Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback

MICA

Developing a material approach to model the impact of the Conquest and colonization on the Andean, African and Afro-descendant populations of northern Peru (16th - 18th centuries)
Funder: French National Research Agency (ANR)Project code: ANR-23-AERC-0021
Funder Contribution: 192,950 EUR
Description

In South America, since the beginning of the 16th century, colonization introduced deep ruptures in the organization of pre-Hispanic societies of the Central Andean Area, corresponding to modern Peru. These changes have affected the daily life of these populations, disrupted by forced displacements, as well as their economic and cultural practices by the imposition of components of the European society such as the Christian cult. Andean Native populations have however perpetuated many ancient practices, through processes of resistance leading to a syncretism between pre-Hispanic and European traditions. This syncretism also occurred through the contacts between Andean Native populations and African and Afrodescendant slaves’ communities, who were forcefully brought to the Peruvian coasts from the beginning of the XVI century. The Colonial Period thus appears as a key period of the of the Andean Area. However, this period is most often written by historians from the analysis of archives produced by the colonial administration. The history of this period is therefore mainly a political and economic history from the Spanish perspective, providing limited insights on the daily life, the experiences and the negotiation processes of the Andean Native, African and Afro-descendant populations with the European norms. The MICA project aims to challenge the current state of research by generating groundbreaking hypotheses on the history of the ancient populations of the northern coast of Peru. This region is an outstanding case study to investigate the transition between the prehispanic and colonial periods, which witnessed the installation of several religious orders founding churches and villages where Spanish, Andean Native, African and Afrodescendant populations coexisted. In this region, colonial archaeology is an emerging discipline, which by means of a material and multiscalar approach addresses the relations between Europeans and Andean populations. These researches highlight the continuity of prehispanic practices, while testifying to processes of ethnogenesis. However, by focusing excavations on ritual contexts, very little scientific knowledge exists on the daily life of the Andean Native populations, and even less on the daily life of slaves, who remain the great forgotten of this research. By omitting the study of the relations between Andean Native and African communities, they also struggle to illustrate to what extent the interactions between Andean, African and Afrodescendants populations shaped the Peruvian national identity. The MICA project proposes to study for the first time three sites founded in the sixteenth century in the Jequetepeque Valley, to define the impact of the colonial regime on the domestic, social, economic, and cultural practices of the Andean Native, African and Afrodescendant populations during the first century of colonization. Through a material approach, based on the archaeological excavation of the Anlape and Omnep churches, the associated residential areas, as well as San Pedro de Lloco, the first town founded in the valley, the objective of this project is to contrast the historical knowledge of the period and to replace in the scientific discourse the perspective of Andean Native, African and Afrodescendant communities. This project is anchored on an international collaboration between European, Peruvian, and North American institutions, and stands outs by its highly multidisciplinary character, bringing together archaeological, historical, and sociocultural anthropological researchers. The project will found a replicable method for the study of colonial material remains, adapted to the challenges of the Andean context. The particularity of this research also lies in its implementation in an urban context, making it essential to couple its scientific interest to a social, cultural, and economic project with the authorities and local populations.

Data Management Plans
Powered by OpenAIRE graph
Found an issue? Give us feedback

Do the share buttons not appear? Please make sure, any blocking addon is disabled, and then reload the page.

All Research products
arrow_drop_down
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
document.write('<div id="oa_widget"></div>');
document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="https://www.openaire.eu/index.php?option=com_openaire&view=widget&format=raw&projectId=anr_________::d38cc7e962ce4aecbc822f2f96bdd009&type=result"></script>');
-->
</script>
For further information contact us at helpdesk@openaire.eu

No option selected
arrow_drop_down