Vínculos (in)visibles: Relationships of Power in the Colesuyo during the Inca Empire

Summary

It has been suggested that Inca colonization strengthened kin bonds between ayllu members while at the same time requested tribute by means of establishing "fictive" kin affiliations. Therefore, subjugated populations response to Inca imperialism caused the consolidation of local and regional identities. However, what occurred in the Colesuyo? Colesuyo region of southern Peru, inhabited by multi-ethnic small-scale groups –the Cochunas from the upper Moquegua Valley and the Coles and Camanchacas from the coastal area; archaeological evidence suggests that although the Cochunas were incorporated into the empire through institutions and kin bonds, the latter, on the other hand, did not create any kinship alliances with other coastal or marginal groups. It suggests, instead, that altiplano elites formed kin relations with coastal groups that in fact formed part of the Inca sphere of influence. In this presentation we analyze the intricate ways in which local groups were portrayed in the historical records and how discourses were built to give an account of the colonial narratives and the Inca dynamics themselves; and try to build a different one that visibilizes alternative social dynamics evidenced in overlooked archeological data.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21811