Huamachuco

STORAGE REQUIREMENTS AND THE HUAMACHUCO QOLLQA

Morris (1981; see Chapter 8) has examined the specific storage requirements of crops in order to correlate probable contents with the design of particular qollqa. His research shows that grain and tubers differ in their requirements for successful storage, and each requires a different type of facility. As Morris points out, major factors inhibiting grain storage include fungus, pests, and sprouting. The risk from these factors is limited by specific environmental conditions: constant low temperature, low humidity, and the use of closed containers. The storage requirements of tubers, however, are different. In the absence of modern chemical treatments, manipulation of the storage environment to lengthen the period of dormancy is the most effective precaution against premature sprouting. This is best achieved by constant low temperatures and high humidity.

By examining Huamachuco qollqa in light of the differing requirements of grains and tubers, we can suggest the likely contents of the Cerro Santa Barbara qollqa on the one hand, and those on Cerro Mamorco and Cerro Cacañan on the other. Of the two type of structures, the ones with elevated floors would probably have most effectively minimized humidity. Air circulating between the ground and floor would have been effective in preventing ground moisture from increasing the humidity within the structure. In contrast, qollqa with subfloor canals would probably have been naturally more humid inside because of direct contact with the soil below. In addition, humidity could have been raised further by using the canals to introduce water into the fill under the structures. Based on data indicating differences in the storage requirements of grain and tubers, it seems likely that maize and other dry goods were stored at Cerro Santa Barbara and tubers were stored in the qollqa at Cerro Cacañan and Cerro Mamorco with subfloor canals.

Qollqa C on Cerro Mamorco, which apparently had neither subfloor canal nor an elevated floor, is anomalous. Possibly it was used to store goods for which humidity control was not crucial. Alternatively, it might have been used for temporary storage of all types of goods before they were transferred to more suitable facilities. The burned cane-marked plaster may indicate a ceiling or intemal divisions such as the pirwa discussed below.

There is little indication that Building C on Cerro Cacañan was solely devoted to storage. Certainly the bin in the southwest corner suggests a limited amount of storage space, and the small room may also have served for storage.

Storage in bins and cubicles is mentioned by both Cieza (1986: segunda parte, cap. xxvü) and Garcilaso (1963: Libro Tercero, cap. xxiv) in the context of the Qorikancha in Cuzco. Elsewhere, Garcilaso (1963: Libro Quinto, cap. vüi) gives a more detailed description of these bins, which he calls pirua (pirwa), emphasizing that they facilitated keeping account of the materials stored. The Spanish term he uses in describing these bins (orón or horón) refers to a type of basket, which may have had the connotation of a specific measure. Later, he uses the term qollqa to discuss the storage of materials in buildings.

Guaman Poma (1980) also separates his discussion of pirwa and qollqa. Although there is the s uggestion that pirwa may have the connotation of a unit of measure, the contexts in which Guaman Poma uses pirwa (as well as culluna and caway, two other types of storage) suggests that these are terms for a more rustic, community storage facility, whereas he reserves the term qollqa for state storage facilities (see also, Gonzalez Holguin 1952: 54, 287, 338, 686).

Although none of this is very clear cut, it does suggest that there were several, perhaps overlapping, categories of storage facilities: pirwa were bins that might have served as a unit of measurement, but the category pirwa appears to overlap with culluna and caway, which, in turn, overlap with the category qollqa.

Returning to the function of Building C at Cerro Cacañan, we can summarize the evidence as follows: There is a lack of domestic features; there is one sherd, the rope nubbin, which dates to the Late Horizon; there are one or two features that may be described as pirwa; otherwise Building C provides a large roofed space with few internal divisions or functionally diagnostic attributes. We thus tentatively identify these larger buildings as administrative facilities where goods were received, sorted, perhaps measured, and packaged before being stored in the qollqa. Of course, we have no way of knowing whether these buildings served all the qollqa around Huamachuco or only those on Cerro Cacañan. Intuitively, though, eight administrative structures seems excessive for only the 23-26 storerooms on Cerro Cacañan.

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