Natural disasters, not war, drove ancient Wari from Pikillaqta
Recent findings in Geoarchaeology indicate that the Wari civilization was compelled to leave their capital, Pikillaqta, in southern Peru, due to two significant earthquakes around AD900 and a substantial landslide. This city, which accommodated over 5,000 residents and took 12 years to construct, functioned as a ceremonial and administrative hub for nearly four centuries. The research, spearheaded by Briant García from Peru’s Instituto Geológico Minero y Metalúrgico, uncovered debris measuring up to 2.5 meters thick within the structures. Comparatively, studies on Teotihuacan in Mexico, conducted by Raúl Pérez-López in 2024 and 2025, attribute its decline post-AD550 to megathrust earthquakes. Additionally, the Shijiahe culture in China fell due to excessive rainfall, while migration in Western Polynesia was influenced by shifting sea temperatures.
Key facts
- Two earthquakes around AD900 and a landslide destroyed Pikillaqta, capital of the Wari culture in Peru.
- Briant García of Peru’s Instituto Geológico Minero y Metalúrgico led the study published in Geoarchaeology.
- Debris up to 2.5 meters thick piled up inside Pikillaqta's buildings.
- Teotihuacan in Mexico was likely weakened by repeated megathrust earthquakes between the 1st and 6th centuries AD.
- Raúl Pérez-López of the Instituto Geológico y Minero de España published findings on Teotihuacan in 2024 and 2025.
- The Shijiahe culture in central China collapsed around 1950 BC due to decades of heavy rainfall.
- Jin Liao of the China University of Geosciences used stalagmite data from Heshang Cave for the Shijiahe study.
- Changing sea surface temperatures around 1,000 years ago drove people from Samoa and Tonga eastward to Tahiti.
Entities
Artists
- Garry Shaw
Institutions
- Instituto Geológico Minero y Metalúrgico
- Instituto Geológico y Minero de España
- China University of Geosciences
- University of Southampton
- Geoarchaeology
- Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
- National Science Review
- Communications Earth & Environment
Locations
- Pikillaqta
- Peru
- Teotihuacan
- Mexico
- Shijiahe
- China
- Heshang Cave
- Western Polynesia
- Samoa
- Tonga
- Tahiti
- Pacific Ocean