Ideology and the development of social hierarchy at the site of Panquilma, Peruvian central coast

Abstract

The role of ideology in the development of hierarchical relations is investigated with archaeological data recovered at the site of Panquilma, a community of the 13th to 15th centuries located in the hinterland of one of the most important religious centers of the ancient Andes: Pachacamac. By focusing on a community dominated by an important religious center, this study offers a new perspective on the ways in which rural leaders used the ideological ascendance of the religious center and shows how this process was articulated with local economic and political forces in the development of social power. Toward this end three scenarios were envisioned in which ideology played different roles in the development of power. These three models were evaluated based on the relative importance that ideological control had in the development of power strategies in two segments of Panquilma's population: the ruling elites that resided in walled pyramid complexes and the heads of the different extended family groups that resided in the surrounding15 household compounds.Evidence from Panquilma indicates that, regardless of its proximity to Pachacamac, hierarchy at the site was mainly based on local political and economic conditions. Ideological factors were very important in the context of validating economic and political differences but did not constitute by themselves a viable source of power. Panquilma's ruling elite competed with other elite factions for prestige via feasting activities without any special religious significance. However, when they were dealing with the lower ranking residents of the household compounds, the control of ritual space and esoteric knowledge validated the elite's economic supremacy and facilitated surplus extraction. In a similar manner, the development of inter-household relations between the leaders of extended families was based in great part on competition for economic resources, as evidenced by contextual and proportional information. On the other hand, within the compounds, the privileged position of the family's leaders was validated through religious notions of ancestry and redistributive mechanisms in the form of ancestor veneration rituals and feasting.

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