Regional perspectives on Wari state influence in Cusco,Peru (c. AD 600–1000)

The archaeological reconstruction of ancient states requires consistent regional measures of state-directed power and influence. This paper presents data from a series of systematic archaeological surveys in the Cusco region of highland Peru to evaluate patterns of influence by the Wari state during a period of colonization from ca. AD 600–1000. We discuss interpretive debates over the nature and intensity of Wari social power, suggesting that site-based studies can be contextualized meaningfully using our large-scale dataset, which offers settlement patterns at varying distances (0–70 km) from Pikillacta, a Wari administrative center. We discuss local settlement patterns before and during Wari colonization, as well as the distribution of Wari pottery and local Wari-influenced wares. We then use a geographic information systems analysis of travel time from key sites to evaluate the broad regional distribution patterns of local and Wari ceramic styles. Although the regional survey data do not inform us reliably about all kinds of social power, we conclude that the Wari cultural, economic, and political influence over the Cusco region was limited and discontinuous—an example of colonization that resembles the practices of other early states.     

On the identity of Euowenia robusta De Vis, 1891 with a description of a new zygomaturine genus

An occluded skull and dentaries, recovered from the Floraville Local Fauna, northern Queensland, is referred to Euowenia robusta De Vis, 1891. The specimen has distinctive zygomaturine features including a quinquetubercular upper third premolar and lower molars with cristids obliqua, directly challenging the synonymy of E. robusta with Nototherium inerme and N. mitchelli proposed by Woods (1968 Woods, J. T. 1968. The identity of the extinct marsupial genus Nototherium Owen. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 15: 111–116.  [Google Scholar]). Comparison with the genotypic Euowenia grata (De Vis, 1887) has further confirmed that E. robusta does not belong within the Diprotodontinae. After examining all named zygomaturine genera, including a large data set of Zygomaturus trilobus Macleay, 1858, it is concluded that Euowenia robusta can not be placed within any known zygomaturine genus and, therefore, a new genus is proposed. It is perhaps the most derived of all the zygomaturines described to date from the Australian Cenozoic.     

Specula

Sans résumé éric Brian (mars 2001). Charles Alunni (février 2001). Laurent Nottale (19 février 2001).