Frank Meddens
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The Late Intermediate Period egalitarian polities of Ayacucho and Apur铆mac.
Figure 6. Ayamachay, a burial cave near Sarhua in Ayacucho.
The large site of Minaspata (c. 10 ha.) (Figure 2) was also occupied during the LIP (Dwyer 1971), although its size at this time is uncertain. The ceramic complexes for this period comprise Killke (Figure 9) and Lucre related styles, Other sizeable settlements which may have been occupied at this time include Tip贸n, northwest of Choquepuqio and Cotocotuyoc (Covey 2006: 103). Cotocotuyoc is located c. 17 km to the southeast in the Huaro basin and measures some 45 ha. A Lucre style pottery component is associated, although its time depth into the LIP remains uncertain (Glowacki 2002). In the Sacred Valley, along the Urubamba River and its tributaries survey data for the LIP has identified the site of Pukara Pantillijlla (Figure 2) with over 100 structures and a surface area of c. 10 ha as the probable center of the dominant polity of this sector. Covey defines large villages (c. 5-8 ha), small villages (2-5 ha) and hamlets < 1 ha) as constituting the other three tiers of the settlement hierarchy of this region (Covey 2006: 125-127), although there appears to be no qualitative difference between the small and large villages here. Killke period administrative and temple architecture comprising niched rectangular structures associ-
ated with platforms and open spaces have been identified at Qhapaqkancha, Markasunay and Pukara Pantillijlla (Covey 2006: 129-135). The Killke ceramic style Killke pottery has a medium coarse fabric with moderate non-plastic inclusions mostly Feldspar with quartz, andesite, amphibole, arkose and Syenite. The fabric is of medium hardness and tends to be buff to salmon pink in colour. The surface is often slip covered and has a burnished finish. Vessel forms include bowls, open forms which have straight or curved sided as well as incurving forms, and straight sided plates. Jars are found, including single handled forms, ones with tapering necks and ones with conical necks. Face neck forms are present and tumblers or keros are also known. Decoration tends to be geometric (Figure 9) and colours used are black to dark brown, red and more occasional white. The designs are often somewhat carelessly executed. (Bauer 1997: 7548). Other styles attributed to the LIP have been termed Lucre and Colcha. In comparison to the Chanka ceramic tradition the Killke, Killke related, Lucre and Colcha materials represent high quality products.