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Tierras Olvidadas: Chiribaya Landscape Engineering and Marginality in Southern Peru

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Gregory Zaro ,
Kenneth C. Nystrom ,
Alfredo Bar ,
Adán Umire Alvarez  and
Ana Miranda
Gregory Zaro
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and the Climate Change Institute, 5773 S. Stevens Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5773 ([email protected])
Kenneth C. Nystrom
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, State University of New York-New Paltz, 1 Hawk Drive, WSB 124, New Paltz, NY 12561-2443 ([email protected])
Alfredo Bar
Affiliation:
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú ([email protected])
Adán Umire Alvarez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Tarapacá/Universidad Católica del Norte, Chile ([email protected])
Ana Miranda
Affiliation:
Universidad Católica de “Santa María,” Arequipa, Perú ([email protected])
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Abstract

The Peruvian south coast between the Tambo and Ilo rivers is a deserted wasteland. Yet tracts of abandoned farmland and expanses of desiccated lomas vegetation indicate that it was once vibrant and productive. Scattered habitations and cemeteries also indicate a pronounced resident Chiribaya population between A.D. 1200 and 1400. While river drainages of the western Andes and their canalized extensions are often treated as primary analytical units of study, our investigation of so-called peripheral intervalley regions points to a highly engineered and intensively managed landscape. When compared to the Ilo Valley, intervalley Chiribaya were organized into smaller communities and managed smaller spring-fed irrigation systems but were also heavily invested in adjacent maritime and lomas resource bases. Utilizing a mixed economic strategy, we argue, these intervalley populations were anything but marginal to the Chiribaya señorío of the Ilo region; rather, they were fully engaged in the social, political, and economic spheres of the late Intermediate period Peruvian south coast and formed a significant component of the Chiribaya cultural landscape. Our results hold implications for other similarly marginalized areas of the Andean coast, where distinct microenvironmental parameters and human ingenuity intersected to significantly transform the western Andes.

Aunque la costa entre los valles Tambo e Ilo en el sur del Perú es hoy día un gran desierto, los campos abandonados de cultivo junto con las extensiones de vegetación disecada de lomas sugieren que en tiempos antiguos era un paisaje vivo y productivo. Habitaciones y cementerios dispersos también indican una población Chiribaya muy marcada entre 1200 y 1400 d.C. Mientras que los drenajes principales de los Andes occidentales y sus extensiones canalizadas constituyen frecuentemente las unidades analíticas primarias de estudio, nuestra investigación de llamadas regiones periféricas entre valles sugiere un paisaje muy intensivamente manejado. En comparación al valle de Ilo, los Chiribaya entre valles se organizaron en comunidades más pequeñas y manejaron sistemas de irrigación más simples, pero a la vez invirtieron intensivamente en el manejo de los recursos adyacentes del mar y de las lomas. Utilizando una estrategia económica mixta, sugerimos que estas poblaciones entre valles no fueron marginadas, sino que estaban bien integradas en los círculos sociales, políticos y económicos del período Intermedio Tardío de la costa sur del Perú, y formaron un componente significativo del paisaje cultural Chiribaya. Nuestros resultados tienen importancia para otras regiones marginadas de la costa Andina, donde el cruce de parámetros microambientales particulares y la inventiva humana transformaron significativamente a los Andes occidentales.

Type
Articles
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , December 2010 , pp. 355 - 374
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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