Abstract
Here I compare the historical and archaeological evidence concerning the role of religion and war in civilization and how that evidence has been interpreted. Narratives that emphasize war have been given greater weight, but the spread of ideologies appears to have as quick results but perhaps had more enduring effects.
Highlights
The Central Andean site of Tiahuanaco (Tiwanaku) has been designated as the place of origin of a religious cult that spread within the development of a state, expansionist in nature and colonial, though pluralistic
The nature of the archaeological report has been characterized as a reflection of Twentieth century military narratives [4]
Some argue that this was due to a loss of control of trade networks, but do not provide an explanation or model for why it was so quick and complete (Sanders, et al [68]; see Tainter [69]) while Millon [70] suggested invaders but by 1988 is less convinced due to a lack of evidence. Instead he points to the “build up of internal tensions” and a widening inequality, but notes that the city had been able to deal effectively twice in its history with economic and social crises and he falls back on Robert Adams’ vague idea of a loss of resilience as the final cause [71]. This has more force than in 1988, when strangely enough an example of the loss of ideological power in social glue resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union, even though that collapse was not “catalysmic” but only “catastrophic.” A recent assessment supports the idea of a long decline in conditions, both economic and social likely related to growing inequality which sapped the traditional ability of its “resilience.” This same assessment [72] reports on considerable and compelling evidence of long traditions of cultural pluralism that might explain and support the idea of a comprehensive ideology able to meld people of different culture histories together
Summary
The nature of the archaeological report has been characterized as a reflection of Twentieth century military narratives [4]. Instead he points to the “build up of internal tensions” and a widening inequality, but notes that the city had been able to deal effectively twice in its history with economic and social crises and he falls back on Robert Adams’ vague idea of a loss of resilience as the final cause [71] Perhaps today, this has more force than in 1988, when strangely enough an example of the loss of ideological power in social glue resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union, even though that collapse was not “catalysmic” but only “catastrophic.” A recent assessment supports the idea of a long decline in conditions, both economic and social likely related to growing inequality which sapped the traditional ability of its “resilience.” This same assessment [72] reports on considerable and compelling evidence of long traditions of cultural pluralism that might explain and support the idea of a comprehensive ideology able to meld people of different culture histories together. When seen in the context of the strontium isotope data interpreted by Knudson [82] the movement of individuals native to the Tiwanaku heartland undermines the idea of a military conquest and supports ideas of the spread of a cult or movement of a few missionaries and this opens up some interesting possibilities to concepts of war or religion as explanations
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