Distant Provinces in the Inka Empire: Toward a Deeper Understanding of Inka Imperialism

Four - Yampara Households and Communal Evolution in the Southeastern Inka Peripheries

Editors’ Introduction This chapter presents relevant data to understand the interaction of the Inka Empire with Yampara elites, in a region facing the southeastern Inka frontier. This region, according to colonial narratives, was part of the Inka frontier that witnessed the advances of Chiriguano-Guaraní groups entering from the southeastern tropical piedmonts and Chaco. In this context of Inka imperial and Chiriguano-Guaraní encroachment, the author explores the shifting power relations of Yampara elites vis-à-vis their conquerors. Based on excavations in Yoroma, a local center of the region, Alconini finds important changes associated with the arrival of the Inkas. Prior to the Inkas, Yoroma was a large elite settlement involved with the production of flake artifacts at a communal scale and focused on feasting and redistribution. With the Inkas, Yoroma not only increased in size, but also the elite maintained their status and wealth, as seen in the enlargement of their residences and a modest access to Inka imperial materials. In addition, the site intensified the manufacture of lithic tools, and feasting activities also expanded in public spaces. This aspect is striking, taking into account the proximity of two imperial installations of the region, Sonia Alconini Chapter Four Yampara Households and Communal Evolution in the Southeastern Inka Peripheries 76 alconini Inkarry Moqo and Oroncota. Despite the fine architecture at both facilities , these imperial centers did not become the focus of craft production, redistribution of prestige imperial materials, or population attraction. Instead ,theflakingindustryinYoroma,perhapsincludingweaponryforthe eastern fortifications, was a task organized and supervised by the local chieftains. Therefore, in a context of increased conflict in the southern frontiers, the data suggest that Yampara lords were not only important imperial allies but also that they were successful in maintaining their autonomy and status. The imperial politics in this region echo some of the policies seen in otherregionsdiscussedinthisvolume.Architecturally,thefineInkaarchitectureinOroncotaresembles that of LaCasaMorada,inGuitián,northwesternArgentina ,discussedbyAcutoinchapter5.Sofar,bothInkasites are unique in the southern Andes for their fine architectural elaboration, typicalofprestigiousconstructionsoftheimperialcore.However,thedynamics of local elites show different trajectories. In Yoroma, although the elites maintained their autonomy and leadership in lithic industries, they did not enjoy substantial access to imperial materials. In comparison, the local residents of Guitián saw the insertion of imperial facilities in their own settlement such as the construction of La Casa Morada, important changes in their economy, and the insertion of high-ranking imperial officials ,inadditiontoasignificantinfluxofInkaprestigematerials.Comparing both cases, we might argue that the elite in Yoroma were more astute in the kinds of alliances that they established with the empire, although this did not necessarily translate into privileged access to prestige imperialmaterials .Overall,thekindofworkpresentedinthischapterexemplifies the advantages of studying the Inka phenomenon from a bottom-up perspective. Hopefully, future research at the household and communal scales will continue exploring the kinds of changes that the Inkas generated in elite and commoner economies in the various provinces of the southern Andes. Introduction Recent studies focusing on the effects of the Inka Empire in the incorporated provinces have revealed the wide array of strategies of domination used by this empire, tailored to respond to specific local sociopolitical Households and Communal Evolution in the Inka Peripheries 77 and historical conditions (Costin and Earle 1989; D’Altroy 1992; Malpass 1993; Schreiber 1992; Stanish 2001b). These studies have also revealed the multi­stranded effects of the empire and the various responses of native leaders and populations to imperial conquest and colonization, ranging from open resistance to opportunistic alliances. These different forms of local response to imperial expansion were intensifiedincontextsofimperialfrontierinteraction .Inmostcases,theInka imperial frontier, often established in ecological interfaces that overlapped with cultural boundaries, had varying effects on the local politics and dynamics of the regions. As explained in ethnohistorical accounts, some of these frontier regions were already part of marked internal conflicts by local competing ethnicities who saw the arrival of the Inkas as avenues to advanceindividualagendasbyestablishingallianceswiththeempire.Such wasthecaseofthecompetingChiriguanoandlowlandgroupsinthesoutheastern Inka frontier, or the Tucumán and Lules in the southern frontier, now in Argentina (Alcaya[ga] 1961; Lorandi 1988; Pärssinen and Siiriäinen 1998). In other cases, fluid interregional contact was often blocked by the Inkasinordertomonopolizetheexchangeofvaluedrawmaterialsbeyond the borders, by delegating to selected ethnicities the control of such exchange networks. For example, this was the situation of the Yunga Kalla­ waya groups and the Chuncho groups in the eastern frontier (Meyers 2002). In either case, Inka arrival reshaped the mosaic of local political interactions. Whereas in some circumstances it exacerbated competition...