Brian Bauer and Alan Covey evaluate the social transformations that resulted in the State formation of Peru during the Late Intermediate Period. The authors consider the ethnohistoric and archaeological records that provide the anthropological and civilization processes of different Inca rulers (Bauer and Covey, 847). They argue that the rapid expansion of the authority of the Inca was made possible through the non-isolated civilization as well as long-term procedures of regional consolidation and state formation. This essay assesses the arguments provided by Bauer and Covey in Processes of State Formation in the Inca Heartland (Cuzco, Peru).
Based on the information retrieved from the Covey and Bauer (847) excerpt, the late intermediate era that extended from 1000 to 1400 was characterized by technological and artistic developments in crafts and metallurgic productions. Bauer and Covey (847), depict how the civilizations of Peru resulted in the formation of the Inca state. A centralized city found in Cuzco Valley called the Inca community extended its administrative authority to neighboring states that were less powerful. The weak towns accepted the rule of the Inca and initiated patronage. Their expansion came shortly after the decline of the Wari Empire (Bauer and Covey, 848).
Covey and Bauer (850) utilize extensive mechanisms to provide adequate information concerning the late intermediate period and the people of Peru. However, the overreliance on documents by Bauer and Covey’s study can present problems to their research. They thus choose to incorporate archaeological data and maps as evidence for their extensive study. The figures and statistics outline the dominance of the Inca Empire (the largest kingdom in Prehistoric America) and the widespread civilization it brought to the Cuzco Valley in Peru. Bauer and Covey (861) prove that the variability in strategies of regional integration portray how the Inca state formation procedures influenced the patterns of non-isolated civilization, imperial administration, and conquests.
Work Cited
Bauer, Brian and Covey, Alan. Processes of State Formation in the Inca Heartland (Cuzco, Peru). American Anthropologist, Vol. 104, No. 3 (Sep., 2002), pp. 846-864.
