Investigation into the Functioning of Early Cities

Suny At Binghamton, Binghamton NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project, led by Drs. William Isbell (Binghamton University) and Barbara Wolff (Montgomery College/Binghamton University), will evaluate comparatively based generalizations about the nature of urbanism, archaic and modern, through archaeological investigation of residential life within Huari, the prehistoric urban capital of the arguably earliest Andean Empire. The PIs, along with U.S. and Peruvian colleagues, will excavate vernacular residential remains at Huari where preliminary research suggests an urban pattern that significantly deviates from prevailing models of cities. Traditional models of urban centers, and particularly archaic capital cities, emphasize the presence of large socioeconomically and ethnically diverse populations. Urban diversity is typically understood to include occupational specialization promoting economies of scale, enabled by freeing part of the population from agricultural production, since they are then supported by markets and interregional trade that provide one of the greatest advantages of city living. Contrary to expectations however Huari exhibits no apparent civic center suitable for large public gatherings, no evidence of markets, and negligible evidence for social, economic and ethnic diversity. Questions then arise: Is Huari an anomalous example of urban living? How did residents experience urban life; and how did they manage the seemingly universal demands of living in a populous capital city? Over 3 or 4 centuries of occupation, did Huari move closer to or further from traditional models of urbanism? This project will contribute to understanding variation in urban life while training student archaeologists, involving the descendent community, and contributing to heritage management across a landscape with great potential for sustainable development. This project will excavate residential remains of everyday domestic life. US and Peruvian students will work alongside archaeologists experienced in architectural excavation/analysis, ceramic analysis, lithic analysis, paleoethnobotany, zooarchaeology, residue and trace element analysis, and data base design as they gather diverse lines of information illuminating patterns of social and economic diversity, from dietary preferences to specialized economic activities, to the spatial and social organization of households and neighborhoods. Project data and results will be published online and in print. Huari significantly reshaped the trajectory of Andean imperialism and urban life. This project will supplement comparative data sets describing archaic cities while significantly expanding current knowledge of "the variable" as well as "the universal" in urban life.