Palaces and Power in the Americas: From Peru to the Northwest Coast

Chapter 11: Elite Residences at Farf

chapter 11 Elite Residences at Farfán a comparison of the chimú and inka occupations Carol Mackey Introduction In seventeenth-century France, the turrets and high walls of a lord’s country estate echoed the estate’s past function as a fortress, even though military activities had ceased (Girouard 1999).These impressive structures could be seen from far away, and because of their size, they made a lasting imprint upon the landscape. The scale of these estates and their aura of power apply equally to the monumental structures built by the provincial lords who ruled Peru’s north coast in the centuries prior to the Spaniards’ arrival. The sheer height of the adobe walls and the space they surrounded dominated the coastal desert horizon. Many of these structures served as more than elite residences, especially when the elite were government officials. In these instances , as Morris states, ‘‘. . . [the] building is often transformed into a seat of government, becoming literally and symbolically the seat of the state’’ (Morris 2004). The Kingdom of Chimor, or Chimú, occupied over 1,000 km of Peru’s north coast. The origins of the Chimú polity (A.D. 900–1000) have been traced back to their capital, Chan Chan. Prior to the Inka Conquest around A.D. 1460–1470, Chimor was the largest coastal power in South America. During their expansion, the Chimú established outlying provincial centers that housed government officials who supervised the administration of conquered lands. The Inkas, however, created the largest and most powerful Andean empire. They began their expansion in the fifteenth century from their highland capital, Cuzco. At the apex of their power, they controlled territories that encompassed at least five modern South American countries. This chapter focuses on the archaeological site of Farfán, located in the Jequetepeque Valley on Peru’s north coast (Figure 11.1), which was a major provincial administrative center during the occupation of two empires— the Chimú and the Inka. Like the seventeenth-century French country residences , Farfán retained elements of its past under Chimú rule while the Inkas added or emphasized new activities. Recent excavations at Farfán have figure 11.1 Map of Peru and of the Jequetepeque Valley elite residences at farfán 315 highlighted the differences in residential patterns during the two occupations , providing a clearer understanding of the ranks of the supervising officials and their duties. By focusing on the numbers, sizes, construction materials and locations of the administrators’ residences, as well as the other activities at the center, it is evident that both empires had different policies regarding the role and duties of the administrators and the function of the provincial center. At Farfán, the Chimú ruled through a few high-ranking officials. These Chimú nobles, it appears, left most of the mundane bureaucratic work to lower-level Chimú officials and local lords who managed various portions of the valley. The Inka, on the other hand, added administrative positions at Farfán and used these functionaries as well as local elites to manage the valley. Farfán offers an excellent opportunity to study changes in Chimú and Inka elite residential patterns and administration because of the site’s lengthy occupation—at least 250 years—longer than any other known Andean administrative center. Architectural Analysis In preindustrial societies, the structures that housed the elite show great variability, especially in rural areas. Since the term elite is synonymous with the ‘‘rich, powerful, and privileged in any society’’ (Chase and Chase 1992), the buildings inhabited by the elite reflect their position within society . Structures communicate power by their size, height, and construction materials.These characteristics reflect the power of the elites in acquiring and controlling natural and human resources. By their very nature, elite structures evoke some kind of emotion, whether it is awe, a sense of identity based on political or kin relations, security, or ideology. Elites control the institutions on which society is based, and they shape the policies that define the political, economic, and ideological aspects of society (cf. Mann 1986). The results of their actions and the policies of the states they represent are manifested in the architecture and layout of their multifunctional residential-administrative centers. The analysis of architectural remains is key to understanding behavior in complex societies.These remains are permanent and, like other artifacts, can be classified according to...