Assembling the early expansionary state: Wari and the southern Peruvian coast

Abstract

Most conceptualizations of the state in archaeology remain rooted in Enlightenment ideas of interlocking institutions that existed external to individuals and their interactions. These static conceptualizations often run counter to the temporal and spatial variability in a state’s footprint, especially in those cases where a state expanded and endured across a larger region. In this article, we suggest that states are more fruitfully seen as dynamic assemblages that leaders, as well as other agents, attempt to manipulate to achieve their desires. Reconstructing these desires is most feasible at a meso-scale where broader patterns across local assemblages can be more easily discerned. To demonstrate the utility of this approach, we consider the Wari expansion into the southern coast of Peru during the Middle Horizon (AD 600–1000). The variation in Wari-related flows provides insights into the limits and ancillary effects of state-making in the region.