Michael E. Moseley

Staple Finance, Wealth Finance, and Storage in the Inka Political Economy [and Comments and Reply]

The development of the regionally integrated institutions of an expanding state society is predicated on the growth of systems of economic support. Both expansion of existing systems of finance and the development of alternative systems of revenue, such as tribute, administered exchange, and centralized taxation, may be of central importance to the state political economy. This paper examines the reorganization of the economic systems of the Inka state and the development of new forms of finance. State finance is dichotomized as staple finance, the direct or indirect mobilization of subsistence and utilitarian goods, and wealth finance, the manufacture and procurement of valuables, primitive money, and currency. It is argued that the requirements of production and management of goods were as important as the social relations of labor and exchange that are the focus of current discussions of the state political economy. The organization of the massive state storage system, specifically in the Upper Mantaro Valley of the central highlands of Peru, and the states mobilization and control of valuable commodities and special-purpose moneys are examined.

Hydraulic Engineering Aspects of the Chimu Chicama-Moche Intervalley Canal

Of the many canal systems of the Chimu empire the Chicama-Moche Intervalley (La Cumbre) Canal connecting the Chicama and Moche valleys represents the highest level of technical achievement. This paper examines the engineering skills of the Chimu as revealed by computer analysis of the open channel flow design techniques they utilized. Analysis of agricultural strategies made possible by this canal and the surveying skills inherent to its use are examined in detail. The presence of many trial canal paths toward the distal end of the canal indicate extreme difficulty in overcoming tectonically induced ground-slope changes caused by fault lines near the intervalley divide. The canal was abandoned prior to completion of construction and thus never served to supply the Moche Valley with Chicama water.

Chan chan: andean alternative of the preindustrial city.

I have discussed Chan Chan in terms of its political and economic characteristics because state organization had a pervasive impact on the growth and structure of the settlement. In this sense the capital of Chimor resembles Cuzco the Inca capital (1). Both metropolitan centers served as seats of Andean empires governed by noble classes headed by members of royal dynasties. Each state relied on a system of labor taxation and controlled the production, collection, and redistribution of goods. These political and economic institutions gave the sites distinctive but parallel forms. First, the settlements were large, containing a great deal of monumental architecture, but size and construction do not reflect substantial populations because building was done by nonresident work forces. Second, the urban proletariat were relatively few in numbers and composed of retainers or service personnel at Cuzco, as well as craftsmen and artisans at Chan Chan. Third, civic facilities were intended to serve the aristocracy and the state, not the common citizenry because these were governmental, not folk or popular, centers. And, fourth, palaces tied up a great amount of urban space because each monarch built his own seat of government during life and this became a monument to his name after death. In conclusion, I cannot say Chan Chan and Cuzco are necessarily typical of other prehistoric population centers in the region because these centers are little studied. I can, however, say Chan Chan was distinct from the preindustrial cities of Europe and Mesopotamia, but this is not surprising because the capital of Chimor was the product of distinctly Andean cultural institutions.

LIVING WITH CRISES: HUMAN PERCEPTION OF PROCESS AND TIME

The Andean coastal landscape of Peru has been shaped by two independent systems: one tectonic and the other climatological. The tectonic system – an outgrowth of lithosphere plate movements – was responsible for the growth of the Andes and continues to be active; it is visible on a short-term basis as uplift and tectonic tilting of the coast. The climatological system involves a generally stable ocean current/upwelling regime that effects the land most dramatically by causing an almost complete lack of precipitation at lower elevations. However, perturbations (called “El Nino”) of the climatological system occasionally result in episodes of torrential rain on the normally dry coast.

The Spring-Fed Irrigation System of Carrizal, Peru: A Case Study of the Hypothesis of Agrarian Collapse

Abstract Abandoned farm land is a prominent feature on the Andean landscape. At the spring-fed canal system of Carrizal, on the desert coast of Peru, prehispanic, colonial, and recent abandonment conforms to two land-loss patterns. These are associated with change in natural hydrological conditions that should similarly affect other forms of irrigation agriculture elsewhere in the Cordillera.

Hydraulic Engineering and Historical Aspects of the Pre-Columbian Intravalley Canal Systems of the Moche Valley, Peru

AbstractThe major intravalley canals of the Moche Valley in Peru built during the Late Intermediate Period (ca. 900–1400 A.C.) are analyzed for their engineering design content and design philosophy. An historical overview of the canals reveals successive abandonment of older, higher outlying canals in favor of near-river systems of lesser length. With this retraction there is a concomitant decrease in irrigated land. This paper ascribes this process to tectonically induced coastal uplift and its subsidiary effects. Seen in this perspective the Moche Valley canal sequence represents a logical defensive engineering strategy for combating the destructive effects of tectonically induced landscape changes upon fragile slope-sensitive canal systems. This paper, thus, deals with the process of agrarian collapse and its origins within the Moche Valley. This process, begun in antiquity, continues to the present day, as evidenced by the fact that only 35–40% of ancient arable lands are now under cultivation.

The Chicama-Moche Intervalley Canal: Social Explanations and Physical Paradigms

Ortloff, C. R., and M. E. Moseley 1978 Hydraulic Engineering Practice Among the Coastal Chimu. Part 1: The La Cumbre (Intervalley) Canal System. Ms. in possession of the authors. Ortloff, C. R., M. E. Moseley, and R. A. Feldman 1982 Hydraulic Engineering Aspects of the Chimu Chicarna-Moche Intervalley Canal. American Antiquity 47:572-595. Park, C. C. 1981 Water Resources, Hydraulic Society and Irrigation Agriculture in Prehispanic Peru. Paper presented to the 5th Symposium of the International Geographical Union Commission on Environmental Problem, Mexico, D.F. Plafker, G., G. E. Ericksen, and J. Fernandez Concha 1971 Geological Aspects of the May 31, 1970, Peru Earthquake. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America 61:543-578. Von Hake, C. A. 1978 Earthquake History of Washington. Earthquake Information Bulletin 10:28-33.

How many frogs does it take to leap around the Americas? Comments on Anderson and Gillam.

In modeling the colonization of the Americas, Anderson and Gillam (2000) employ size estimates for vanguard forager bands that are of dubious reproductive viability in light of human incest prohibitions and variable sex ratios at birth.

Hydrological Dynamics and the Evolution of Field Form and Use: Resolving the Knapp-smith Controversy

Closs, M. P. 1983 A Truncated Initial Series from Xcalumkin. American Antiquity 48:115-122. Justeson, J. S., and P. L. Mathews 1983 The Seating of the tun: Further Evidence Concerning a Late Preclassic Lowland Maya Stela Cult. American Antiquity 48:586-593. Pollock, H. E. D. 1980 The Puuc: An Architectural Survey of the Hill Country of Yucatan and Northern Campeche, Mexico. Memoirs of the Peabody Museum, vol. 19. Cambridge, Mass. Proskouriakoff, T. 1950 A Study of Classic Maya Sculpture. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 593. Washington, D.C. Thompson, J. E. S. 1937 A New Method of Deciphering Yucatecan Dates with Special Reference to Chichen Itza. Contributions to American Archaeology 22. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Publication 483. Washington, D.C.

The Incas and Their Ancestors: The Archaeology of Peru.

Introduction land of the four quarters the Inca model of statecraft early settlement of the Cordillera the preceramic foundations of civilization the initial period and early horizon the early intermediate period the middle horizon the late intermediate period epilog bibliography sources of illustrations.