Wari: Influence from Highland to Coast

The Wari were a multifaceted society that followed a state-directed political strategy and at the same time dealt with the contingencies of a dynamic and heterogeneous social, political, and climatic context. This chapter summarizes Wari evidence from different regions of the south-central Andes, emphasizing the role of Wari “influence” and discussing both the direct and indirect effects within these different regions. Moreover, this work attempts to differentiate evidence directly associated with the Wari political phenomenon, from the indirect and at times unidirectional evidence of Wari material culture or emulations within independent polities.