The Mitmaqkuna Phenomenon: An Inka Policy of Forced Migration

GIFFORD, CHAD; ACUTO, FÉLIX A.

Milwaukee

Congreso; 68th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology; 2003

Society for American Archaeology

As archaeologists develop new ways of addressing the phenomenon of migration and culture change in the past, a case study of note comes to us from the ancient Inka empire of South America. In particular, the Inkas employed a state policy of resettlement that forced as much as a third of the Andean population from its homes. This program, which turned entire communities into colonists (or mitmaqkuna), added the variable of motion to expressions of identity and cultural traditions that were once geographically predictable. This paper outlines an archaeology of the mitmaqkuna phenomenon, taking its cue especially from historical studies of colonialism that highlight the importance of memory in understanding the processes of and reactions to imperial domination.