The University of Arizona Press
Reinvention and History Making in Huarochirí
A Local Narrative of Colonialism in the Peruvian Andes
Hardcover ($75.00), Ebook ($75.00)
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Within just two generations, communities in the Peruvian Andes experienced conquest by the Indigenous Inka Empire (1450–1532 CE) and the European Spanish (1532–1821 CE), leading to three centuries of colonial subjugation. Reinvention and History Making in Huarochirí is an archaeological and historical rendering of the experience of the people of Huarochirí (Lima, Peru) and their interactions with successive waves of colonialism.
Using archaeological and historical datasets and spatial modeling, this book centers on local memory and experience throughout colonized landscapes as the thread that connects the long history of Indigenous engagement with expanding colonial empires and the emergent Peruvian nation. The author builds on Andean epistemological frameworks to argue that in the face of drastic sociopolitical changes, the people of Huarochirí turned to their own history. They created analogies and shared spaces between local and Inka landscapes and materiality and incorporated written representations and ideas of settled lives to validate their claims.
This exciting new work moves the field of Andean archaeology into conversations with decolonial and decolonizing methodologies and shows how Indigenous communities captured and made sense of their long history, reframing colonialism as a local experience.
Using archaeological and historical datasets and spatial modeling, this book centers on local memory and experience throughout colonized landscapes as the thread that connects the long history of Indigenous engagement with expanding colonial empires and the emergent Peruvian nation. The author builds on Andean epistemological frameworks to argue that in the face of drastic sociopolitical changes, the people of Huarochirí turned to their own history. They created analogies and shared spaces between local and Inka landscapes and materiality and incorporated written representations and ideas of settled lives to validate their claims.
This exciting new work moves the field of Andean archaeology into conversations with decolonial and decolonizing methodologies and shows how Indigenous communities captured and made sense of their long history, reframing colonialism as a local experience.
“Drawing on diverse lines of evidence, this book offers a fascinating example of how local people in Huarochirí made sense of their experiences under Inka and Spanish colonialism. Through the concept of ch’ixi—capturing the paradox of both/and—Hernández Garavito explores the incorporation of imperial and global processes into local reinventions of history and community.”—Lee Panich, author of Narratives of Persistence: Indigenous Negotiations of Colonialism in Alta and Baja California
“Reinvention and History Making in Huarochirí offers an important intervention in the archaeology and history of the colonial Andes by centering local Indigenous interactions, strategies, and perspectives. The result is a reconstruction of colonial Huarochirí life that is dynamic and varied, from the ongoing role of kin-based differentiation and conflict to the appropriation of Catholic churches as a tool for continued resistance. Throughout, the reader sees Indigenous Huarochirí residents as central protagonists in the making of colonial history, settlement, institutions, and culture.”—Lisa Overholtzer, McGill University
“Reinvention and History Making in Huarochirí offers an important intervention in the archaeology and history of the colonial Andes by centering local Indigenous interactions, strategies, and perspectives. The result is a reconstruction of colonial Huarochirí life that is dynamic and varied, from the ongoing role of kin-based differentiation and conflict to the appropriation of Catholic churches as a tool for continued resistance. Throughout, the reader sees Indigenous Huarochirí residents as central protagonists in the making of colonial history, settlement, institutions, and culture.”—Lisa Overholtzer, McGill University
246 Pages
6 x 9
Published: April 2026Hardcover ISBN: 9780816552764
Published: April 2026Ebook ISBN: 9780816552771