South American Archaeology Seminar: London

Programme

10.30 am  Coffee/ Registration

• 11.00: Bill Sillar (UCL Institute of Archaeology) First and Last: Stone quarrying at the start and end of the Inka Empire
• 11.40: Andy Combey (Université Côte d’Azur) Incas and earthquakes in Cusco: from Myths to Measurements

12.20-1.20pm Lunch

• 1.20: Dominika Sieczkowska-Jacyna (Center for Andean Studies, University of Warsaw) Gateways to Cordillera Vilcabamba: Urbanization dynamics and the Inca conquest of Machu Picchu in the context of radiocarbon dating
• 2.00: Sabine Hyland (University of St. Andrews) Personhood in Andean Khipus: Human Figurines in the Khipus of Rapaz and Jucul

2.40-3.10pm Tea

• 3.10: Dagmara M. Socha (Centre for Andean Studies, University of Warsaw) CT-scans reveal new findings on mummified frozen Inca child from the volcanoes of Ampato and Sara Sara, Peru
• 3.50: Calogero M. Santoro (Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá) The multiple histories of the Atacama Desert: a reflection on economic systems, political organization, technological developments and ecological transformations

Attendees (including speakers) will be asked to pay £15.00 towards the cost of coffee, tea & lunch (Student concessions £7).  Please register for your place via the link above.

The next meeting date is Saturday 22 November 2025. If you would like to give a talk at a future South American Archaeology Seminar or for further information please contact Bill Sillar (b.sillar@ucl.ac.uk)

Organisers: Bill Sillar & Andrea Martinez Carrasco

Image: Inca construction at Patallacta, Cuzco, Peru (Credit: Bill Sillar)

Abstracts

First and Last: Stone quarrying at the start and end of the Inka Empire

Bill Sillar (UCL Institute of Archaeology, London, England)
b.sillar@ucl.ac.uk

The Qeuña Sondor andesite outcrop is 16 km to the north of Cusco at 4300 m. Stone from here was first used to construct the Inka royal estate of Caquia Xaquixahuana (Juchuy Qosqo), associated with Viracocha Inka.  Small blocks from here were also used in some of the earliest Inka andesite constructions in Cuzco (Cusicancancha and Coricancha).  At the quarry there is abundant evidence of stone working stretching over a 1km ridge.  The numerous cooling joints have resulted in large lumps of rock which the stoneworkers shaped without needing to excavate material from the bedrock. In one area there is a 30 m wide depression containing a spread of stone working debris with some quartzite hammerstones. Notably, there are over 100 finely worked large square and rectangular blocks, as well as some unusual shapes, these are evidence of a much later form of Inka stoneworking. As we have not found blocks of this size and shape from this quarry in any surviving Inka structures, we assume these were being prepared late in the Inka Empire for a building that was never constructed. This quarry provides unique opportunities to understand changes in the management of Inka stoneworking.

Incas and earthquakes in Cusco: from Myths to Measurements

Andy Combey (Géoazur, Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, IRD, CEREMA, OCA, France)
andy.combey@gmail.com

Around the 15th century, the Incas developed sophisticated dry-stone masonry techniques in their heartland, the Cusco region, whose origins (inspirations, chronology) remain widely debated. What were the driving forces behind such time- and labour-consuming architecture? As early as the 1960s, some scholars suggested that earthquake resistance played a key role in its design. However, addressing this hypothesis remains challenging, given that Cusco’s seismic hazard is still poorly understood, and no in-depth studies have examined how pre-Columbian societies perceived and experienced earthquakes. Since 2018, we have been conducting multidisciplinary research projects in the Cusco region to assess the impact of seismic activity on its archaeological and historical heritage. By integrating archaeological, historical, architectural, and geophysical data, our work has led to several findings: i) identification of seismic damage at multiple Inca sites, ii) reinterpretation of a legend from the pre-Hispanic oral tradition as a possible earthquake account, and iii) characterization of the dynamic response of archaeological structures through ambient vibration-based measurements. Based on this new body of evidence, this presentation aims to challenge established narratives and explore the implications of tectonic phenomena in pre-Hispanic societies. Beyond its archaeological contributions, this research also seeks to support the long-term preservation of Cusco’s archaeological heritage in the face of future earthquakes.

Gateways to Cordillera Vilcabamba: Urbanization dynamics and the Inca conquest of Machu Picchu in the context of radiocarbon dating

Dominika Sieczkowska-Jacyna (Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland, and Center for Andean Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland)
d.sieczkowska@uw.edu.pl

Jose M. Bastante (National Archaeological Park of Machu Picchu, Cusco, Peru)

Andrzej Rakowski (Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland)

Jacek Pawlyta (AGH-UST, Kraków, Poland)

This presentation explores the dynamics of urbanization that led to the construction of Machu Picchu, focusing on its conquest by the Incas and the various factors that contributed to this outcome. Multiple hypotheses have been proposed regarding how the Incas reached the Machu Picchu area before its substantial urban development. As a crucial gateway to the Cordillera Vilcabamba, the region includes the Huayabamba and Vilcanota valleys, which have played an essential role in the Inca conquest narrative. Using radiocarbon dating from various sites in the Vilcabamba and Huayabamba valleys, different phases of multicultural occupation have been identified, with the colonial phase representing the most recent activity in the area. The initial radiocarbon analyses have established a timeline for the development of this settlement, designating it as the gateway to the Cordillera Vilcabamba. This reconstruction incorporates findings from the Cusichaca project and nearly a decade of Polish-Peruvian research conducted in the National Archaeological Park of Machu Picchu, enhancing our understanding of the historical significance of Machu Picchu.

CT-scans reveal new findings on mummified frozen Inca child from the volcanoes of Ampato and Sara Sara, Peru

Dagmara M. Socha (Centre for Andean Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland)
d.socha@uw.edu.pl

Stephanie Panzer (Dep. of Radiology, University Hospital Salzburg, Austria)

Franz Edwin Martin Grupp Castelo and Winnie Celeste Martínez Sulca  (Museo Santuarios Andinos, Universidad Catolica de Santa Maria, Arequipa, Perù)

Johan Reinhard (National Geographic Society, Washington, DC, USA)

Alice Paladin (Institute for Mummy Studies, Eurac Research, Bolzano, Italy)

This study examines 500-year-old mummified individuals sacrificed by the Inca (Sara Sara, Ampato #1, #2, and #4) using non-invasive CT scans. These children were sacrificed during the most important Inca ritual: the capacocha. The sacrifices involving the individuals found on the Ampato and Sara Sara volcanoes were found during expeditions led by Johan Reinhard and José Antonio Chávez in the 1990’s. 

The aims of this presentation are to evaluate taphonomic processes, assess the state of preservation and paleopathological profiles, and understand the cultural significance of sacrifice. Despite the similar burial locations, CT scan data reveal that the bodies underwent different taphonomic processes. Evidence from Ampato #4 suggests the possibility of a rare secondary burial, showing signs that internal organs were replaced with textiles. Signs of blunt force trauma to the skulls of Ampato #1, Ampato #2, and Sara Sara suggest a ritualized concept of violence. Additionally, in the case of Ampato #2, pathological changes indicative of Chagas disease were detected.

Personhood in Andean Khipus: Human Figurines in the Khipus of Rapaz and Jucul (postponed talk from last session)

Sabine Hyland (University of St. Andrews, Scotland)
sph@st-andrews.ac.uk

Khipus frequently are characterised as the only non-iconographic writing system. Recently, however, I have argued that khipus possess many iconic elements in which there is “some non-arbitrary, iconic mapping between form and meaning” (Perniss, Thompson, and Vigliocco 2010). 

This presentation explores one kind of iconic feature on Andean khipus: 3D human figurines.  These human images have been viewed as decorative elements whose meaning is not an inherent part of the khipu’s message. Based on ethnographic analogy with khipus in the Central Andean communities of Rapaz and Jucul, this presentation suggests that such human images are not adornments or illustrations, but instead play an important visual role in vitalising relations between humans and ancestral or non-human beings.

The multiple histories of the Atacama Desert: a reflection on economic systems, political organization, technological developments and ecological transformations

Calogero M. Santoro (Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile; Núcleo Milenio de Ecología Histórica Aplicada para los Bosques Áridos-AFOREST, Chile; visiting fellow Clare Hall & McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, UK)
calogero_santoro@yahoo.com

To understand the long and changing history of the peoples of the Atacama Desert, it is important to consider certain key issues: (a) The Desert, famous for being one of the most hyper-arid territories on the planet, is a much more complex puzzle in which three contrasting ecosystems can be distinguished: (1) the Pacific coast, (2) valleys, oases and salt flats of the Intermediate Depression, between the Coastal and Andean Cordilleras, and (3) Andean valleys and high plateaus. Each with its own ecological, geographic and climatic particularities, they were scenarios of different social processes, where the key element is the availability of fresh water. Consequently, the economies of coastal peoples dependent on extraordinary bioproductivity maintained very stable economic systems. The groups of the Intermediate Depression, on the other hand, with very unstable water resources, formed ephemeral and discontinuous ways of life. The Andean groups, with much more abundant water resources, had to face the limitations of high-altitude environments, hypoxia and low temperatures. In sum, each of these ecosystems contains multiple and contrasting histories of economic and technological systems and political organizations, with their concomitant ecological transformations, which, although interrelated, were far from converging in a homogenizing melting pot over time.

Para entender la larga y cambiante historia de los pueblos del Desierto de Atacama es importante considerar ciertas cuestiones claves: (a) El Desierto afamado por su condición de ser uno de los territorios más hiper áridos del planeta, es un puzle mucho más complejo en el que se distinguen tres contrastantes ecosistemas: (1) el litoral del Pacífico, (2) valles, oasis y salares de la Depresión Intermedia, entre las Cordilleras de la Costa y los Andes, y (3) valles y altiplano andinos. Cada uno con sus propias particularidades ecológicas, geográficas y climáticas, fueron escenarios de distintos procesos sociales, donde el elemento clave es la disponibilidad de agua fresca. Consecuentemente, las economías de los pueblos costeros dependientes de una bioproductividad extraordinaria mantuvieron sistemas económicos muy estables. Los grupos de la Depresión Intermedia, en cambio, con recursos de agua muy inestables conformaron formas de vida efímeras y discontinuas. Los grupos andinos, con recursos de agua mucho más abundantes, debieron enfrentar las limitaciones de los ambientes de altura, hipoxia y bajas temperaturas. En suma, cada uno de los ecosistemas señalados contienen múltiples y contrastantes historias de sistemas económicos, tecnológicos, organizaciones políticas, con sus concomitantes transformaciones ecológicas, que aunque interrelacionadas estuvieron lejos de converger en crisol homogeneizador a través del tiempo.

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