Humans have engineered their environments throughout the Holocene, especially in the construction of hydraulic infrastructure. In many regions, however, this infrastructure is difficult to date, including the vestiges of water-management systems in the Andean highlands. Focusing on silt reservoirs in the upper Ica drainage, Peru, the authors use cores and radiocarbon dates to demonstrate the pre-Hispanic construction of walls to enhance and expand wetlands for camelid pasture. Interventions dated to the Inca period (AD 1400–1532) indicate an intensification of investment in hydraulic infrastructure to expand production capacity in support of the state. The results are discussed in the context of the hydraulic strategies of other states and empires.
To ask how prioritizing the commodifi able aspects of heritage transforms the relationships that defi ne it, this paper begins by tracing the historical development of mercantile perspectives on archaeological objects, sites, and landscapes in the central Andes. From colonial looting and the mining of treasure to the illustrated emphasis on testimonial value which gave rise to modern national archaeologies in the early twentieth century, contingent encounters defi ne processes of mercantilization, including current drives to deploy archaeology to produce commodities for the tourism industry. After scrutinizing the roles of heritage legislation, local government, entrepreneurs, local communities, and archaeologists in this process, the differing intentions, mechanisms, and effects of commoditization are highlighted. The production of essentialized identities and the invisibilization of meaningful relations between people about things and places are exclusions emanating from the marriage of archaeology and development. These are showcased in the budding cultural tourism context of the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, as an attempt to chart the ethical minefi eld of emergent hybrid indigeneity.A maior desgraça de uma nação pobre é que em vez de produzir riqueza, produz ricos. Mas ricos sem riqueza
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