Wari

The Wari, or Huari, are the people of the Middle Horizon civilization of that name, its capital on a high plateau north-east of Ayacucho. From about 500 to 1000 the Wari state spread across the south-central Andes and Peruvian coast, planting centres such as Jincamocco around 600 and Cerro Baúl, and drawing the oracle city of Pachacamac and the old Moche lands into its orbit.

Its governors built white-plastered fieldstone compounds and D-shaped temples, extended terrace agriculture and maize farming into provinces, strung roads between centres, and held power through feasts, camelid offerings and worship of the Staff God, whose image later fed into Inca religion.

Centuries of drought began to undo the state around 800: by 1000 the capital was largely abandoned, its doorways deliberately sealed, and rival groups fought over its ruins as the Late Intermediate Period began. Small descendant communities lived on among the old cities, and Wari roads and terraces were later taken up by the Inca.