Reenvisioning Wari

This chapter begins with a discussion of the creation of the Inca-inspired model for the Wari Empire, and a questioning of this model’s core assumption that Wari migrants can be effectively glossed as administrators. The chapter then reviews our data on Wari and the Middle Horizon in general to offer a new model for Wari that takes into account the temporal and spatial variability of the period. It argues that a network model works better for the Middle Horizon, with people leaving the Wari heartland multiple times. Of particular concern is a ninth-century disruption that might be associated with state formation. By opening the possibility that Wari people left the heartland for different reasons, we can turn to both understanding why Quilcapampa was founded and unpacking its inter-regional, regional, and local relationships.