T-1C (Chiripa)

In the Middle Chiripa phase, Chiripa itself grows rapidly from a combined Early Chiripa population index value of 115 to a Middle Chiripa value of 231 (4.25 ha). This equates to an annual growth rate of 0.35% and a population doubling time of 199 years, and is roughly even with - or a bit below - the average population growth rate for the phase as a whole (see Table 5.1).

In the case of Chiripa, as a result of the recent excavations, we can say a bit more about this period than is possible at other Middle Chiripa sites. During the Middle Chiripa phase - and probably early in the phase - a sunken court was constructed in the area of the site we refer to as Santiago.Figure 6.4 shows the northern and eastern wall of this structure, in the Santiago area. This court, which we call the Choquehuanca structure, was cut through Early and Middle Chiripa fill. Its walls were lined with unworked cobbles and plastered with yellow clay ([Dean and Kojan 1999]). The floor was a prepared clay floor. In plan, the structure is trapezoidal, wider to the south than to the north. It is approximately 14x14 m (Whitehead in [Hastorf et al. 1998]), and has a shallow niche in the eastern wall ([Dean and Kojan 1999]: Figures 10-11). It should be emphasized that this is the earliest example of corporate architecture known from the Titicaca Basin and anticipates 2000 years of sunken court construction. In addition to the Choquehuanca structure, a large adobe wall was excavated in 1998/1999 immediately to the east of the mound. This is the area known as Montículo 1. This wall may or may not represent another complex of public architecture (Bandy in [Hastorf et al. 1998]). It does however, date to the Middle Chiripa phase.