Los palacios en la costa central durante los periodos tardíos: de Pachacamac al Inca

• Main Author: Luis Felipe Villacorta O.
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Institut Français d'Études Andines 2004-12-01
• Series: Bulletin de l'Institut Français d'Études Andines
• Subjects: Monumental; palace or elite residence; chaupiyunga; ushnu; Inca.
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/bifea/5119

Recent studies on the central coast of Peru have shown that during the Late Intermediate Period (11th to 15th centuries A.D.) the architecture of power was closely linked to a certain type of building: an elite residence or palace. The evidence also indicates that after the Inca occupation of the above-mentioned region (15th century) this kind of building retained its effectiveness as a distinctive symbol of the political power of the governing elites, i.e. the curacas. The fact that local-style palaces continued to exist as referents of the political ordering of the so-called Inca province of Pachacamac (at least in the Rimac area), throws light on a topic that is still current in archaeological debate: What were the characteristics of the political domination that resulted from the Inca occupation of this corner of Tawantinsuyu? And what was the reaction of the local elites when faced with the new order that arose from this event? The present article develops this topic via the definition of the formal attributes of palaces, their description and the use of artefacts associated with them, as well as the analysis of historical sources that document the particular features of late pre-Hispanic society on the central coast.