Ancestors at war: Materialities of conflict and social process in the South Andes

AXEL E. NIELSEN

Warfare in Cultural Context: Practice, Agency, and the Archaeology of Violence

University of Arizona Press

Lugar: Tucson; Año: 2009; p. 218 - 243

The pre-Inka era was a time of endemic warfare in the Southern Andes. Drawing on archaeological and ethnohistorical evidence, this paper analyzes the consequences of these conflicts for the peoples of the Circumpuna highlands (southern Bolivia, northern Chile, northwest Argentina), seeking to understand how cultural frameworks influenced the practice and social effects of war. It is argued that warfare provoked a shift toward corporate modes of political action that combined feasting and ancestor veneration, endowing ancient practices with new political significance. The resulting social formations achieved integration in an unprecedented scale for the region.