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South American Archaeology Seminar (London)

Who is controlling what? Assessing the role of local populations in the administration and
managing of resources, routes, and spaces during the Inca period in the Arica area of
Northern Chile.

Miguel Fuentes
UCL, Institute of Archaeology
Becas Chile (CONICYT)
uczlfue@ucl.ac.uk

The discussion on the Inca expansion in the Arica area has relied upon two main theoretical
models: The Direct and Indirect Rule. According to these models, the Inca domination would
have been implemented in the Arica area (especially in the Highlands) either by “intermediate
agents” (the altiplano leaders of the Reinos Aymaras) or by the direct presence of the state and
its administrative and architectural apparatus. Several alternatives approaches that combine
elements of both models have also been proposed. However, both models (and the
intermediates ones) have in common to present a situation strongly determined by the
“administration” of “control” of the Inca state over populations, resources, and routes. One of
the results of this has been to produce an “archaeological narrative” where the Inca state, its
agents and its “strategies of expansion” seems to be the only mobile (seemingly uncontested)
of the historical process.

In this presentation, I will discuss some of the archaeological evidence that has been used to
support these models. I will also present architectural and spatial data to examine an alternative
approach on the social and political dynamics of the Late Period in the Arica area that
emphasizes potential elements of local management of resources, routes, and spaces. The
concept of “Local Power” and the important of alternative models of economic and cultural
exchange between the Inca and the local populations will be examined.

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