Networks of Empire: The Role of Infrastructure in Wari State Expansion in Arequipa, Peru (AD 600-1000)

In this dissertation I investigate the role of road infrastructure (i.e. the built networks of communication, travel, and commerce) in the expansion of one of South America’s first empires: the Wari of the Andean highlands, whose material culture and customs spread across much of Peru during the Middle Horizon (A.D. 600-1000). Despite considerable research of Wari administrative centers in provincial settings, the mechanisms underlying Wari expansionism remain poorly problematized. Here I take a multi-scalar approach to investigate a network of Middle Horizon roads and associated waystations established by both the Wari state and local communities along Wari’s southern frontier in the department of Arequipa, Peru. This study integrates multi-disciplinary methodologies that include GIS modeling of mobility routes, satellite-imagery remote sensing, UAV (drone) technology, regional analysis, and traditional archaeological survey and excavation. As roads embody the complex social relationships that led to their construction, use, and maintenance over time, this single road network provides evidence of state versus local political economic strategies, the emergence of new religious institutions, and ideological shifts that often accompany the unintended consequences of empire.