Architecture, spatial organization and ethnicity of the Ayapata site in the Late Intermediate, left bank of the Luren river, province of Lucanas, Ayacucho

Abstract

This paper analyzes the architecture and organization of space at the site of Ayapata, a settlement corresponding to the Late Intermediate period (1000-1450 AD) that is located on the left bank of the Luren River, district of Aucará, province of Lucanas, Ayacucho Region. The research sought to characterize the architectural and spatial organization of the settlement, in context with the ethnohistorical and documentary information reported on the Sondondo basin (Lucanas-Ayacucho), in order to hypothesize about the probable ethnic affiliation of the occupying human group. The results show that the local architectural organization exhibits variability compared to the architecture reported in other sites in the Sondondo basin, but, based on the documentary sources, it is suggested that the inhabitants would have been linked to the Lucanas Andamarcas ethnic group.