Introduction

Most indigenous communities of the Venezuelan Andean region were located, by preference, in the fertile intermontane valleys, where the adoption of appropriate agricultural techniques made possible the development of stable population centers based upon intensive agriculture.

Most became established between 1000 and 1500 AD, that is just before the arrival of the Spanish in America, a period in which the pre-Hispanic cultures of the Central Andes reached a comparatively high level with respect to agricultural technology, pottery-making, and ceremonial center construction, factors which significantly influenced the northern Andean area.

The irrigation system used by the Indians of the Mérida region has suggested to some the possibility that they enjoyed a centralized administration and a special type of family structure upon which their agricultural economy depended. Whatever the specifics of the internal social structure of these native groups, the Spanish encountered a densely populated area with rich agricultural and labor resources, both attributes that attracted the attention of the conquerors.

The arrival of the Spanish in this area brought about immediate modifications in the human landscape: it signified a reorganization of the Indian settlement structure after their population had been seriously affected by introduced diseases; it also witnessed the introduction of new crops and animals which also brought about significant changes in the physical environment. The encomiendas and land grants (mercedes de tierras) which derived from the rights of the conquerors rapidly became fundamental elements in the new socio-spatial formation of colonial Mérida. Under Crown authority new villages (pueblos de encomiendas, pueblos de naturales), pueblos de doctrina became established.