Incas and Spaniards in the conquest of the Chachapoyas

Incas and Spaniards in the conquest of the Chachapoyas

– Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Research in the North-eastern Andes of Peru

Incas and Spaniards in the conquest of Chachapoyas is Dr. Inge Schjellerup‘s doctoral dissertation. The book lays the foundations of giving the Chachapoya a space in the cultural history of the Andes. For this, archaeological excavations, ethnohistoric studies and investigations of physical and ethnographic anthropology are used. It attempts to reconstruct its history.

Starting in the 9th century, the Chachapoya developed their own culture with a monumental architecture with decorative friezes and a socio-political organization supported by powerful competitive chiefdoms or lordships. They lived mainly in hierarchical nuclear settlements and built spectacular and strategic locations on the mountains. The period of the Inca conquest and colonization from the year 1470, which preceded the Spanish conquest, brought many changes for the Chachapoya. The landscape was altered with new architectural styles, and the crops were transferred to other ecological zones. This brief intermezzo of approximately sixty years had severe consequences for the population and their subsistence. However, even though the conquering population and cultures covered the region with their values, fragments and traces of a common heritage of the Chachapoya can still be seen in agriculture, ethnobotanical knowledge and ideology. Thus, this book intends to record these vestiges.

Este libro tambien existe en español.