Introduction of European crops (wheat, barley and peach) in Andean Argentina during the 16th century: archaeobotanical and ethnohistorical evidence.

15.25 CAPPARELLI, A., LEMA, V., GIOVANNETTI, M., Y RAFFINO, R.

Capparelli, A., Lema, V., Giovannetti, M., y Raffino, R.

Simposio; 13th Symposium of the International Group for Palaeoethnobotany.; 2004

International Work Group for Palaeoethnobotany IWGP

By the second half of the 15th century the Andean Norwest of Argentina was part of the Kollasuyu, the southern quarter of the Tawantinsuyu Inka Estate. However, Inka occupation lasted least than a century. In 1536 Almagro was the first Spaniard who passed through this region going to Chile. After that, and until the 18th century, Spaniards from Peru and Chile competed between them and fought versus the local aborigines for appropriating their land, important source of precious metals. The first three villages founded by Spaniards were Barco (1550 AD) in the modern province of Tucumán, Santiago del Estero (1553) in the modern province of the same name; and Londres de Quimivil (1558) in the modern Province of Catamarca. In this context, this paper will intend to analyse the routes that the first European crops could have followed in this region, and also when and from which place they came from, who brought them and where were they harvested by the first time. This approach will be made by comparing ethnohistorical sources with the first archaeobotanical evidence for this area: wheat, oat, and peach found at El Shincal (distant 6 km to Londres de Quimivil) and dated 1640 AD. After being a strategic Inka Administrative Center, El Shincal continued being an important point of meeting for local aborigines during the Colonial era. It is proposed in this paper that these European crops were brought from Chile (and not from Peru), to Santiago del Estero by Spaniard soldiers during 1556, and to Londres in 1558. These crops were manipulated by local aborigines during the period of the encomenderos (Spaniards who appropriated and cultivate the land through the exploitation of the aborigines) and used to carried out a pachamanca (local religious festivity) at El Shincal during a Diaguita Rebellion.