Warfare in the pre-Columbian Andes took on many forms, from inter-village raids to campaigns of conquest. Andean societies also created spectacular performances and artwork alluding to war - acts of symbolism that worked as political rhetoric while drawing on ancient beliefs about supernatural beings, warriors, and the dead. In this book, Elizabeth Arkush disentangles Andean warfare from Andean war-related spectacle and offers insights into how both evolved over time. Synthesizing the rich archaeological record of fortifications, skeletal injury, and material evidence, she presents fresh visions of war and politics among the Moche, Chimu, Inca, and pre-Inca societies of the conflict-ridden Andean highlands. The changing configurations of Andean power and violence serve as case studies to illustrate a sophisticated general model of the different forms of warfare in pre-modern societies. Arkush's book makes the complex pre-history of Andean warfare accessible by providing a birds-eye view of its major patterns and contrasts.

Winner of the Society for American Archaeology Book Award "Using a bold combination of surface survey, excavation, and cutting-edge GIS modeling, Arkush examines the social conditions that existed in the Andes during this period of unprecedented regional conflict and provides critical insights into the culture of war which existed at this time."--Brian S. Bauer, University of Illinois, Chicago "Arkush's architectural analysis and study of artifacts is accompanied by a new body of radiocarbon dates that turn traditional documentary interpretations of Colla social organization on their heads. This is an important advance in our understanding of late prehispanic societies in the Andean highlands."--R. Alan Covey, Southern Methodist University By AD 1000, the Colla controlled the high-altitude plains near Lake Titicaca in southern Peru. They fought over the region for many centuries before becoming a subject people of the Inca (who described them as the most formidible foes they faced) circa 1450, and then of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. Like any people at war, the Colla were not engaged in active conflict all of the time. But frequent warfare (perhaps over limited natural resources), along with drought and environmental changes, powerfully influenced the society's settlement choices and physical defenses, as well as their interaction with the landscape. By focusing on the pre-Inca society in this key region of the Andes, Elizabeth Arkush demonstrates how a thorough archaeological investigation of these hillfort towns reveals new ways to study the sociopolitical organization of pre-Columbian societies.

By AD 1000, the Colla controlled the high-altitude plains near Lake Titicaca in southern Peru. They fought over the region for many centuries before becoming a subject people of the Inca (who described them as the most formidible foes they faced) circa 1450, and then of the Spanish in the sixteenth century. Like any people at war, the Colla were not engaged in active conflict all of the time. But frequent warfare (perhaps over limited natural resources), along with drought and environmental changes, powerfully influenced the society's settlement choices and physical defenses, as well as their interaction with the landscape. By focusing on the pre-Inca society in this key region of the Andes, Elizabeth Arkush demonstrates how a thorough archaeological investigation of these hillfort towns reveals new ways to study the sociopolitical organization of pre-Columbian societies.

An excellent source of information on the current state of warfare research in archaeology. [It] chronicles the complex history of warfare in different time periods and world regions while simultaneously exploring the environmental and social variables that appear to have influenced if, when, how, and on what scale warfare was conducted."--Patricia M. Lambert, Utah State University "The study of warfare (or slavery) in the archaeological record requires a level of synthesis, temporal depth, and relational analysis that challenges the abilities and knowledge of all archaeologists. This volume presents an intriguing set of essays that are more than up to this challenge in many world areas. . . . Archaeologists, avocational archaeologists, and general readers interested in warfare in different social and ecological settings will be eager consumers."--David R. Wilcox, Northern Arizona University These essays explore the development of warfare in preindustrial, non-Western societies, addressing why some societies fight endemic wars while others do not and how frequent warfare affects the basic choices people make about where to live, whom to fight, on whom to confer power, and how to form social groups. Archaeological research dispels the myth of a peaceful past and demonstrates the sobering fact that war played a greater role in human prehistory than previously thought. These detailed regional case studies from leading archaeologists show the inextricable web of warfare and other social institutions and highlight their complex co-evolution in pre-state and early state societies. The volume includes chapters on the pre-Columbian cultures of North America of the last millennium, the origins of statehood in Mesoamerica and Neolithic China, a centuries-long sequence of warfare in Andean South America, warring peoples of Oceania, and East African cultures devastated by the slave trade. In addition, the contributors offer new insights into how to study warfare in the past and point toward new directions in this field.