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Acknowledgments The data presented in this book results from some 40 months of field and lab work in Arequipa and Ayacucho, Peru. The work was supported by various granting agencies to which I am extremely grateful.Those include the following: Fulbright IIE Fellowship, Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (Grant No. 6680 and 8169), National Science Foundation (BCS-0118751, Physical Anthropology Division), Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research, UNC– Chapel Hill Latané Summer Research Grant,Vanderbilt Interdisciplinary Discovery Grant,and Center forAmerican Overseas Research Council Grant.I was also given precious time to analyze data,rethink some of my interpretations,and write them up with the support of a Faculty Leave Fellowship from Vanderbilt University. In addition to the generous financial support from various sources, many people aided in the development of ideas presented in this book. Early support and encouragement from Phil Walker and Katharina Schreiber laid the foundation for my interests in bioarchaeology and Andean archaeology, and I am grateful to them for setting me on this path. Clark Spencer Larsen was generous with his time and provided me with important feedback as I developed this project in the late 1990s. I am grateful for the encouragement and support he has provided me over the years. Brian Billman enthusiastically supported me as I began this research, and he was instrumental in guiding me as I prepared for directing my first archaeological excavation at the site of Beringa in the Majes valley. Bruce Winterhalder gave me excellent feedback as my research ideas were developing; there is no doubt that Bruce’s guidance and wise insights have improved my scholarship. Dale Hutchinson, Margie Scarry, and Vin Steponaitis also assisted me in the early phases of this process, and all of them were a key source of ideas and support. My lab and fieldwork in Peru would not have been possible without the generous support and collaboration of many people from several research projects. Anita Cook invited me to participate in the Conchopata Archaeology Project in Ayacucho in 1999, and shortly thereafter, Anita Cook and William Isbell, xx  Acknowledgments codirectors of the project, entrusted me with complete access to all of the Conchopata human skeletal remains, field notes, and field photos. I am grateful to them for entrusting me with this important skeletal sample. Their support for my research has been unfailing. Anita and I have had many invigorating discussions about the Wari, and she has always been generous in sharing her vast knowledge of Wari society with me; her insights have greatly improved my study. Bill always encouraged vigorous exploration of all avenues of research, as well as open debate of our interpretations. His great breadth of knowledge contributed much to my understanding of Andean archaeology, Wari imperialism, and the ways in which I interpret some of the findings. This book would not have been possible without Anita and Bill’s support,and I am forever grateful to them.José Ochatoma and Martha Cabrera, professors at the Universidad Nacional de San Cristóbal de Huamanga (UNSCH), likewise gave me access to human skeletal remains that they excavated from Conchopata; I thank them for entrusting me with the bioarchaeological analysis of those remains. They have also provided much logistical support for my projects in Ayacucho, giving me lab space at the university to analyze the skeletal remains, assisting me with paperwork at the National Institute of Culture in Ayacucho, and hosting me at dinners during the many months that I have lived in Ayacucho. I cherish both their scholarly insights and their friendship. Other members of the Conchopata Archaeology Project provided invaluable support and assistance while I was in the field and lab in Ayacucho. Warm thanks go to my friends and colleagues Catherine Bencic, David Crowley, Greg Ketteman, Juan Leoni, Charlene Milliken, Nikki Slovak, and Barbara Wolff. I thank Juan Carlos Blacker for allowing me to use his fantastic map of Conchopata ,and I gratefully acknowledge Greg Ketteman for his detailed field notes on the trophy heads from the circular ritual structure. Juan Leoni generously offered his insights about the pre-Wari (Huarpa) period. Lorenzo Huisa Palomino and Jimmy Jauregui Suarez assisted me in the UNSCH lab and helped keep all of the bone boxes in order; I greatly appreciate their help and friendship . Gloria Suarez Fuentes kept me and my students well fed while living in Ayacucho, and we are all grateful for those scrumptious meals made with love and lots of ají. I also thank Caroline Yezer...

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