User:Markbpaine/sandbox

History
Archaeological evidence points toward the Wari empire taking control of a number of small villages in Peru's Carahuarazo Valley in approximately 600 A.D., during the empire's initial expansion. The incursion caused a number of the valley's existing villages to be abandoned, with one partially destroyed to make room for a Wari administrative center known as Jincamocco. The Wari introduced terracing agriculture to the area, shifting the staple crops of the valley from tubers to both tubers and maize. Wari storage structures have been found in the area, seemingly "paired" with some of remaining villages' agricultural sites; these were likely used to store both staple crops. Wari occupation of the Carahuarazo Valley lasted until roughly 800 A.D., leading to the abandonment of most of the valley's sites after that time.

Social Life
Based on remains from multiple Wari sites, archaeologists have determined that feasts and offerings of food were a powerful driving force in the social life of the Wari. Multiple instances of camelid remains found in the province of Cotocotuyoc point toward the usage of such animals as symbols of social capital, especially because they were uncommon in the area. Some camelid remains were found devoid of cut marks and stacked on top of human bones, leading researchers to think they were intentionally not fully eaten to display the feast's host's wealth, in a process known as ritual wasteful consumption.

Religion
The Wari worshipped the Staff god, a chief deity in many Andean cultures. Some of the oldest depictions of the Staff god appear on Wari textiles and pottery urns, estimated to be over 3,000 years old. Some scholars believe that the Wari Staff god was a predecessor of the three Incan principle gods, Sun, Moon, and Thunder.

The Wari practiced animal sacrifice. Complete skeletal remains of a young camelid and thirty-two guinea pigs were found buried in a "lineage house" in the city of Conchopata, ten kilometers from the capitol city of Wari. The complete nature of the remains, as well as the age of the camelid, point toward the animals being sacrificed at the end of the Ayachuco valley's rainy season.