Population decline outside of the major centers

The rapid growth of the two sequential LF1 centers stands in sharp contrast to the remainder of the ancient Taraco Peninsula villages. As is clearly shown in Figure 7.8a, almost all the other sites in the survey area either lost population in the LF1 or grew at rates well below the phase average. All three of the major MF centers apart from Kala Uyuni (Chiripa, Yanapata and Janko Kala) lost population in the LF1. Most of the smaller villages decreased in size, as well. It is worth noting that this was the first time in the long history of human occupation on the peninsula that population growth had been so concentrated in such a small number of sites.

Taken together, the abnormally rapid growth of the center and the decrease in population elsewhere on the peninsula, as well as the emergence of a three-tier site size hierarchy, suggests the emergence of the first multi-community polity on the Taraco Peninsula. I will term this the ``Taraco Peninsula polity'', since it seems to have had two sequential centers. Tribute and redistributive activity (read: ceremonial feasting) became increasingly concentrated in a single regional center. The independent competing leaders of the MF villages were usurped by a more concentrated and powerful group of elites who resided at a single regional center. The mechanism by which this usurpation came about remains a mystery. It may or may not have involved force of arms. In any case, the increased spatial concentration of surplus collection and redistribution came to be a powerful settlement determinant, stimulating asymmetrical population growth.

This asymmetrical population growth need not have involved the active relocation of entire families or communities As I mentioned in Chapter 6, it could also be produced by an asymmetry in post-marital residential preference over a long period of time. However, in the case of the LF1 the fact that most smaller sites not only grew more slowly than the center, but actually decreased in size, strongly suggests at least some active relocation of established households from the smaller sites to the center.

Finally, there is one group of smaller sites within the project area which did not decrease in size during the LF1. These sites are all located in the north-eastern corner of the survey area, in the modern communities of Chiripa, Cala Cala, Huacullani and Sikuya. Considered together, these sites have a collective population growth index value of 0.09% in the LF1. This is roughly comparable to the phase average of 0.08%. This group of sites, then, located on the eastern extremity of the survey area, does not seem to have experienced depopulation during the LF1, as did almost all sites located closer to Kala Uyuni/Santa Rosa. I interpret this fact as a relatively strong indication that these sites lay beyond the direct political control of the Taraco Peninsula polity. Thus, a line drawn between the ``peaks'' and the ``troughs'' on Figure 7.8a may indicate a boundary of sorts for the Taraco Peninsula polity. One of these independent sites is particularly interesting. Waka Kala (T-421) grew at an annual rate of 0.18% during the LF1, twice the phase average. Moreover, a public architectural complex was built on the site at this time, comprising a sunken court and several pieces of stone sculpture at minimum. The construction of this architectural complex may be another indication of the site's political independence.

The existence of this small cluster of autonomous villages beyond the direct control of the Taraco Peninsula polity suggests a heterogeneous social landscape during the LF1 - at least at the regional scale - with occasional multi-community polities arising from a field of competing autonomous villages and village clusters. Archaeological survey of a larger contiguous area would allow us to discern exactly how common these polities were at this time in the greater region. At present, we can say for certain that at least two existed in the LF1 in the southern Titicaca Basin: the Taraco Peninsula polity, and the Tiwanaku polity. Others may have existed as well; it is impossible to say given the current state of our knowledge.