Wari Brewers Produce Chicha at Cerro Baúl

Around 900 CE, brewers at the Wari administrative center of Cerro Baúl in southern Peru produced chicha on a large scale for political and ceremonial gatherings. The specialized brewery contained separate areas for grinding, boiling, fermenting, and storage, as well as large vessels capable of holding substantial quantities of beer. Archaeological and chemical evidence indicates that the brewers used maize and the sugary berries of the Peruvian pepper tree, Schinus molle. Chicha was central to Wari feasting and political hospitality. Leaders served it in decorated vessels during gatherings that strengthened alliances, rewarded labor, and reinforced imperial authority on the frontier with Tiwanaku territory. Tupu pins found in the brewery indicate that elite women probably carried out much of the brewing work. When Cerro Baúl was abandoned around 1050, the brewery was ceremonially burned and its vessels deliberately smashed, ending a production tradition that had operated for centuries.