Regional Impact of Mining Activity During Colonial Times in the Highlands of Southern Bolivia

GIL MONTERO, RAQUEL

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

Springer

Año: 2017 vol. 21 p. 280 - 294

1092-7697

The Lípez Altiplano is an arid and cold highland desert, where population density was always low and there was no urbanization. Pre-Hispanic, the regional distribution of the population was related to the environment: the majority was concentrated where quinoa agriculture was possible. Following the Spanish conquest, however, mining activity allowed an unprecedented demographic development in those highlands. In this study, I analyze the consequences of mining activities on demography and socio-economic activities in Lípez, before, during and after the apogee of its most important colonial mine, San Antonio del Nuevo Mundo.