The Middle Horizon (A.D. 500-1000) in the Cotahuasi Valley, Peru: A bioarchaeological study of diet at the site of Tenahaha

In recent years, archaeologists working in the Cotahuasi Valley, located on the Western slopes of the Andes in south central Peru, have discovered changes that took place during the Middle Horizon (A.D. 500-1000). The site of Tenahaha in the Cotahuasi Valley along the Cotahuasi-Ocona River (Figure 1) was established during the height of the Wari Empire, which defines the Middle Horizon (A.D. 500-1000). Although very few people have studied the region due to its remote location, recent archaeological research and analysis is piecing together the importance of Tenahaha during a period of growth and expansion from the first state-level society in the Andes and increased interregional interactions in the Cotahuasi Valley (see Jennings 2002, 2005, 2006; Jennings and Glascock 2002; Kellner et al. 2009). For this thesis, I examined Tenahaha diet through carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of human bone collagen to determine how Tenahaha individuals were impacted by the important social changes during the Middle Horizon.;There are two aims to this study: 1) determine the diet of a local society at the site of Tenahaha during a time of state expansion and compare the diet to other contemporaneous societies both in and outside the imperial heartland and 2) understand what these dietary choices may tell us about the purpose and use of Tenahaha during the rise of the first state in the Peruvian Andes. If Tenahaha is a local society with little direct ties to the Wari Empire, we expect a dietary variation similar to local non-Wari societies. This would include a diet of maize and animal protein from animals, which were grazed on native grasses. If, however, Tenahaha were a unique site with ties or affiliations to the Wari Empire, we expect to see a dietary variation similar to the diet in the imperial heartland.;Through a comparison with relevant Middle Horizon sites, the diet at Tenahaha was almost identical to that of the individuals from the imperial heartland at the site of Conchopata (Finucane 2006). These dietary data suggest that the people living at Tenahaha were taking advantage of the larger social changes happening in the Middle Horizon, and the rise of the Wari Empire. Tenahaha has similarities with the Wari in diet, emulations of architectural and ceramic iconography, animal husbandry practices, and burial methods. Perhaps these were local elites displaying their affiliation and knowledge of the Wari to elevate their status.