The Huari state emerged around 600 AD in the Ayacucho region of the Andean highlands, possibly as a result of religious and other influences from the Tiwanaku state to its south, from which it adopted and modified the cult of the Staff God.
Huari expanded outwards, conquering a vast territory in the highlands and on some parts of the coast. One of their main achievements was their sophisticated agricultural engineering, terracing hillslopes and building long canals to supply irrigation water.
The Huari colonized regions suitable for the development of this agricultural system, setting up fortified administrative centres with Huari garrisons and governors organizing local peasants to construct and maintain canals and fields. In coastal regions, where different agricultural systems were appropriate, the Huari probably exercised looser control.
Huari city was organized into residential zones containing plazas, compounds and one- or two-storey houses, built of mud and roughly split stone. Shrines and oracles at Huari sites were often associated with storehouses for offerings.
Huari city and other settlements were linked by a network of roads, with way stations along their course. The Huari state collapsed around AD 800, while the Tiwanaku realm continued to be influential for several more centuries.
