Wari expansion and the abandonment of provincial centers

Record summary

Wari archaeology during the 1970s and 1980s examined the spread of a major Middle Horizon polity through distinctive architecture, ceramics, roads, administrative centers, and provincial settlements. Researchers used sites such as Pikillacta and Cerro Baúl to discuss migration, imperial administration, local adoption, and the eventual abandonment or transformation of Wari centers. The topic matters for comparing political expansion with later Andean state formations. The scale of Wari control, the role of climate stress, and the timing and causes of its decline remained disputed rather than settled.