Huari Culture

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History of Peru
Timeline
Ancient Peru
Caral
Chavin
Paracas
Moche
Nazca
Tiahuanaco
Wari
Chimu
Inca Empire
Colonial Peru
The Conquest
Viceroyalty of Peru
Republic of Peru
Independence
Peru-Bolivian Confederacy
War of the Pacific
Peruvian-Ecuadorian Territorial Dispute

The Wari (or in Spanish spelling and other common name, Huari) was a Middle Horizon civilization that flourished in the Andes in the south of modern-day Peru, from about 500 to 1200 A.D. The capital city of the same name is located near the modern city of Ayacucho, Peru. This city was the center of a civilization that covered much of the highlands and coast of modern Peru. Early on their territory expanded to include the ancient oracle center of Pachacamac, though it seems to have remained largely autonomous. Then later it expanded to include much of the territory of the earlier Moche and later Chimu cultures. The best remaining remants of the Huari Culture exist near the town of Quinua at the Wari Ruins. Also well-known are the Wari ruins of Pikillaqta ('Flea Town') a short distance south-east of Cuzco en route to Lake Titicaca, which date from the Wari period before the Incas rose to power in the region.

The Wari were contemporaries of the Tiwanaku and artistically shared many attributes. Contacts between the two cultures appears to have been limited to a span of 50 years in which there was sporadic fighting over a mine first occupied by the Tiwanaku. The mine stradled the border between the two cultures' spheres of influence and the Wari attempted, but failed, to secure it for themselves.

The Wari state established architecturally distinctive administrative centers in many of its provinces. Some 300 years after the Wari empire collapsed, Inca became the dominant power in the Andean region.

The Wari terraced field technology was adopted by the Inca when they began a major push to improve the agricultural productivity of their lands. The Wari had a major road network set up throughout their sphere of influence, which may have become part of the Inca road system.

The native language of the Wari area in recent times has been Quechua, though the comparative and historical study of the Andean languages suggests that the language of the Wari culture may have been a form of Aymara. Note: the Wari culture is not to be confused with the modern ethnic group and language known as Wari', with which it has no known link.