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Excavations in the Llusco Area - José Luis Paz Soria
The first
excavations in the area known as Llusco (in recognition of the owner of the
property), located 200m south of the mound, were in 1992. Claudia Rivera Casanovas
(Hastorf et al. 1992) worked in this area, excavating several test pits. This
work resulted in the discovery of a semisubterranean walled enclosure with a
white plaster interior floor dating to the Late Chiripa phase, 800-750 B.C..
It’s subterranean construction, together with the elaboration of its plaster
floor, is the principal evidence for suggesting a possible special function
for the Llusco structure. With this background, the goal of the 1996 season
was to define the dimensions of the stone walls, obtain additional samples for
radiocarbon dating and further investigate its form and function.
This enclosure (which from this point onward will be referred to as Llusco),
is clearly defined by the cut into the local sterile soil along the lines of
stone. In general, the culturally laid down soil of the Llusco area is very
shallow (an average of 10 cm below the surface), and its texture tends toward
sandy clay with medium-sized pebbles the predominant inclusion. The soils within
the enclosure are loose silty clay loams with a high humus and moisture content
than the surrounding sterile soil, as well as containing artifacts. These pedological
differences further result in the soils exterior to the structure are an orange
color (2.5 YR 5/6) while those on the interior are dark brown (7.5 YR 3/4).
This color contrast served as a guide to uncover the outline the enclosure.
Excavation proceeded only to the base of the plow zone where these contrasts
were visible, but in locations where greater stratigraphic control was required
a further soil layer was excavated. This strategy permitted us to identify the
dimensions as east wall, 13.5 m; north wall, 11.5 m; west wall, 12.5 m; and
south wall, 11 m. In the case of the south wall, the stones were intentionally
removed by later midden pits (of a silty clay loam texture and dark brown color;
10 YR 3/2), with the exception of a small section of the southeast corner. These
intrusive pits are irregular in form and depth and are found to lie over the
interior fill of the structure (which contains Formative materials), making
clear stratigraphic separation of the two levels difficult.
At a later date, during the Republican Period, the west wall of Llusco was destroyed
to construct an adobe hacienda wall, its stones being employed for the construction
of the base of the wall which runs parallel to the ancient structure. Additionally,
the excavation of various adobe borrow pits, associated with construction of
the late wall, disturbed this area still further. Finally, the plow, and more
recently the tractor, have contributed to the destruction of the structure,
especially of the north wall.
Despite these limitations, the construction techniques of Llusco are still recognizable.
The first step in the construction was to make a nearly vertical cut in the
sterile soil (giving the structure its semisubterranean character), and then
to construct the wall of rounded cobbles and clay. Some new data show that the
cut was gently sloping in some areas, resulting in a space of 15 cm, which was
filled with other materials (possibly from earlier deposits; see below) in order
to stabilize the wall. It is also likely that the upper parts of the wall would
have included mud bricks, and that the subsequent melting of these combined
with the effects of plowing would have altered still further the depositional
processes in this space.
Other significant finds include a drainage canal, an attached wall, and the
presence of a floor in the interior of the structure. The canal is located in
the northwest corner, draining the structure. The excavated section was 4 m
long, 24 cm wide and 30 cm high, with a fine layer of compact clay as a base.
This canal, like the walls of Llusco, cuts the sterile level, and it is probable
that it would have been covered with capstones (unfortunately, the later hacienda
wall destroyed much of this area). In the interior of the canal we encountered
Late Chiripa materials and frequent white clay particles which appear to represent
material eroding from the white plaster floor of the Llusco structure, but this
area also had a modern radiocarbon date. There is a second wall in this area,
parallel to the aforementioned canal, which could be the entrance to the Llusco
structure. The construction of this wall cut an earlier fill (see below), but
its construction is similar to the walls described previously. In the area between
the canal and this new wall (1.1 m) there are many loose stones which appear
to represent wall collapse.
One of the greatest surprises of the Llusco excavation was the discovery of
two series of pit fills, located outside the north and northeast walls (see
the fills on Figure 8), which contained Early and Middle Chiripa materials,
respectively. These have been dated by ceramic analysis, and their contents
appear to be mixed midden. The soil of these pits has a sandy clay loam texture
and is a dark brown color (7.5 YR 3/4). The pits themselves are amorphous in
shape and apparently represent various superimposed actions which were cut by
the construction of the Llusco enclosure.
The function of Llusco: domestic or ritual?
At this time there are two models for the function of Llusco based on the excavation
evidence and on comparisons with other sites in the circum-Titicaca area. One
is that the Llusco sunken court represents a largely domestic structure, constructed
by an ayllu or similar social group, one of presumably several which lived near
the Chiripa mound. James Mathews excavated a similar sunken courtyard, approximately
10 X 10 meters in size, cut into sterile and with cobble and fieldstone walls,
at the site of T’ijini Pata in the Middle Tiwanaku Valley. This structure
had two periods of occupations, one during the Late Chiripa period and the other
somewhat earlier. Matthews interprets this structure as having primarily a domestic
habitational use, based on artifact density and the presence of domestic debris
(Mathews 1992:69-72). Similarly, Juan Albarracin-Jordan’s (1992, 1996)
excavations at the site of Allkamari in the Lower Tiwanaku Valley uncovered
a sunken courtyard which he also interprets as having a communal domestic function,
serving as a common residential locus of an extensive social group which he
postulates to have resembled ethnographic and ethnohistoric ayllus.
The second model for the Llusco enclosure, favored by other members of the Taraco
Archaeological Project, is that it represents a ceremonial enclosure, along
the lines of the later semi-subterrenean enclosures both at Tiwanaku and at
other sites around the basin. The interpretations of Mathews and Albarracin-Jordan
notwithstanding, several other Late Chiripa semi-subterranean enclosures clearly
have ritual or ceremonial functions, including the fieldstone courtyard on the
mound at Chiripa itself (Browman 1978:809; Chávez 1988), the semi-subterranean
courtyard at Ch’isi on the Copacabana peninsula (K. and S. Chávez
pers. comm.), and the semi-subterranean structure at Titimani (Portugal et al.
1993). Although our analysis of the artifacts recovered from the Llusco structure,
including the faunal and botanical evidence, is not complete, the information
we have so far suggests to some that the Llusco structure was primarily used
for ceremonial purposes, with other activities taking place within the enclosure
as well. A similar pattern of mixed use zones has also been proposed for the
Santiago area. Clear domestic activity refuse is lacking from the Llusco excavations,
as are domestic features such as hearths, midden etc. In contrast, the percentage
of decorated ceramics found on the Llusco plaster floor is significantly higher
than in any other Late Chiripa context at the site, with the exception of the
Lower Houses on the mound itself. Further excavations of the Llusco floor surface
in the upcoming season will help to clarify the spectrum of activities that
might have taken place in this structure. As most of the stones from the Llusco
structure walls are missing or robbed, possibilities for the comparison of stone
construction technique and style with the other Late Chiripa sunken courtyards
are unfortunately limited.
Comparison with other sunken structures in the southern Titicaca Basin show
several similarities in construction, such as the rectangular plan, the use
of cobble, fieldstone, or undressed stones for the wall construction, and the
cutting of the courtyard into sterile soil or bedrock.
Revised September 20, 2002 12:41 - For broken links or comments and suggestions email whitehea@sscl.berkeley.edu.