Repensando el Horizonte Medio: el caso de Conchopata, Ayacucho, Perú
Rethinking the Middle Horizon: A Case Study at Conchopata, Ayacucho, PerúKnowledge about the past is socially created, in historical contexts that influence how we understand and interpret archaeological information. Consequently, as time change we must be prepared to modify our thinking about prehi...
| Autor Principal: | Isbell, William H. |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
| Idioma: | spa |
| Publicado: |
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
2012
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| Acceso en línea: |
http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/boletindearqueologia/article/view/2177/2107 |
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| Sumario: |
Rethinking the Middle Horizon: A Case Study at Conchopata, Ayacucho, PerúKnowledge about the past is socially created, in historical contexts that influence how we understand and interpret archaeological information. Consequently, as time change we must be prepared to modify our thinking about prehispanic cultures. The Middle Horizon cultural period and the archaeological site of Conchopata, in Peru's Ayacucho valley, seemed very well understood but recent excavations have revealed unexpected new possibilities.Archaeologists believed that a new religious ideology spread from Tiwanaku initiated the Middle Horizon at Conchopata. But newly defined «D»-shaped temple buildings, associated with the art called «Tiwanaku» have no parallels in Tiwanaku´s Lake Titicaca homeland.Conchopata was considered haphazard in form, occupied primarily by specialists in the production of pottery. But new research shows that much of Conchopata's architectural core was planned and enclosed by perimeter walls, and a palace may have been located in the city's architectural core. Numerous new offerings of giant pottery have been excavated, suggesting that these ceremonial ceramics may have been brewing and serving sets for feast organized by ancient kings. Several forms of burials have been identified ranging from interments to Bedrock Cavity Interment and Mortuary Building Interments, and one grave might have been a royal tomb. Finally a suite of radiocarbon dates confirm much thinking about Middle Horizon chronology, but they suggest that Tiwanaku iconography did not arrive at Conchopata until the middle of the phase, when a long tradition of polychrome ceramic painting already existed. Apparently Conchopata was more than the recipient of new religion and art from the Altiplano. We must be prepared to abandon old ideas about Conchopata and the Middle Horizon as more convincing understandings emerge. |
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