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Pikillacta: The Wari Empire in Cuzco. Gordon F. McEwan, ed., Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2005.182 pp.
This book presents the results of mapping and excavations realized in the late 19705 and in the 19805 at the Wari site of Pikillacta, located in the Lucre Basin of the Cusco region, in southern Peru. Measuring almost two squared kilometers with some of its walls still standing a dozen meters high, Pikillacta has attracted attention and has also been the subject of much speculation. During Peru's political unrest in the 1980$ and early 1990$, Pikillacta was one of the rare Wari sites that could be investigated by archaeologists. This book is a long-awaited synthesis and interpretation of the data collected during that time.
In chapter 1, McEwan introduces the central goals of the research at Pikillactato assess the evidence for the degree of imperial centralization and control in a Wari province, and to determine the function of Pikillacta through the study of its architecture, hydraulic works, ceramics, relative and absolute chronology, human remains, and metal objects. In chapter 2, McEwan and Couture elaborate an architectural typology of the buildings at the site. Pikillacta, which displays a grid plan, contains four sectors of densely packed rooms and two areas of open rectangular enclosures. The authors identified three types of buildings at Pikillacta that have also been identified at other Wari sites: patio groups, niched halls, and small conjoined rooms.
In chapter 3, McEwan discusses the excavations at Pikillacta, focusing on Sector 2, which is the only one to...