Doctoral Dissertation Research Award: Coordination Strategies for Joint State Rule

Regents Of The University Of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor MI

Investigators

Abstract

Jordan Dalton, of the University of Michigan, will conduct new archaeological research in Peru, documenting how the expansion of the Inca Empire affected the economy of the Chincha Valley. Archaeology is unusually well positioned to answer questions pertaining to the long-term effects of state expansion, due to the long time-span with which it works. Archaeologists are able to address the dynamic effects of state expansion by documenting the effects of the initial impact of contact and local political re-organization to the cascading effects of later changes to political administration and the economy. The Chincha Valley case (in which a local group was allowed to co-administer a valley with the more powerful Inca intruders) is highly unusual, because in most cases the expansionist empire dominates smaller ethnic minorities. Dalton's research will shed new light on how the Chincha (a local ethnic group) adapted to the intrusion of the Inca Empire and will add an important case study to the understanding of how local populations cooperated and created new economic strategies. In both ancient empires and contemporary cases of expansionist states, some local strategies are retained while national and global practices are imposed. The project will provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, both from Peru and the United States, to collaborate and develop their skills and knowledge in archaeology. Furthermore, research will be shared with communities and students within the United States and Peru through outreach activities and articles published in both Spanish and English. To document the changes in the political and economic administration of the Chincha Valley during Inca occupation, Dalton will excavate multiple rooms at the archaeological site of Las Huacas in the Chincha Valley, a major agricultural community occupied immediately before and during Inca occupation (A.D. 1470-1534). Dalton will expose residences, manufacturing and production areas, and discard piles of household goods in order to reconstruct which goods and crafts were manufactured, stored, and used at Las Huacas and throughout the Inca Empire. During the era of the Inca, the occupants of Las Huacas renovated their structures by laying down new floors, allowing for a fine-grained analysis of change through time. Relying on these sequences of superimposed floors, the research will document changes through time in local Chincha practices and foreign Inca practices at Las Huacas, answering questions about the impact of a foreign power on a local economy. By analyzing an array of items - including ceramic dishes, food remains, weaving instruments and farming tools, Dalton will evaluate how residents of Las Huacas affected the Inca economy as well as how the Inca affected the local economy.