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Studies of late prehispanic architecture in the Andes have generally focused on rectangular and circular structures associated with the Inka Empire. Meanwhile, the architecture of non-Inka populations spans a remarkable diversity of non-orthogonal structures, implicating varied roof designs and construction techniques. This study addresses a gap in knowledge on architectural traditions through collaboration with the community of Huama (Lamay District). Specifically, the replicative construction of a wankar wasi (drum-shaped house) presented herein draws on traditional knowledge developed in Huama over the course of many generations. We also applied Mobile Laser Scanning to visualize and analyze the resultant structure. These data facilitate analogy between contemporary practices and the archaeological record to understand the materials, knowledge, and relationships engaged by prehispanic builders, with the objective of reconstructing local cooperation and resilience of under state occupation. Moreover, this research celebrates local heritage while illuminating the technological choices implicated in construction, past and present. 

This article articulates a regional, diachronic approach to precontact central Andean tombs by interpreting differences in materiality and function as evidence for distinct religious traditions. I analyze a sample of 788 tombs from 30 sites in the Sacred Valley and adjacent tributary valleys (Cusco, Peru), built and used during the Late Intermediate and Inka periods (ca. AD 1000–1532). Combining primary and published datasets, this sample includes a wide variety of tombs that variably facilitated or impeded certain interactions and relationships between the living, the dead, and the environment. To understand this diversity, I develop a typology comprising six tomb types based on morphological traits, which exhibit overlapping distribution patterns at local and regional scales. In contrast to studies that emphasized commonality and timelessness in central Andean mortuary practices, these data attest to considerable diversity in belief and value systems during half a millennium. As such, this study challenges existing models and presents new interpretations of late precontact tombs, considering that central Andeans across time and space held divergent beliefs about life and death. Recognizing diversity in past and present Indigenous societies is required for an empirical and decolonial archaeology that rejects stereotypes of cultural homogeneity.