The Meaning Of The Offshore: The Role Of Islands In The Maritime Cultural Landscape Of Peru

Summary

The authors will present their research about the relationship of the islands to the mainland in Peru, emphasizing the islands role as sacred places, economic spaces, and harbors for oceanic crossroads. This paper will present the close relationship between the islands and the Andean mainland over time, from prehispanic times to present day, including a panoramic view of the role and value societies place on the islands located in the Peruvian offshore.

Using written sources such as ethno historic documents, chronicles, reports, and travelogues, the authors will compare historic views of the islands with archaeological evidence collected from during the guano extraction in the 19th century. The historic evidence will also be compared with representations of navigation and the sea from prehispanic coastal cultures, and with the preliminary results of the few systematic archaeological projects carried out on the islands in recent years, both in land and underwater.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Fluidity and Connectedness in the Pacific: Maritime Cultural Landscapes and Seascapes

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 222