Inter-nodal archaeology, mobility, and circulation in the Andes of Capricorn during the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000–1450)

Abstract

It is proposed that archaeological research in internodal spaces can provide important and non-redundant information to understand the mobility strategies responsible for the circulation of goods at long distances and their socio-political context. The possibilities of this approachfor the study of LIP circulation systems in the Andes of Capricorn are illustrated through research conducted in three such spaces distributed in different ecological zones. These data reveal three mobility strategies -among others to be identified- operating simultaneously in different parts of the study area. One of them involved task groups and entire households converging in the HALR to hunt, gather, and exchange. This high-altitude internode was also traversed by caravans coming from various parts of the altiplano and from pre-puna nodes on both flanks of the Andes. Some of these caravans reached resting areas located in the high oases and valleys of the Atacama region, like Santa Barbara, where they exchanged with local pastoralists and perhaps with caravans coming from other regions. The evidence from Calate show both caravans travelling to the coast and coastal groups moving inland. The former involved herders from Atacama and Tarapacá, although the possibility of highland caravans reaching the lower oases and the coast cannot be ruled out at present. The articulation of these and other forms of mobility simultaneously practiced during the LIP resulted in complex circulation chains or sequential trade (sensu Pollard, 1984).