Field Diversity in Achoma, Colca Valley, Peru

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Around 1100 CE, a century-long drought ushered in an era of political balkanization and prolonged conflict across the highland Andes. During this time, known locally as the Late Intermediate Period (LIP; 1100-1450 CE), people built defensible hilltop settlements and refuges where very little farming is carried out today, particularly in the Colca Valley. Residents living at lower elevations likely cultivated the impressive glacier fed terraces that famously crisscross the valley’s hillsides. How did farmers living at higher elevations accommodate both defensive and subsistence needs? During the austral summer of 2024 we carried out archaeological survey of agricultural landscapes at various elevations in the valley around the modern-day town of Achoma. In addition to irrigated terraces, we identified rainfed terraces, actively farmed terraces, abandoned terraces, bofedales, and corrals. This diverse agricultural system was surely an integral part of a complex economy in the Colca Valley during the LIP, but we think the importance of these other field types has been largely overlooked. In this paper we present our preliminary findings from our survey that shed light on the diversity of agricultural practice in the Colca Valley in the past and the present.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 53278