Doctoral Dissertation Research: Processes of Early Inca State Expansion in the Sacred Valley (Cusco, Peru)

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Dr. Joyce Marcus, Mr. R. Alan Covey will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. Using samples of grass, carbonized corn, and charred wood, he will obtain radiocarbon dates that will help to answer several important questions about the Inka empire. The samples were collected during Covey's regional survey research and excavations in the Vilcanota Valley (known popularly as the Sacred Valley), located immediately to the north of Cusco, the Inka capital. The new dates will help to refine our understanding of the development of regional pottery and architectural styles between AD 1000-1450, the time during which the Inka empire formed in the Cusco Valley and began its first imperial conquests. A well-defined archaeological chronology for this period will elucidate some of the processes enabling rapid Inka imperial expansion, providing an additional line of evidence that can be compared to Colonial Spanish accounts of Inka history. The goal of Mr. Covey's research is to describe how the Inka created a well-integrated imperial heartland that included the Sacred Valley, an area occupied by several different ethnic groups in the pre-Inka period. This work integrates four independent datasets: (1) regional settlement patterns, collected in a systematic survey; (2) excavation data from pre-Inka households; (3) Colonial period Spanish accounts of Inka history; and (4) Colonial archival documents on land tenure in the study region. While the Spanish chronicles provide valuable information about Inka origins, they do not offer a reliable chronology for this period. The full potential of archaeological data has remained unrealized because a clear radiocarbon chronology is still not available to subdivide the period from AD 1000-1450. A more accurate chronology will in turn yield more powerful regional data for analyzing the processes of early Inka territorial expansion. This research is important because it will help to demonstrate that processes of Inka imperial expansion and administration were developed through a long period of regional political interactions and integration strategies. Mr. Covey's research will advance our understanding of the conditions that promote the formation and expansion of empires. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.