Through the looking glass

Re-assessing the role of agro-pastoralism in the north-central Andean highlands

Bibliographic Data

ID3919209
AuthorsKevin Lane (0000-0001-6109-7799, University of Manchester, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume38
Issue3
Pages493-510
Publication date2006-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWorld Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0043-8243 • E-ISSN: 1470-1375
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00438240600813806
OpenAlexW2000431636
LanguageEN
Citations received24
References cited26

Archaeological research in the Andes has emphasized agriculture to the detriment of all other modes of production. A marked bias towards research on the coast, where crop farming predominates, and prejudices arising from the prevailing agro-centric perspective has given rise to a wealth of information concerning agricultural adaptations to this vertical environment. This paper seeks to redress the balance by investigating the precocious nature of agro-pastoralist traditions in the north-central highlands of Peru (ad 1000–1570). I challenge current ideas concerning the mainstay of subsistence in the Prehispanic high Andes that essentially emphasize farming to the detriment of other modes of production. Rather, I argue for a rich tableau of closely articulated groups of agro-pastoral and mixed farming communities ensconced in the kichwa, suni and puna areas of the cordillera. In these mixed communities the archaeological evidence suggests that it is the camelid herders who controlled and exercised power over the mixed farming communities with a concomitant specialization and intensification of the pastoralist economy

Agriculture · Agroforestry · Archaeology · Ethnology · Geography · Livestock · Pastoralism · Political science · Power (physics · Redress · Subsistence agriculture · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forestry · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History · Latin American history and culture

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