The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in lo... more The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in local communities. In addition to economic changes in mining production and the installation of logistical and administrative infrastructure, new forms of ideological violence emerged in the Copiapó Valley, Chile. One new form was the display and discarding of human heads, a burial pattern unprecedented in the region. In this article, we present evidence of perforated heads buried without grave goods next to a local cemetery in a Late Horizon village. We argue that the performative use of modified severed heads from young individuals at the Iglesia Colorada site was part of Inca ritual practices. Their use represented an effort to ideologically rule over newly incorporated subjects by demonstrating power and ensuring their compliance.
The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in lo... more The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in local communities. In addition to economic changes in mining production and the installation of logistical and administrative infrastructure, new forms of ideological violence emerged in the Copiapó Valley, Chile. One new form was the display and discarding of human heads, a burial pattern unprecedented in the region. In this article, we present evidence of perforated heads buried without grave goods next to a local cemetery in a Late Horizon village. We argue that the performative use of modified severed heads from young individuals at the Iglesia Colorada site was part of Inca ritual practices. Their use represented an effort to ideologically rule over newly incorporated subjects by demonstrating power and ensuring their compliance.
Resettlement, as a major imperial policy in the Inca empire, appears to have been a widespread me... more Resettlement, as a major imperial policy in the Inca empire, appears to have been a widespread mechanism for labor mobilization and the dismantling of rebellions. While multiple ethnohistorical references exist regarding resettlement in the central Andes, the extent of this policy in the imperial provinces is still unknown, especially in cases of economic intensification that might have required more labor force. The δ18O isotope is a good proxy for human mobility when comparing the childhood isotopic signature in the teeth enamel and the local water signature at the place of death. If applied to the study of an archaeological sequence, we can observe the expansion or reduction of a population’s displacement within a territory, if they received foreigners, and in general, how their social interaction and networks changed over time. In a marginal provincial setting of the Inca empire, such as Copiapó valley in Chile, the study of δ18O isotope can enable us to observe if the alleged e...
The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in l... more The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in local communities. In addition to economic changes in mining production and the installation of logistical and administrative infrastructure, new forms of ideological violence emerged in the Copiapó Valley, Chile. One new form was the display and discarding of human heads, a burial pattern unprecedented in the region. In this article, we present evidence of perforated heads buried without grave goods next to a local cemetery in a Late Horizon village. We argue that the performative use of modified severed heads from young individuals at the Iglesia Colorada site was part of Inca ritual practices. Their use represented an effort to ideologically rule over newly incorporated subjects by demonstrating power and ensuring their compliance.
Resettlement, as a major imperial policy in the Inca empire, appears to have been a widespread me... more Resettlement, as a major imperial policy in the Inca empire, appears to have been a widespread mechanism for labor mobilization and the dismantling of rebellions. While multiple ethnohistorical references exist regarding resettlement in the central Andes, the extent of this policy in the imperial provinces is still unknown, especially in cases of economic intensification that might have required more labor force. The δ18O isotope is a good proxy for human mobility when comparing the childhood isotopic signature in the teeth enamel and the local water signature at the place of death. If applied to the study of an archaeological sequence, we can observe the expansion or reduction of a population’s displacement within a territory, if they received foreigners, and in general, how their social interaction and networks changed over time. In a marginal provincial setting of the Inca empire, such as Copiapó valley in Chile, the study of δ18O isotope can enable us to observe if the alleged economic intensification in metallurgical production implied the massive arrival of foreign populations. Significantly, the Late Horizon does not evidence a great change in terms of mobility, compared to previous periods in Copiapó valley. Thus, the isotopic evidence can more clearly illuminate the social and political dynamics of an imperial provincial setting, where economic activities demanded by the Inca state were mainly carried out by the local labor force.
The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in lo... more The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in local communities. In addition to economic changes in mining production and the installation of logistical and administrative infrastructure, new forms of ideological violence emerged in the Copiapó Valley, Chile. One new form was the display and discarding of human heads, a burial pattern unprecedented in the region. In this article, we present evidence of perforated heads buried without grave goods next to a local cemetery in a Late Horizon village. We argue that the performative use of modified severed heads from young individuals at the Iglesia Colorada site was part of Inca ritual practices. Their use represented an effort to ideologically rule over newly incorporated subjects by demonstrating power and ensuring their compliance.
The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in lo... more The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in local communities. In addition to economic changes in mining production and the installation of logistical and administrative infrastructure, new forms of ideological violence emerged in the Copiapó Valley, Chile. One new form was the display and discarding of human heads, a burial pattern unprecedented in the region. In this article, we present evidence of perforated heads buried without grave goods next to a local cemetery in a Late Horizon village. We argue that the performative use of modified severed heads from young individuals at the Iglesia Colorada site was part of Inca ritual practices. Their use represented an effort to ideologically rule over newly incorporated subjects by demonstrating power and ensuring their compliance.
Resettlement, as a major imperial policy in the Inca empire, appears to have been a widespread me... more Resettlement, as a major imperial policy in the Inca empire, appears to have been a widespread mechanism for labor mobilization and the dismantling of rebellions. While multiple ethnohistorical references exist regarding resettlement in the central Andes, the extent of this policy in the imperial provinces is still unknown, especially in cases of economic intensification that might have required more labor force. The δ18O isotope is a good proxy for human mobility when comparing the childhood isotopic signature in the teeth enamel and the local water signature at the place of death. If applied to the study of an archaeological sequence, we can observe the expansion or reduction of a population’s displacement within a territory, if they received foreigners, and in general, how their social interaction and networks changed over time. In a marginal provincial setting of the Inca empire, such as Copiapó valley in Chile, the study of δ18O isotope can enable us to observe if the alleged e...
The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in l... more The Inca expansion to the southern Andes catalyzed important political and symbolic changes in local communities. In addition to economic changes in mining production and the installation of logistical and administrative infrastructure, new forms of ideological violence emerged in the Copiapó Valley, Chile. One new form was the display and discarding of human heads, a burial pattern unprecedented in the region. In this article, we present evidence of perforated heads buried without grave goods next to a local cemetery in a Late Horizon village. We argue that the performative use of modified severed heads from young individuals at the Iglesia Colorada site was part of Inca ritual practices. Their use represented an effort to ideologically rule over newly incorporated subjects by demonstrating power and ensuring their compliance.
Resettlement, as a major imperial policy in the Inca empire, appears to have been a widespread me... more Resettlement, as a major imperial policy in the Inca empire, appears to have been a widespread mechanism for labor mobilization and the dismantling of rebellions. While multiple ethnohistorical references exist regarding resettlement in the central Andes, the extent of this policy in the imperial provinces is still unknown, especially in cases of economic intensification that might have required more labor force. The δ18O isotope is a good proxy for human mobility when comparing the childhood isotopic signature in the teeth enamel and the local water signature at the place of death. If applied to the study of an archaeological sequence, we can observe the expansion or reduction of a population’s displacement within a territory, if they received foreigners, and in general, how their social interaction and networks changed over time. In a marginal provincial setting of the Inca empire, such as Copiapó valley in Chile, the study of δ18O isotope can enable us to observe if the alleged economic intensification in metallurgical production implied the massive arrival of foreign populations. Significantly, the Late Horizon does not evidence a great change in terms of mobility, compared to previous periods in Copiapó valley. Thus, the isotopic evidence can more clearly illuminate the social and political dynamics of an imperial provincial setting, where economic activities demanded by the Inca state were mainly carried out by the local labor force.
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individuals at the Iglesia Colorada site was part of Inca ritual practices. Their use represented an effort to ideologically rule over newly incorporated subjects by demonstrating power and ensuring their compliance.
individuals at the Iglesia Colorada site was part of Inca ritual practices. Their use represented an effort to ideologically rule over newly incorporated subjects by demonstrating power and ensuring their compliance.