Pastoralist Connections in the South-Central Andes During the Spanish Colonial Period

Summary

This is a poster submission presented at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Historians have long recognized the centrality of Latin American colonial mining to the development of global economies. Andean pastoralist networks, comprising long-term relationships between herders, animals, and landscapes, were central to the movement of raw materials – yet have been marginalized in narratives of early modern development. Here, I present preliminary findings from multi-method (archaeological survey, remote sensing, and archival) research into how pastoralist communities negotiated their involvement in these burgeoning global networks, with a focus on the contemporary Peruvian department of Huancavelica. Camelids were the primary means by which raw materials were exported and mining centers provisioned, and I focus especially on how intensified caravan demand, coupled with declining herd numbers due to European-introduced epidemics, resulted in shifts in environmental and herd management strategies. Ultimately, I will consider how Andean pastoralist communities engaged with processes of industrialization, globalization, and environmental change.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• 2022 SHA Poster Submissions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology