Archaeological survey in northern highland Ecuador: Inca imperialism and the País Caranqui

Resumen

Abstract In 1986–7, a systematic archaeological survey of a 120km2 sector of the País Caranqui in northern highland Ecuador was conducted. The purpose of the study was to examine the nature of the Inca's relationship with disparate sociopolitical groups at the edges of imperial control in order to better understand strategies of state expansion. The ceramic and settlement pattern data from this region offer some insight into the processes of Inca imperialism as manifested on the northern frontier. These data suggest that direct coercion and the weakening of horizontal linkages between local polities may have been important aspects of the imperial agenda in this sector of the empire.