La négociation d´un compromis : la mita des mines d´argent de San Agustín de Huantajaya, Tarapacá, Pérou (1756-1766)

Abstract

Este texto está dedicado a Cecilia Méndez Gastelumendi, a quien agradezco por su orientación y atinados comentarios. Una versión preliminar de este texto fue leída en julio del 2006, en el 52º Congreso Internacional de Americanistas en Sevilla (España).

Buscando al encomendero. Lucas Martínez Vegaso, la administración de la justicia y las redes del poder colonial. Tarapacá, siglo XVI

“…Lucas Martínez Vegaso fue conminado el 12 de marzo de 1561 por el corregidor Alonso Manuel de Anaya para que se presentara en Arequipa bajo graves penas. El auto del corregidor expresa que, si no es habido, se comunique "a sus criados, yanaconas o esclavos que residen en el mineral de La Cruz" (Huantajaya) 21 para que informen con prontitud su paradero (Gavira, 2005;Donoso, 2008;Mukerjee, 2008;Hidalgo, 2009). Sabiendo que en dicho mineral moraba Martínez Vegaso, llegó a fines de marzo el comisionado Domingo de Agurto con el propósito de notificar el mandamiento de Muñatones, sin poder localizar al encomendero.…”

Late Pre-Hispanic and Early Colonial Silver Production in the Quebrada De Tarapacá, Northern Chile

“…Pizarro (1986Pizarro ( [1571: 189) goes on to describe the large nuggets of silver that were characteristic of the rich albeit discontinuous veins of silver at Huantajaya: "[t]hey found some round papas [potatoes] as in the manner of truffles… potatoes of silver loose in the ground, with weights of two hundred pesos [a Spanish unit of weight for silver equivalent to 27 grams], and three hundred, and five hundred, and of an arroba [equivalent to 11.3 kg] and of two arrobas, and sometimes of a quintal [equivalent to 100 kg]." Platt and colleagues (2006: 157, 158) suggest that these "papas" of silver were actually "mamas" revered by Andean peoples as sacred huacas (Albornoz 1989(Albornoz [1581(Albornoz /1585 Bouysse-Cassagne 2005, 2008, and that the Inka may have been particularly interested in controlling mines that produced such large nodules of gold or silver. Scholars have similarly argued that the richness and potentially sacred nature of the Huantajaya mines may account for why the Inka performed a capacocha ceremony at the nearby site of Cerro Esmeralda, which, at 905 m.a.s.l., is one of very few low-altitude sacrifices known in the Andes (Checura 1977;see fig.…”

“…Concurrently, greater quantities of silver were processed using the "patio process" of mercury amalgamation at the azoguería of Tilivilca, located on the southern side of the valley between San Lorenzo de Tarapacá and Huarasiña (see fig. 2; Villalobos 1979;Brown & Craig 1994;Gavira 2005;Mukerjee 2008). 4,5 This work was carried out by indigenous and mestizo laborers drawn from the settlements of Tarapacá and Sibaya who had been assigned to mine owners by the Spanish Crown through the mit'a system (Mukerjee 2008).…”

“…2; Villalobos 1979;Brown & Craig 1994;Gavira 2005;Mukerjee 2008). 4,5 This work was carried out by indigenous and mestizo laborers drawn from the settlements of Tarapacá and Sibaya who had been assigned to mine owners by the Spanish Crown through the mit'a system (Mukerjee 2008).…”

“…Due to the chronic lack of water, fuel, and food at the mines themselves, on-site refining of silver-bearing ores would have been a challenge for both Late Horizon and Colonial miners. Sources from the late Colonial Period indicate that at least a portion of the silver ores were refined in the nearby transverse valleys and at the oasis of Pica, where water, trees for fuel, and agricultural resources were more plentiful (Bollaert 1851;Brown & Craig 1994;Gavira 2005;Mukerjee 2008;Hidalgo 2009).…”