"Local Matters: Encountering the Imperial Inkas in the South Andes" by Clarence H. III. Gifford

Clarence H. III. Gifford

Deposited 2003

Abstract
This thesis strengthens our understanding of culture contact under state expansion by recognizing the forces of local history and culture within broader political and economic structures. It considers a series of prehistoric colonial encounters between the Inka state and indigenous societies in northwest Argentina in the Calchaquí Valley, which was partially incorporated into the Inka empire in the 15th century AD. In the course of 150 years prior to the Spanish conquest of South America in AD 1532, the Inkas seized control of hundreds of Andean societies to create the largest state ever formed in the prehispanic Americas.

Reconstructing colonial encounters archaeologically requires careful attention to the materiality of culture contact. The data presented in this thesis were generated through analyses of settlement planning, architecture, and excavated ceramic, faunal, and lithic remains from 13 prehispanic settlements in the Calchaquí Valley. These sites were investigated systematically through both archaeological surface study and excavation. The surface study included the preparation of detailed site maps and the collection of measured variables from 1170 walls and 202 architectural features in 310 standing structures. The excavation portion of the research, which was designed to obtain sufficient material to facilitate statistical analyses, included 38 test-pit excavations evenly distributed between the 13 study sites.

This thesis, then, traces in the data the social transformations that occurred during colonial contact in the region, including the ways that groups modified their landscapes, how space and architecture were re-formed within affected societies, and how relations changed within regional socioeconomic systems. Some findings reveal that colonial encounters were frequently negotiated over local sacred places, showing the persistence of indigenous ideologies. The creation of hybrid spaces and architecture, which involved the localization of foreign standards, also underscored indigenous initiative in constructing arenas of interaction. The interpretations of colonialism that appear in this thesis, therefore, contribute to our understanding of culture contact by highlighting how the forces of indigenous self-determination, compliance, resistance, accommodation, and cooperation transfigure imperial encounters.