Religious warfare at Chankillo

Abstract

The late Early Horizonwas a time of great changes following the collapse of Chavín civilization around the 3rd century BC (Burger 1995). The profound disruption of traditional cultural patterns suggests a radical restructuring of the sociopolitical landscape. For instance, many centers were abandoned and in some centers village residents occupied ritual spaces. The Chavín horizon style was replaced by distinctive local styles, and the Chavín interaction sphere disintegrated. There was a great degree of conflict underlying the development of a regional orientation following the collapse of Chavín, with forts and fortified settlements being widely erected (Topic and Topic 1978, 1987; Wilson 1987, 1995). In the Casma Valley, for example, substantial numbers of forts were constructed for the first time. Warriors were commemorated in art; they wore elaborate dress and ornamentation and had specialized combat weapons and body protection. These changes suggest that warfare as a concept, and warriors in particular, had high status, and that the threat of warfare was, for the first time, a significant consideration in the organization of societies, their patterns of settlement, and the allocation of their public labor. © 2006 Springer.