García-Albarido, Francisco
(2024)
Archaeology of the Early-Modern Market Expansion into the Andes: Native Fishers, Ports, and Emerging Global Markets.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
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Abstract
This research answers the question of how radical the changes were for the communal economy of a group of native fishermen directly exposed to the expansion of the Iberian market through the Andes during the early colonial period. A series of excavations and analyzes revealed strong continuities and subtle transformations in the communal production and consumption of the fishermen of the Loa mouth (northern Chile).
These native fishermen further deepened their ancient fishing specialization to resolve their own economic requirements and the ones from the Inca political economy now in Spanish hands. This trans-conquest community focused on net fishing on beaches and sandy bottoms during late Pre-Columbian and early colonial times, leaving behind times of seasonal and intensive capture of Chilean horse mackerel. The conversion of tributes into merchandise did not generate notable signs of overfishing.
Powerful Spaniards accessed the labor of Loa’s natives and established a fishery at the early 17th century. This place functioned as a small natural, rural, and indigenous port, fueled with attached Andean labor, and devoted to fish salting. Crucible of early globalization, it had a multiethnic and cosmopolitan character. Andean fishers delivered diversified catches there to meet their tribute obligations and were rewarded with alcohol and stimulants within the context of Andean ceremonialism.
While the Spaniards of the main mining cities depended on their fish catches for different purposes, this community never depended on commercial goods for its subsistence.
Although some anthropologists point out that European colonial mercantilism triggered a rapid and almost uncontrollable productive intensification and market dependent consumption among natives (plus a recognizable ecological footprint), the Loa fish case shows a politically controlled expansion process based on traditional relations of production and coastal self-sufficiency. The articulation of a traditional tribute with new urban demands gave life to an early Andean colonial commodity.
More than a completely disruptive process, the expansion of Spanish mercantilism in the Andes required of the native communal economies and a good dose of syncretism and continuity. The participation of this community in the commercialization of fish demonstrates that ancient markets expanded heterogeneously in vital and rooted indigenous economies.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
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| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
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| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
27 August 2024 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
28 March 2024 |
| Approval Date: |
27 August 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
13 July 2024 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
479 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Anthropology |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Commoditization, Andes, Colonial Archaeology, Inca, Native Fishing |
| Date Deposited: |
27 Aug 2024 13:36 |
| Last Modified: |
27 Aug 2024 13:36 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/46716 |
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