Mysteries of an ancient empire.

• Author: Larronde, Suzanne Murphy
• Position: !Ojo!

MANY CENTURIES before the Incas held sway across much of western South America, an ancient, lesser-known culture called the Waft built the Western Hemisphere's first full-fledged empire. From a base near the present-day city of Ayacucho in Peru's central highlands, they constructed a thriving city-state that exerted dominion over various regions of the sierra and the Pacific coast and endured for 500 years, according to Mary Glowacki of the Florida Bureau of Archaeological Research.

The Brandeis University-trained archaeologist, who has devoted much of her professional life to unraveling the mysteries of this early Andean culture (500-1000 AD), is currently excavating Wari sites in the Huaro Valley near Cuzco, working in collaboration with local Peruvian archaeologists and Earthwatch Institute, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization that matches scholars and scientists with lay volunteers interested in supporting academic research expeditions worldwide.

Last summer, their digs in the VIP area of a cemetery at the Wari hillside settlement of Cotocotuyoc yielded up a rare "trophy skull" thought to have belonged to a combat-hardened warrior of about 30 years of age. The priceless relic had been modified with the addition of several hand-carved animal bone teeth and a circular hole at the back, through which a cord was strung, indicating that it was worn or suspended for ritual or ceremonial purposes.

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Excavation teams also unearthed pottery, carved bead and shell adornments, bronze clothing fasteners, textile fragments, stone tools, and projectile points--offerings or personal possessions of elites interred at Cotocotuyoc. Another unique find was a ceramic vessel adorned with two animal figures that are believed to be river otters, seen only occasionally these days in the sierra. At home on land and in the water, these creatures are...