In-Between Spaces in Far-out Places: Initial Findings on the Practice of Inka Colonialism in the Frontier Region of Pulquina Arriba

Summary

The region of Pulquina Arriba represented a geographically distant and loosely incorporated territory in the final decades of the Inka Empire. Located in the modern department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Pulquina Arriba was a relatively small Inka administrative site strategically constructed along a preexisting indigenous road network that ran adjacent to a rich agricultural valley. As such, it was involved in the oversight of local agricultural operations by populations native to the area, and likely played an important role in supporting other Inka colonial activities along this lightly controlled portion of the eastern imperial frontier. This poster will present the results of a regional survey conducted in the vicinity of the Inka site, specifically addressing (1) the settlement pattern determined within the study region and any observed differences in material culture assemblages between sites, (2) the types of activities in which indigenous groups and the Inkas alike were engaged during their occupations of the region, and (3) the extent to which Inka colonial activities seem to have altered preexisting indigenous sociopolitical structures and the implications of these changes.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage