal Nasca cultures, perhaps establishing an expansive political confederation by the end of the Early Intermediate Period. If Nasca people spoke proto-Aymara and Huarpa folk spoke proto-Quechua, this alliance may account for the ancient relationship between these two proto language groups, described by historical linguists. Archaeological evidence for Wari in the north, especially the Mantaro, the Callejón de Huaylas, and Huamachuco, suggests an early phase of colonization with direct rule, followed by the rise of local elites allied with Wari nobility, indirect rule, and processes of ethnogenesis, that probably promoted linguistic distinction, albeit retaining Wari affiliation. Consequently, although Quechua may have arrived in the north highlands at more or less the same time as the south, separation of Quechua I languages in this northern region probably began early in the Middle Horizon, and experienced social pressures promoting rapid differentiation. The Quechuas of the central coast and far northern Cajamarca are confusing, but new understandings of the archaeology will require new inferences about the past. In the meantime, it is at least plausible to propose that proto-Quechua was spread by Wari, during the Middle Horizon, and that Wari should be credited with the dispersal of Quechua as a whole, not just Quechua II. |
|---|