Paul S. Goldstein. 2005. Andean Diaspora: The Tiwanaku Colonies and the Origins of Empire. University of Florida Press, Gainesville. 330 pages, footnotes, bibliography and index.
The single most aggravating trait of human beings, as far as I'm concerned, is their incessant need to define "us versus them". This is, however, a pretty weird opinion for an archaeologist, for without the intricate subtleties of the "we're better than you" dance, archaeology would be dull potatoes indeed. Paul Goldstein's 2005 text, Andean Diaspora, is a case in point.
Based on Goldstein's extensive survey in the Moquegua Valley of southern Peru, Andean Diaspora investigates outlying colonies of the Tiwanaku Empire, who dominated the southern Andes between AD 500 and 1000. Tiwanaku's capital city was south of and on islands in the great inland lake of Titicaca, located on what is now the border between Bolivia and Peru in central South America. Tiwanaku was first reported in 1553 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Cieza de Leon, who wrote with palpable awe of the architectural innovations at the capital city such as the Semi-subterranean Temple and the enormous human effigy statues now called Fraile, Ponce, and Bennett monoliths.
Based on Goldstein's extensive survey in the Moquegua Valley of southern Peru, Andean Diaspora investigates outlying colonies of the Tiwanaku Empire, who dominated the southern Andes between AD 500 and 1000. Tiwanaku's capital city was south of and on islands in the great inland lake of Titicaca, located on what is now the border between Bolivia and Peru in central South America. Tiwanaku was first reported in 1553 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Cieza de Leon, who wrote with palpable awe of the architectural innovations at the capital city such as the Semi-subterranean Temple and the enormous human effigy statues now called Fraile, Ponce, and Bennett monoliths.
Colonies on the Fringe
Perhaps as early as AD 300, colonial outposts of Tiwanaku were in place at sites such as San Pedro de Atacama, in the Andean foothills of the Atacama Desert of Chile; in the Cochabamba Valley of Bolivia; and along the the Pacific coastal valleys of southern Peru and northern Chile. Goldstein's text concentrates on evidence of colonial settlements in the Middle Moquegua Valley of southern Peru, part of a steep Pacific drainage called the Osmore River. Intensive survey of the valley coupled with excavation of sites such as Omo, Rio Muerto, Tres Quebrados, and Chen Chen, are used by Goldstein to weave an interpretive discussion of the workings of the Tihuanaco state.
An Unusual Form of State
Chapters on farming, household structure, and mortuary practices help depict the colonies as part of what Goldstein terms an archipelago corporate state, where colonial islands in the farflung territories clung to their Tiwanaku identity by keeping them separate from the indigenous people. Tiwanaku homeland customs visible in the archaeological record include burial practices, clothing, housing forms, and material culture such as pots and stone tools.
Andean Diaspora is an intriguing look at an unusual form of an advanced state with a definable core and periphery. Intended for the non-specialist, it contains numerous black and white illustrations, including maps, drawings, and photographs, as well as extensive notes and bibliography and an index.
Andean Diaspora is an intriguing look at an unusual form of an advanced state with a definable core and periphery. Intended for the non-specialist, it contains numerous black and white illustrations, including maps, drawings, and photographs, as well as extensive notes and bibliography and an index.
This review is part of the About.com Guide to the Tiwanaku Empire and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
