Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
DR. BARREIRO: Our next presentation the Inka Road through Ethnoarcheology Time and Space
will be presented by my distinguished colleague and good friend Dr. Ramiro Matos who is the
curator of our upcoming exhibition on the Qhapaq Nan, the Great Inka Road and he will
explore for us again the topic of ethnoarcheology in time and space. Dr. Matos (Quechua) is
an archaeologist and Associate Curator for Latin America at the Smithsonian National
Museum of the American Indian. He is the lead curator, as I mentioned, for the forthcoming
exhibition. He is Emeritus Professor at the National University of San Marcos, Lima, Peru,
and the author of numerous publications on Inka archaeology, including essays and books
on the subject that he's going to speak about now. Thank you, Ramiro. [Foreign Language]
DR. RAMIRO MATOS: After - - research presentation this morning and the afternoon my apologies,
my presentation is some notes about Inka road exhibition narrative. I think everybody enjoyed
everyone's presentations this morning and this afternoon very original. This is - - to
say very proud this is a Smithsonian - - symposium today. Qhapaq nan, the Inka Road, will be
the first major exhibition on South American indigenous civilization at the Smithsonian's
National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibition - - simply drawing from both languages,
Quechua and English, but it has a strong historical and archeological connotation. The - - or
the Quechua language Qhapaq nan means the royal road or the road of the lord [phonetic]
and the western concept it is equivalent to the modern highway. From the Spanish conquistador
to modern tourists those who are traveling across the Qhapaq nan have expressed their
astonishment at the magnificence and monumentality. Earlier Spanish visitors even compared with
the Inka road with the - - and all the roads of the Roman Empire. The exhibition will explore
the political, religious, and technological significance of the Inka road system while
also highlighting the oral histories of contemporary Andean people which have been recorded by
the Inka road project team during our field research over the last four years. The interpretive
narrative for this unprecedented endeavor could not have been developed without the
invaluable knowledge of the Quechua and the Imera [phonetic] communities. Here - - to
- - and the diverse team of the scholars from the fields of archeology, history, cultural
anthropology, and engineering. The exhibition has truly been a collaboration between the
mission team, the indigenous communities, and the scholars, many who come from the - - Andean
countries of Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile. The Qhapaq nan is and
still is a powerful symbol of the Inka Empire. It is fortunate that the empire - - nervous
system managing communication, transportation, expansion, administration and political control
across vast and varied territories. This complicated system is even more amazing when we consider
it is environment. The Andean landscape is one of the most challenging and - - environment
on earth. It range from coastal desert to the high plateau and rugged cordillera divided
by deep - - valleys and gorgeous - - characterize it by best biodiversity and number of the
unique ecosystems along with two extreme seasons the rain and draining [phonetic], the Inka
developed impressive engineering strategies to respond to the unique challenges presented
by each - - or without the assistance of the wheel or a stock animal. The successful survival
of the Qhapaq nan is proof of the Inka - - engineering techniques and evidence of the historical
precedent they set for the evolution of the civil engineering technology, highway construction
and - - communication system. The Inka - - defined a period of autonomy and pure indigenous tradition
in the Andean history began in the 14th century and flourishing until the Spanish invasion
in 1532. We think approximately 100 year the Inka built the most extensive road system
on the American continent. More than 40,000 kilometers in length the Qhapaq nan allowed
the Inka to quickly move thousands of soldiers, workers, llama caravans, and - - we - - and
mit' a couriers across the empires while maintaining a strong ruling presence. The Qhapaq nan was
also one of the best organized road systems in the Americas - - keeping the administration
in Cusco well informed about the production - - , rebellions, workers across the province.
The main - - of the exhibition is the Inka road itself. A personification of the Andean
landscape in motion and the network it's created. In focusing on the road we hope to provide
a greater understanding to the administration of the state of refined peoples understanding
of the Inka - - , one of the most largest and complex empire in any world. Tiwantinsuyu
literally means the four regions or four parts together. We know that the concept - - has
remained important since the original Inka and has continued through empirical Inka times
to today where it still holds a strong in the memory of the contemporary Andean people.
Without Qhapaq nan it would not have been possible to manage such a vast and complex
territory inhabited by the many different ethnic groups, chiefdoms and kingdoms. The
infrastructure of the Qhapaq nan was - - to maximize the economic development, social
interaction, and political control. The road was the architectural key to ensuring successful
- - and consolidation of power. Paired with the khipu accounting device for the administrative
management and control and with the philosophies - - or reciprocity to ensure labor was provided
as a reciprocal service to continue developing of the state. Qhapaq nan was the symbol of
the power and its presence in every part of the empire. It was also the geopolitical marker
the territory of the empire went as far the road was built. Qhapaq nan was the service
only for a state mission and functioned in two separate but yet complimentary levels.
The physical road was valued as tangible construction on the mother earth while serving as the ideological
and cosmological symbol of the Inka the son of the sun. As a complex infrastructure there
were several important facilities associated the road including the tambo [phonetic] or
lodging place, corcas [phonetic] or storage facilities, chaskiovasi [phonetic] post houses
and huacas and the pachetas [phonetic] or sacred spaces. As a continuing - - the road
also functioning as a - - Inka - - prescribe as the shape in the nature of the slope along
multiple parallel lines. In following this - - the highway system is not just a - - to
the engineering genius of the Inka but also continuous holding the link between the past
cultural - - of the Inka with the present. From the western perspective it's - - an - - state
with her market, currency, commercial transaction, material - - or the conventional system of
writing however the Inka were able to do just that. Like any empire at the same time - - want
to ensure you have the power for bureaucracy an organized administration and official - - army,
- - and the form of the labor to call Mit' a or labor tax, language, delegated authorities,
and - - road system which support all of this. In order to sustain their ambitious territorial
expansion the Inka took advantage of pre-existing road - - organization then where also construct
a new road to link them. The construction of the many roads requires labor force and
it is in this labor that the road power of the Inka state was expressed. The administration
organized to provide for everyone in the empire as well as the empire itself. The state provided
food, clothes, and other goods to workers and the workers - - in form of the mit' a
- - . To fulfill their mit' a or labor tax people who received the state goods were mobilized
in their native areas to continue the expansion of the Inka road system and expansion of the
empire. The idea behind - - to maximize the interaction among people at various levels
between ruler and ruled, community and - - , even between people and deities. These interactions
reinforce the ideal reciprocity - - . Thank you. The
idea behind the - - were used to maximize the interaction among the people and different
- - . Those interactions reinforced the idea of reciprocity which bound people together
in the - - mutual provision and dependence. By strengthening the dependence of the people
on the - - of the state the empire always had a strong labor force at its disposal.
This level of the social interaction was - - of civil engineering which imposed the Inka aesthetic
on the natural landscape where they claimed the land for cultivation. All along it's - - territory
the roads maintained in a straight - - among the terraces - - and fields. Most of - - were
faced with - - stone but some were built with finely fitting Inka masonry. The - - with
the river was coincident with the terracing where they should be considered part of the
same - - researching always the solution to the diverse landscape. Other such - - including
numerous - - , - - , stairways and causeways. In 1580 the Spanish writer Jose de Costa provided
an eloquent description of the Inkas ingenuity. It states that the Indian uses thousands of
ways to cross the river as well as the mountain. - - in ceramic and - - as well as in the landscape
were important - - . The same metrics could be simply a geometric design - - within the
- - . Katerine Julian - - and Ricardo Mat. As complex of the Inka inscription on the
land the Qhapaq nan is just one example of the such - - complexes like insaxaguaman [phonetic],
cahamerica [phonetic], ingapilka [phonetic] but also important - - will showcase this
complex Inka aesthetic. We are confident that the exhibition on the Qhapaq nan will create
a past to the future investigation exhibition and most - - research project. The road system
explores the many fascinating aspects of Inka history by uniting indigenous experience with
academic research and trying to expand the people's understanding of the Inka through
this heightened ethnological perspective. There - - the interaction between researchers
and - - and archeological data, the modern technology used to record it and analyze it
and diverse fields of information such as the engineering and construction technology
- - the environment and landscape, cosmology and the spirituality and living everyday life.
By using a more - - approach we can better understand it and - - . It is a strong cultural
continuity and the pride of the indigenous society that - - custom and there's the - - impression
of the western culture. After the Spanish invasion the road lost its original symbolism
and political meaning but it never lost its cosmological significance. It was a symbol
of Inka achievement which then became important for the Spanish - - and the - - of Peru. The
indigenous population of the Andes especially in the highland still has concern with the
traditional use of the Inka road. The ancient path to the road that traversed - - narrow
Andean valleys and high plateaus are still using more than 500 communities, Quechua - - communities
who have long cultivated the same land, planting the same crops and practicing the same traditions
have an important link between the past and present. The spirit of great Inka road remain
alive in the Quechua people compelling them to care for the road the way those - - inherited
the road from - - . I want to mention my personal experience. The - - of Pisac was - - and built
in the past decade by members of the same Quechua community. As a witness of its construction
I have the opportunity to see how the stone cutting carving - - with simply hammers, polish
it then with other stones and build the walls almost in the same way as their ancestors.
Watching them work I fully understood just how much the indigenous tradition and ingenuity
of the Inka are still today. I would like to end this presentation with my deep gratitude
to our speakers who came to share their experience in spite of their extremely busy schedule
at their personal job in university or research center. Our speakers today come from many
parts of the world including Spain, Peru, and all over America to share their knowledge
with us. I would like also to give my thanks to the museum administration support for arranging
this academic journey - - especially and also my colleagues Elizabeth Gische, Museum Program
Managers, Amy Van Allen, Project Manager and Jennifer Tozer, Exhibit Manager for their
unwavering support in this successful symposium. Finally I would like to thank everyone in
the audience for joining us today. I hope you all enjoyed this fascinating lecture of
all our speakers. Thank you.