Contenu du sommaire : Varia

In this paper I report results of the recent archaeological research carried out at three Early Intermediate Period sites in the Acari Valley, on the south coast of Peru. Current results indicate that there were at least four different burial types, one of which appears to have been mainly reserved for infants while the other three were used for any member of the society, including infants. With one exception, each mortuary structure was built to house a single individual. Bodies were wrapped in textiles and placed in a seated posture, with the knees flexed towards the chest, the arms placed under the lower limbs and the hands near the genitals or the feet. In addition, body orientation is consistently toward north. Many graves were provided with a roof, while only some received offerings. These differences had nothing to do with age or sex, however. The mortuary customs discussed in this paper differ significantly from Nasca burial practices; for instance, Nasca goods are not among burial offerings. Such notable variations testify that Nasca and Huarato were different cultural traditions.

To confirm the hypothesis that objects of mollusk shell from archaeological sites in Tumbes, Peru, had been worked using stone tools, some fragments of pieces from the Rica Playa´s Pre-Hispanic workshop were analyzed by experimental archaeology. Modern shells of the same species as the Rica Playa assemblage were abraded and cut using an archaeological stone tool; the wear patterns produced were compared with the archaeological pieces using Scanning Electron Microscopy (100x–1 000x). Apart from the knowledge of the specific tools used to work shell objects in the Andean Region, this paper confirms the validity of the methodology proposed by the Project «Técnicas de Manufactura de los objetos de concha del México Prehispánico», at the Templo Mayor Museum, Mexico City.

This paper deals with a different concept of “Chiefdom” and its inheritance's law. It proposes the existence of a female inheritance rule as an alternative to a male one and, as a consequence of this hypothesis, develops an analysis of the transition process between the prehispanic and colonial world. The sources of evidence come from published documents and chronicles. Zuidema's parallel descendent and dual structure of Andean society are discussed as well as the “sense” of inheritance itself in prehispanic Andean society: “Power” or “Property”? presents the main dilemma. By analysing this question jointly with the conceptual framework, it tries to explain de process of transformation from prehispanic institutions to colonial ones.

In this article I analyze the factors that contributed to processes of depopulation in a southern Andean region through the nineteenth century. Comparing my findings with other mountain zones, I explore why depopulation varied across the region under study, following different rhythms and featuring different intensities. My analysis is based upon a comparison of population figures from ten parishes on both sides of the border between Bolivia and Argentina, comprising Sud Chichas and the Puna of Jujuy. I treat an area that was buffeted by crises, both natural and man-made (wars, drought, epidemics, etc.) in the nineteenth century, but which saw divergent demographic developments over the course of the period. I assess the significance of different factors contributing to this divergence, focusing particularly on the consequences of given crises over the medium-term. In the process of this analysis, I suggest the distinctiveness of certain demographic responses.

The author proposes a study of the tale El ayla based on the place occupied by the ayla dance in Arguedian ethnological work. Arguedas was never able to demonostrate the ancient or prehispanic nature of this dance. A few years before writing El ayla, Arguedas gave an example of the method of ethnohistoric reconstruction that he proposes for the dances using the divinities of the Huarochiri myth and the elements of the Andean carnival The structure of El ayla when viewed in this way allows a reading that obeys the operation of mythical thought.