Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous Luxury and Daily Life in the Households of Machu Picchu’s Elite

Joanne Pillsbury and Susan Evans (this volume) def ined the term palace as an elite residence pertaining to sovereigns that is the central locus of social, political, economic, and ritual activities in a complex society and is among the most important and imposing architectural forms. This formulation is instructive because it combines the basic functional def inition, that of the ruler’s residence, with a series of expectations involving other aspects of the ruler’s and the society’s life, as well as the assumption that these will be expressed through monumental architecture.