| Responding to a century of thought highlighting Tiwanaku's ceremonial importance, recent interpretations tend to emphasize either the centralized state or small segmentary groups (e.g., ayllus) as the principal focus of socio-political organization and cultural change. Extensive archaeological excavations in residential areas of two Tiwanaku urban centers, located in the southern Lake Titicaca Basin of contemporary Bolivia, indicate that relations between state and local group were tense and historically fluid. From A.D. 400 to 800, urban social organization was segmentary, grounded in local economic management, diversified social networks, and diverse forms of public and private ritual. A prestigious and hegemonic state religion fortified state authority, while lively festivals and household rituals provided optimal contexts for local politics and social identification. After A.D. 800, as status differences grew more pronounced, ruling groups attempted to assert greater control over local networks. This instigated a tense and probably violent reaction among local groups which, coupled with a devastating drought, gradually provoked a combined process of political disintegration and ethnic re-alignment, hastening the formation of smaller segmentary polities after A.D. 1100. |
