El Extremo Sur/El Extremo Norte: Recent Research on Mobility and Verticality in the Peru-Chile Borderlands

A long-ignored region between the research hotspots of the Moquegua Valley (Peru) and the Lluta and Azapa Valleys (Chile), the Tacna area is witnessing an explosion of archaeological investigation. With some of the most fertile coastal valleys in the region, the area's long-term connections with the altiplano have long fascinated scholars interested in mobility and the emergence of long-distance connectivity through trade, colonization, and state projects. The participants in the session show how current work is shedding new light on key questions in Andean archaeology concerning mobility, verticality, and identity formation. Beginning with Lavallée's key project at Quebrada de los Burros, the region is emerging as an important location to better understand several classic archaeological phenomena – including the Chinchorro culture, Tiwanaku colonies, and LIP ethnogenesis – as well as develop new methodological and thematic directions in Andean archaeology. The emerging research also pushes up against national divisions in scholarship, providing a case study in the possibilities of finding new ways to understand the past beyond the confines of the modern nation-state.