Question

Passage

For decades, archaeologists studying pre-Columbian Andean civilizations focused on the contrasted agricultural strategies of the Tiwanaku state and the Wari Empire. While the Tiwanaku, situated in the high-altitude Lake Titicaca basin, relied heavily on *waru waru*—raised fields surrounded by canals that buffered crops against nighttime frosts—the Wari, operating in steeper terrain, pioneered extensive stone-walled terracing systems. Some scholars have argued that the Wari’s reliance on terracing was not merely an ecological adaptation to steep slopes, but a deliberate tool of imperial expansion and centralized political control. Proponents of this view point out that Wari terraces required highly standardized engineering techniques and massive communal labor inputs, both of which were organized directly by state administrators residing in regional administrative hubs like Pikillacta. Furthermore, excavation data from these terraced sites consistently reveals a monoculture of maize, a prestige crop used to brew chicha for state-sponsored feasts, rather than the diverse subsistence crops grown on traditional, non-terraced family plots. By controlling the production of this politically significant crop, the Wari elite secured the loyalty of local populations, using the agricultural infrastructure to bind peripheral regions to the imperial center.

According to the passage, which of the following details from Wari terraced sites best supports the claim that the terracing system was a tool of centralized political control rather than simply an ecological adaptation?